Retirement benefits

15 employers from public and private sector competed in the 2012 EBN-EBA Financial Fitness Challenge

Fred Barstein on a market upheaval coming in the DC market.

ERISA 408(b)(2) fee disclosures may lead to less options, service

Employer matches aren't as strong of an inducement to get employees into the 401(k) plan as one might think, says Brigitte Madrian, a behavioral economist and professor of public policy and corporate management at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Retirement readiness is just not a buzz word for EBA’s Retirement Adviser of the Year.

Fred Barstein on how new advisers are critical to growth of DC market.

The Labor Department's new regulations on 401(k) fee disclosures will serve as a wake-up call to plan sponsors and participants alike, once they stop hitting the snooze alarm, that is.

The American Institute of CPAs has sent a letter to members of the House Financial Services Committee supporting a bill aimed at narrowing the definition of “municipal advisor,” without weakening investor protections.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company has entered into a definitive agreement with The Hartford to purchase its Retirement Plans business for $400 million, subject to adjustment at closing.

Where brokers and advisers should focus on when communicating the value of fee transparency to clients

Four principles brokers can follow to successfully break into the DC business.

EBN-EBA Financial Fitness Challenge helps employees become financially healthy.

Forecasting the future through retirement wholesalers

The majority of baby boomers and Gen Xers appear to be looking at their retirement years through rose-colored glasses. More than three in four feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, even though nearly 40% of baby boomers and about two-thirds of Gen Xers have less than $100,000 in retirement savings. Moreover, a worrisome percentage —21.7% of baby boomers and 27.8% of Gen Xers — has no retirement savings at all. The grim statistics are the highlights of a report released by the Insured Retirement Institute.

Even as market uncertainty persists, employees using Bank of America Merrill Lynch's automatic 401(k) savings plans are showing they want to stay the course when it comes to positive savings behavior, according to the firm's latest quarterly data.

Retirement plan participants who hand pick their own mix of investment options are generally exposed to greater risk, due to reduced diversification and a tendency to not automatically adjust their portfolios over time, according to research from The Principal Financial Group.

Analysis shows that retirement savings plans are seeing an uptick – even among the younger generation of workers.

Americans express greater concern over the loss of employer-sponsored benefits than about being laid off in a new Gallup poll.

Defined contribution plan sponsors need to do a better job communicating key information to participants, according to a recent survey of plan participants conducted by State Street Global Advisors.

Two new studies amplify the benefits—especially for women—of working with financial advisers, and provide insight into a changing demographic for life insurers.