401(k) balances increase, but so do loans outstanding
The average 401(k) balance skyrocketed nearly 32% in 2009 more than making up for the massive losses of 2008.
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Benefits Think Benefitnews.com is the site that laid the golden widget
On behalf of the teams at Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser, Im happy to announce that the health care reform timeline designed, launched and housed right here on Benefitnews.com is the winner of the Gold Award for Best Widget from the American Society of Business Publication Editors annual Digital Azbee Awards.
Its time to focus on what really drives 401(k) success
The 401(k) industry has become too distracted by issues that do not directly impact what truly matters driving successful retirement savings behavior and outcomes for American workers.
By
James McCool
ICI: Retirement income from pensions still prevalent
Retirement income from employer-sponsored retirement plans is more prevalent among retirees today than in 1975, when sweeping new retirement plan regulations were enacted, most notably the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, finds the Investment Company Institute.
Industry practitioners in the spotlight
Two seasoned employee benefit executives recently took a bow, one earning a promotion and the other recognition.
Benefits Think Honor the Great American Smokeout: Go kick butt!
Knowing that you benefits pros arent ones to shy away from difficulty (fiduciary compliance, anyone?), I encourage you to join in todays national effort to help smokers quit the habit. Nov. 18 marks the 35th annual Great American Smokeout, a nationwide event to encourage smokers to go smoke-free for 24 hours.
DOL cracking down on 401(k) fraud
The Department of Labor is cracking down on employers who fail to deposit workers retirement or health plan contributions and using the money for their own purposes.
Benefits Think Beyond eyeglasses and Advil, tips for helping employees spend up their FSAs
With only six weeks left in the year, nows generally the time when employees peek at their flexible spending account balances and think, Uh oh. How do I spend this money so I dont lose it? The experts at Save Smart, Spend Healthy offer six tips for you pin up in employees cubicles to help them zero out their accounts before the year-end deadline.
Benefits Think What to take away, what to trash from the Twinkie Diet
You may have celebrated at the news that Mark Haub, a Kansas State University nutrition professor, had lost 27 pounds and lowered his cholesterol levels by eating a 10-week diet of mostly Twinkies and Doritos. But before you go on a Twinkie binge, health and wellness expert Ron Ringlein says to look at Haubs diet a bit more closely.
Benefits Think NBCH leader voices employer concerns about health care reform
In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Andrew Webber, president and CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health, spoke up on your behalf about employer costs and concerns regarding health care reform.
Fidelity: Pre-retirees double 401(k) balances
Pre-retirees who continuously held a 401(k) plan with Fidelity Investments for the past 10 years more than doubled their account balances, according to data released by the company.
Benefits Think Debt reduction proposal would decimate 401(k) saving, expert claims
In response to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's proposals to reduce the national debt, the president and CEO of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries claimed, "recommendations from the draft report would eliminate tax incentives for retirement savings and negatively impact the ability of working Americans to effectively prepare for retirement.
Survey: Sponsors ill-informed on target-date funds
Despite the increasing proliferation of target-date funds in employer-sponsored retirement plans, many sponsors arent very knowledgeable about the funds, Janus found in a survey.
Workers admit they need to save more in 401(k)s
Americans are underutilizing their 401(k) plans, according to a survey of 1,000 participants by the ING Retirement Research Institute.
Benefits Think EBN launches BenefitsTV: All benefits, all the time
After pulling together the efforts of a high-powered team of journalists, benefits experts, videographers and stylists okay, maybe not the stylists or videographers Employee Benefit News is happy to announce the launch of BenefitsTV, its new video series that brings you face-to-face with benefits experts and newsmakers as they share their insights on the industry news of the day.
Benefits Think Talking about telemedicine
The technology to support these types of telemedicine is advancing speedily along. The speed of physicians and health plans adopting it, however, is a different and much slower story. I talked to Eric Demers, senior vice president of health and life sciences at MEDecision, about why telemedicine is so slowly advancing and the role employers can play to push progress along.
Benefits Think Workers staying longer but producing less, PwC finds
Voluntary turnover overall has dropped 21% since 2008 to 7.3%, and voluntary turnover rates among high performers dropped from 5.7% in 2006 to 3.7% in 2009, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
What do retirement plans need to work?
For defined contribution plans to work, large U.S. retirement plan sponsors believe they should be mandatory, and include auto enrollment, savings escalation and employer contributions, according to a recently released study by Northern Trust.
Benefits Think Got the new CW? Send your CV to be an EBN CE.
If youve got your finger on the pulse of the latest in benefits conventional wisdom, news or analysis, Id like to invite you to send me your bio and a writing sample to be considered for one of EBNs open Contributing Editor slots.
Not-for-profit employers continue to embrace 403(b) plans
Fidelity Investments reported a 20% increase over the past three years in the number of participants in its tax-exempt workplace savings plans at higher education, health care and other not-for-profit institutions.
