Retirement benefits

In contradictory fashion, paying off debt was cited as the top reason for taking out a loan from retirement plan savings (46%), yet only 26% of respondents said paying off debt was a good reason to take out a loan.

Commentary: Blogger Aaron Friedman reports good news for benefit advisers interested in working with employers on 403(b)s

The United States Supreme Court ruled that funds held in an “inherited IRA” are not retirement funds. As such, these funds are not exempt from the IRA holder’s bankruptcy estate and are subject to the claims of creditors in bankruptcy.

Commentary: With all the controversy around the new fiduciary definition, blogger Jerry Kalish reminds benefit advisers and brokers that there’s on fiduciary protection that is not in question — the support from the retirement plan.

For almost half the country, retirement might not be all golf games and trips to see grandkids, as many will be partially working in or through their golden years.

Will virtual currencies supplant the dollar as the currency of choice for international transactions? Probably not any time soon. Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Internal Revenue Service issued statements designed to strongly discourage the use of virtual currencies.

The IRS has launched a compliance check program to better understand how plan sponsors are complying with Roth deferral provisions in 401(k) plans. If asked to participate, failure to to respond could trigger an audit.

Employee benefit advisers and employers will have to wait longer than anticipated for the DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary, as the agency has delayed the issuance of its proposal until January 2015.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says employers and their benefit advisers still have a long way to go to help workers be retirement-ready.

Automatic 401(k) features – including auto-enrollment, as well as plans that also automatically increase participant contributions each year – are beginning to have a significant impact on the success of employer-sponsored savings plans, and the balances of participants who’ve stayed in the game.

When Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey froze its cash balance retirement plan in 2009, the organization knew it had to make its new benefit model work for current employees. And as a company charged with making health care work for both its clients and its employees, it realized that the only way to do so was through more education.

Each year Brightscope, a company that aggregates retirement plan data, releases a list of what it believes are the best large 401(k) plans. Here are the six plan features Brightscope says result in a 401(k) plan receiving a high ranking on its list.

Baby boomers are redefining retirement, with many saying their ideal retirement will include working – often in new, more flexible and fulfilling ways. As a result, employers should be preparing for a new battle to keep their older workers engaged as they near retirement.

Social Security will still be around when your employees retire, it just might look a little different. Here are five changes to expect in the coming years.

The challenges faced by plan sponsors as they design, update and execute their 403(b) plan documents are sometimes left undiscovered until they are identified under audit.

Running out of money in retirement trumps other stress-inducing pressures such as public speaking and gaining weight for affluent Americans. But despite the prospect of not having enough money to live on later in life, many are unwilling to cut spending on indulgences now in order to invest for retirement .

Commentary: Blogger Aaron Friedman discusses how benefit advisers can counsel employer clients on switching up 403(b) plan communication.

As states across the country take steps to address the financial needs of retiring workers, Illinois lawmakers are considering a new bill that would establish a retirement savings program for private sector employees that will be funded through automatic payroll deductions.

Public sector employers in Oklahoma are one step closer to creating a defined contribution retirement plan for workers with the passage of House Bill 2630, also known as the Retirement Freedom Act. The bill was approved this week by a majority in the state’s House of Representatives.

A recent revenue ruling from the Treasury Department and the IRS eases the administrative burden for 401(k) plan sponsors wanting to accept rollovers from other employers’ plans, but the fiduciary risk posed by inactive accounts still remains.