Retirement benefits

Spurred by its $16.2 billion acquisition of American Life Insurance Co., MetLife Inc. moved into the top five while American International Group Inc. slid from third to fifth in A.M. Best’s rankings of the top 25 global insurers based on nonbanking assets.

Americans, particularly baby boomers, are more nervous about and unprepared for their retirement today than at any time in history.

The focus of discussions in the defined contribution/401(k) world seems to have shifted overnight from process to outcomes.

For once, it’s the whippersnappers who are behaving more wisely. At least when it comes to saving, Generation X and Generation Y workers are more diligent than their peers.

Americans' trademark optimism is intact, at least in regard to retirement, despite the economic turbulence that is reportedly forcing many people to work longer and make do with less. In fact, many retirees found only one downside.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 is having a positive effect on 401(k) plans, according to Fidelity Investments.

Retirement plans collectively - but unwillingly - hold billions of dollars that plan sponsors have unsuccessfully tried to distribute to former participants.

Some experts are predicting that there will be fewer advisers focused on the 401(k)/defined contribution market. With greater competition, price pressure, more onerous regulations and increased fiduciary liability, that argument is understandable. But regardless of the pressure and challenges that the DC market poses, the number of elite advisers that focus on the DC market will double in the next five years because of the size of the opportunity.

Turning the corner into 2012, 401(k) plans are regaining some of their lost glitter, but more buffing needs to be done.

Nearly two-thirds, 63.8%, of plan sponsors have changed the investment lineup in their 401(k) plan in the past year, up markedly from a mere 20% in 2008, according to the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America.

In today's BeAdvised, we turn to a former contributor of our sister publication, Employee Benefit News, Karrie Andes. Today, she's writing on two topics that never run short on blogworthy material: Form 5500 and the IRS. Enjoy, and be sure to share your thoughts.

Only 4% of plan sponsors have established goals to engage workers younger than 35 in their defined contribution plans, even though they know the younger generation's participation and contribution rates lag their older colleagues, a survey by Greenwich Associates for Northern Trust finds.

A new survey of small and mid-sized employers finds that two out of three plan sponsors believe the current 401(k) system is effective in helping employees achieve adequate retirement savings, despite recent reports that show employees are often ill-prepared for retirement and not saving enough.

Advisers take note: It’s not a company’s size but rather the demographic makeup of its workforce that influences whether or not it sponsors a retirement plan.

Like many middle-class American baby boomers, Linda Carmona-Sanchez is anxious about slipping into poverty and says whatever dreams she once had about retirement in her "golden years" have turned into nightmares.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a detailed list of pension plan and other retirement-related contribution limitations for the Tax Year 2012 that were triggered by an increase in the cost-of-living index.

While many employees obtain benefits information from their employers, another source of information, at least for Gen Y (ages 18 to 34), is family members and friends, according to survey results from Colonial Life.

You now have a strong advocate, retirement advisers. Read in the November issue of EBA as contributor Fred Barstein talks about the recent launch of the National Association of Plan Advisors, a sister organization of the ASPPA.

It's not surprising that the youngest generation of workers has saved the least toward retirement. But what is startling-and worrisome-is the fact that the savings rate for this group has fallen significantly in the past decade.

The younger the customer, the more they will want a guaranteed income after retirement is the first takeaway for insurers from a Prudential survey about retirement planning.