Retirement benefits

We’re starting your week with three important facts, developments or conversations from recent and upcoming events. This week, we look at the new IRS guidelines, final ruling from CMS on MLR ratio and what’s going on in Europe with retirement taxes.

Opponents of a European Union financial-transactions tax say pension funds will be hurt even if their home governments don’t sign up.

“Make an Impact,” the theme for the 2013 NAPA/ASPPA 401(k) summit that began yesterday in Las Vegas, may have sounded more like an exhortation to the nearly 1,400 pension professionals attending the event -- but an appeal that many appear to have every intention of acting upon. Threats to the 401(k) from Washington were chronicled in the opening session by ASPPA CEO Brian Graff and others.

Odds are strong that many of your clients’ 401(k) plans could have significantly greater assets even without spectacular investment performance or a dramatic increase in salary deferral rates.

Overcoming employee inertia in retirement savings with effective plan design by Unified Trust’s Lee Topley.

How agents can help highly compensated executives save and remain competitive with safe harbor 401(k) by John Ludwig

Many employer plan sponsors are expressing a high level of interest in adding Roth 401(k) in-plan conversions as an option to their 401(k) plans in 2013. The recently passed Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 made it possible for retirement plan participants to convert existing 401(k) plan balances to Roth 401(k) balances, whether or not the participant is distribution eligible.

“Those with an income shortfall are far more likely to be low-income, low-asset households, and they spend down their liquid assets at a far faster rate than households that do not have an income shortfall,” says one expert with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Employer applications are now being accepted for the 2013 Financial Fitness Challenge, an engaging and effective online financial education program made available by Employee Benefit Adviser and /i>.

How many Gen X and Gen Y consumers are saving for retirement? Not nearly enough, according to LIMRA, an industry-funded research group.

While a tax-exempt retirement plan might look good on paper, it could likely use a little work in order to hit the right notes with employees. Aaron Friedman, national practice leader at The Principal Financial Group, provides some best practices to aid in creating a proper, effective participant education plan.

Tax the rich! Raise their rates! Limit their deductions! That seems to be the populist mantra. It’s perpetuated in the press, and there’s some indication that the general public seems to support the idea. Now middle class workers with higher than average incomes seem to be caught up in discussions defining those that are “rich,” says EBA Blogger and The Principal Financial Group’s tax-exempt national practice leader.

As Congress pushes the debt ceiling debate farther down the road, Americans’ personal finances are worse than ever. According to a new survey by the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation, only 24% of respondents say they have “little financial stress.” That leaves 76% who would likely benefit from a financial education plan at work. According to PFEEF, a workplace financial fitness program can not only improve productivity, but also boost morale and company loyalty.

A new survey suggests workers under the age of 25 are significantly more confident than others that they are on track for a comfortable retirement. Is it youthful arrogance, or has the younger generation absorbed some of the financial lessons we need them to learn?

After reading research from the Investment Company Institute concluding that defined contribution plans don't "reduce retirement preparedness," EBN Editor Kelley Butler channeled a "Saturday Night Live" skit to offer her perspective.

Looking at the Department of Labor’s 408b2 rules six months later.

It’s likely no one pays more attention to retirement plan fees than the plan fiduciary, says The Principal Financial’s Aaron Friedman. After all it’s their job to work with the service provider and financial professional to make sure the fees paid by the plan are “reasonable.” But what exactly does “reasonable” mean and what does it have to with cars?

How Tussey v ABB is a new frontier in ERISA class-action litigation

The pros and cons of a benefit practice offering retirement plan services.

Rumor has it that the Department of Labor recently hired a lot of new field auditors, which could only mean one thing — more audits. Which Principal Financial's Aaron Friedman says means it is safe to say that more 403(b) plans will be put on the firing line as well. Just what we need, right? Well, a little work now and some knowledge may help, so keep reading.