Retirement benefits

Commentary: If the objective of the Chamber of Commerce’s study on the DOL’s proposed fiduciary rules was to scare small business owners, clearly it succeeded. But it certainly failed on another level.

Small businesses will pay a big price if the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to the fiduciary rules go into effect, says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Generalists and small-market plan sponsors are likely to be the most negatively affected, according to a retirement conference panel.

Expanding the electronic options for delivering required financial information to 401(k) plan participants could benefit both employers and employees, but Department of Labor and IRS rules often conflict about when employers can use electronic communication for their retirement plans.

Retirement relates to all other parts of the financial pie, and that’s the conversation advisers should be having with clients.

While employers may recognize that the amount of time employees will spend in retirement is growing, people around the world fail to reflect this trend in their long-term financial planning.

While many plan sponsors may choose the same firm to audit their benefit plan that audits their company’s financial statements, doing so may not always be the best choice, cautions the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Commentary: This practice may be eliminating opportunities for investors to purchase products which could greatly improve the emotional and financial well-being of the client in their retirement.

Women tend to stress out more than men when it comes to retirement, but they also report more positive experiences in retirement.

Educational programs around retirement have become more robust over the years but retirement plan participants are still not sure what to do with their accumulated wealth once they can access it.

Commentary: When talking about the financial security of all Americans, playing politics is unfortunate. Ideologue mentality prevents meaningful dialogue and instead keeps kicking the can down the road, says The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

Powers granted to shareholders to vote down pay packages for the CEO and other top executives by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act appear to be driving some change in executives’ “golden parachute” protections.

Although they still amount to little more than a blip on the radar screen, income guarantee arrangements incorporated into defined contribution plans are growing rapidly in popularity.

Low-cost lending and credit-establishment services emerge as a new benefit to help employees make better financial decisions.

When the recently proposed fiduciary rules are finalized there will likely continue to be significant differences between how Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and brokers interact with their retirement plan clients from a fiduciary standpoint.

Many assume that a wealthy upbringing is essential for an early retirement, but recent studies show those who plan to retire early were no more likely to describe their family growing up as wealthy/affluent, or financially comfortable, than people who planned to stay in the workforce longer.

Defined contribution plan sponsors remain in regulatory limbo regarding their obligations to maintain detailed documentation surrounding employee 401(k) hardship withdrawals.

In Tibble v. Edison, the Supreme Court did not expound on what a retirement plan fiduciary's duty to monitor entails, which is a bone of contention for ERISA attorneys and 401(k) plan sponsors.

Fiduciary responsibility requires the careful selection of default retirement investments. Benefit advisers can add value with knowledgeable advice on qualified default investment alternatives, including through the use of selection tools.

Although 401(k) plan participation is increasing, employees are not actively managing their accounts.