Retirement benefits

Are your clients prepared for a 401(k) plan audit? When the Employee Benefits Security Administration knocks on the door and starts requesting plan documents, financial records, account statements, contracts and more, it can be overwhelming. The best offense is a good defense, so be prepared. Take a glimpse into a recent audit and the laundry list of documents requested.

Commentary: Automatic features have all helped retirement plan participants, but what should employers and committees discuss this year as they plan for future improvements in their plans as a way to seek to improve the retirement outcomes for their participants?

Connecticut lawmakers are considering a new plan to offer individual retirement accounts to private sector employees in a need of future retirement assistance.

Employees are much more fearful of making bad investment decisions than they are of doing nothing and missing out on a potentially good investment, leading many to invest too conservatively in their 401(k) plans.

A new TIAA-CREF survey of employee-sponsored retirement plan participants uncovers a divide in that Americans are either not familiar or dissatisfied with their investment options.

Recent behavioral finance studies have shown that most participants invest too conservatively. Helping employees understand and overcome ambiguity is a good first step toward making them better 401(k) investors.

401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors – armed with a professional retirement plan adviser – are more likely to painlessly administer and achieve fiduciary needs for participants, according to a new study from the Retirement Advisor Council.

With a divide among employer populations, a new survey meant to kick off America Saves Week finds that savings challenges remain as employees struggle to save what they can, both for their immediate needs and their eventual retirement.

Employer-sponsored defined contribution plans – the fundamental core of retirement funds for about 80% of the full-time workers in the nation – need some alterations that will help boost plan participation among the part-time workforce and smaller employers, as well as offer better ways for workers and employers to contribute, according to a white paper released last week.

While the intent of DOL fee disclosure regulations was to benefit retirement plan participants, results indicate there is much left to be desired. Employees have no idea what to look for or what their 401(k) fees even mean.

Baby boomers and Generation X households improved their overall retirement income last year thanks to employer-sponsored 401(k)-type plans and gains from the financial and housing market, new data indicates.

Commentary: When it comes to qualified domestic relations orders, plan sponsors and their financial professional partners need to ensure they have a robust and detailed process that can actually work, says The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

This is the time of year when most companies with calendar year plans start reviewing their discrimination test to see if they passed or if they have to refund any contributions to the highly compensated employee group. Columnist John Ludwig shares best practices for keeping your clients in compliance.

Some 403(b) plan sponsors believe that if they are exempt from ERISA, they cannot be held accountable as an acting-fiduciary. This is a misconception.

Coming just on the heels of President Obama’s unveiling of the new MyRA proposal, Senator Tom Harkin announced Thursday the finalized details for his Universal, Secure, Adaptable Retirement Funds Act – legislation he hopes will provide a stable and financially solid mechanism for the 75 million Americans without access to workplace retirement plans.

In this commentary, one retirement plan adviser says government efforts and taxpayer funds would be better directed to educating employees on the importance of contributing to their 401(k) accounts and providing additional tax incentives for those few employers that have not already established a 401(k) plan.

Being prepared for retirement is no longer an after-thought as President Barack Obama boldly claimed at last night’s State of the Union; TIAA-CREF’s new survey adds to this national conversation, noting that one-in-three covered Americans say they place guaranteed income at top of their retirement to-do list, but many are faced with problems that their traditional retirement offerings can’t answer.

The study of gerontology, the comprehensive analysis of aging and the problems of the aged, now makes up a new job description and possible new organization direction at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s retirement plan and financial benefit business.

Among the steps the president outlined in his State of the Union address are raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for future federal contract workers and creating a retirement savings program for people whose employers don’t offer a 401(k) plan.

President Barack Obama offered more Americans the chance to save for retirement through payroll deductions with a plan for new government-sponsored savings accounts.