Retirement benefits

Earlier this year, the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, outlined initiatives to educate and protect 401(k) plan participants. Along with those initiatives comes an increased risk of a DOL audit for companies that don’t take the necessary steps to ensure their benefit plans are compliant and being properly administered for their employees.

Volatility has returned to the equity markets with a vengeance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fluctuated by hundreds of points on many recent trading days. During these times your 401(k) plan participants can become very nervous.

With companies granting over $110 billion in equity each year to employees, the stakes are very high for employers to demonstrate a strong return on investment from their equity compensation plans. And yet, there appears to be a disconnect in how these companies and their employees perceive equity awards.

What's keeping female employees from getting more deeply involved in their own retirement savings? Better plan design and more personalized communications can help offset women's reluctance - or perceived financial inability - to help make savings plans.

A third of Americans have no retirement savings and those who do aren’t saving enough — automatic escalation can help.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 has helped to reduce costs and limit liabilities for multiemployer plans. But the landmark legislation will sunset at the end of the year, which has many stakeholders and consultants predicting future retirement uncertainty for the more than 10 million participants in multiemployer plans across the nation.

A couple weeks into the post-Bill Gross PIMCO era, plan sponsors may be interested in learning what other plan sponsors are doing with their PIMCO funds in their retirement plans.

The quality of Form 5500 reporting depends entirely on whether benefit managers and plan fiduciaries select qualified auditors and service providers, says Ian Dingwall, chief accountant for the DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration, speaking this week during the International Foundation for Employee Benefit Plans' annual conference in Boston.

As Congress continues to explore ways of making our retirement savings system stronger, legislators should consider requiring 401(k) plans to automatically enroll workers, eliminating participant loan features and allowing unlimited Roth 401(k) contributions.

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear Tibble v. Edison International, a case in which the plaintiffs contend their ERISA plan fiduciaries breached their duty of prudence by offering higher-cost retail-class mutual funds to 401(k) plan participants, even though identical lower-cost institutional-class mutual funds were available.

Retirement patterns are changing globally. As a result, providing employees greater retirement security and financial literacy can help employers cultivate a less stressed, healthier and more engaged workforce.

With more confusion swirling in the employer 401(k) market – not to mention an American workforce with staggeringly low retirement confidence – advisers and consultants recommend employers play a bigger role as a fiduciary when considering administration fees and investment education.

Commentary: On Friday, September 26, Bill Gross, the portfolio manager of the PIMCO Total Return Bond Fund, left the company for another job. Many financial advisers, including me, believe that his departure is a positive for the Fund and PIMCO. Why is this important to you as a retirement plan sponsor?

A focus on retirement has been key recently, with a push for younger generations to begin investing into 401(k)s, along with recent calls to Congress to empower savings among employees. Employee Benefit News has remained on top of the coverage and has packaged it for you here.

Motorola Solutions is incorporating a new group annuity and lump sum payment plan into the makeup of its traditional defined benefit plan that will help the communications company shave $4.2 billion in growing liabilities and benefit payments off its balance sheet.

Although the scars are still visible since the economy’s near-collapse, investors today are more optimistic than they have been since 2007.

The American Benefits Council has introduced its strategic plans for health and retirement policy, providing 46 specific regulatory recommendations for Congress to consider in easing the burdens on employees, employers and government agencies.

The IRS has released long-awaited final regulations that clarify market rate of return issues for cash balance and other hybrid plans. The new rules, effective for the first plan year that begins on or after Jan. 1 2016, sponsors of hybrid plans a clearer path forward.

Having an engaging 401(k) plan recordkeeper, partnered with innovative online educational tools, may provide a solution to piercing the Gen Y markets as more and more of the current employee base moves closer to retirement.

Offering financial education can provide a big boost to employee productivity, allowing employees to solve financial dilemmas and refocus on work.