Retirement benefits

The life insurance and annuities market continues to grow, but advisers hoping to capitalize on that will first need to meet the challenges of a diversifying U.S. population.

Recently Senator Marco Rubio, a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, shared his thoughts on reforming America's retirement system. Blogger Robert C. Lawton rates Rubio's proposals on a scale of one to five.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling for a complete revamp of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation board of directors to include plan sponsors from company and employers affected by the federal agency’s supervision.

Retirement plan administrators routinely receive requests from employees to accept rollover contributions. When processing these requests, plan administrators must be mindful of IRS guidelines.

A new proposal to raise Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums to the tune of $25 billion over the next decade for companies that offer defined benefit pension plans is being contested. Not surprisingly, many in charge of administering their company’s pension benefits see the increase as crippling to their industry and the economy.

Analytics and the use of big data by corporate America are increasingly growing as companies look to make better business decisions. Client, internal information and databases collected over long periods of time are helping companies better understand their business and where to spend their money. The same is true for public retirement systems.

Flexibility, tax benefits and the overall attractiveness of Roth 401(k) plans are encouraging more employers to offer them.

Many studies have shown that the average 401(k) participant earns at least 2% to 3% less each year than the mutual funds in their plans. Because so many of us give in to our emotions and chase markets higher, buying at tops. Then we get scared and sell when markets fall.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says there's no "silver bullet" to solving all employers' financial wellness problems, but looking at certain demographic factors of your group is a good place to start.

Connecticut legislators have approved the creation of a new board to study the feasibility of creating of a public retirement plan for private sector workers in the state who don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act generally requires that plan participants get copies of plan documents when requested. However, there is even an enforcement provision of ERISA that subjects the administrator to penalties if they fail to provide requested documentation.

The President, Washington lawmakers and state legislators are all trying to chip away at the backbone of employee retirement benefits. Benefits managers hoping to reinforce the successes of their 401(k) programs need to take action now to help protect the system.

Start by constructing an employee education policy statement for your 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Many plan sponsors never put together this document and, as a result, have no idea if they are achieving any worthwhile education objectives.

Modest equity market gains last month weren’t enough to offset the growth in pension liabilities among defined benefit plan sponsors in the S&P 1500.

Average contribution rates for small business retirement accounts have continued to climb since the recession – with an 18% increase since last year and 88% over the past six years, according to a Fidelity Investments analysis of more than 200,000 401(k)-type and individual retirement account plan options under its administration.

More and more, companies which have integrated auto-enrollment and auto-escalation features into the retirement plan design are producing impressive participation and savings rates, more in line with the targets that will result in the kinds of 401(k) balances participants will need in retirement.

While even the smallest of employers are reporting increased success in their participants’ savings rates and ongoing recruitment benefits in offering a workplace retirement plan, the fiduciary burdens of administering those 401(k) plans are starting to add up for many plan sponsors.

Are you making retirement plan decisions using a prudent process? Do you always put the interests of plan participants ahead of the company's when considering plan issues? Here are some best practices related to decision-making and documentation.

In the retirement plan arena, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 was a game changer for defined benefits plan sponsors - it altered the way in which the value of lump-sum offerings was calculated, making lump-sum payouts a more attractive solution for plan sponsors seeking ways to reduce the risks associated with their DB plans.

In an effort to make workplace retirement savings more portable and to help build assets in tax-qualified retirement plans, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service have removed a cumbersome step plan sponsors must take when accepting rollovers from other employers’ plans.