Wealth management

While states are starting to realize they need to step up and help private sector employers better prepare their employees for retirement, Americans continue to fall short in meeting their economic needs in retirement.

Employee financial stress can often be overlooked by the C-suite. Yet, some industry experts say it can have a major impact on the company’s productivity and profitability. Financial education should be considered a pivotal component of any employer’s wellness program.

When does it make sense to choose a custom target-date strategy instead of an off-the-shelf menu? It’s a complicated question with no easy answer.

Workplace benefit plans are key part of employees’ future financial success but the majority of employers don’t think their employees value the benefits that are offered.

While a majority of both public and private employees have access to retirement plans, new research points to major differences in the number of those who actually participate.

U.S. working adults who seek the help of an adviser are more likely to describe themselves as savers and have less debt than those without an adviser.

More and more employers are looking to ensure the retirement readiness and financial wellbeing of their employees, as financial stress has shown to make a significant impact on both the physical well-being of employees and their workplace productivity.

Fee disclosure rules may have helped bring 401(k) fees down, but plan sponsors can still do more to ensure they – and their employees – aren’t paying too much.

Commentary: Many safe harbor IRAs don’t live up to their name and could leave sponsors with unexpected fiduciary liability.

Many believe the DOL has gone about its fiduciary rule-making in the wrong way and fear the rules, as proposed, will do more harm than good.

Traditional IRA investors showed little reaction to the economic downturn in 2007.

Higher PBGC premiums and a volatile market are catalysts for risk management in DB plans.

Increasingly, employers are expanding wellness programs to include financial guidance. But do these programs go far enough?

Women over the age of 65 are twice as likely as men to live in poverty in retirement because of lower wages, more time spent out of the workforce and lack of access to retirement savings plans.

President Obama this week asked the Department of Labor to propose a set of rules by the end of the year that would provide a clear path forward for states to create retirement savings programs.

Commentary: While in most cases, employees can be terminated at any time and for any reason, in almost all cases there is a reason — and if that reason doesn’t violate a law, isn’t in response to some type of legally protectable complaint or doesn’t violate someone’s contract rights — then it doesn’t really matter if the reason is a good one or not. The question becomes whether a lawsuit ensues to further test exceptions to at-will employment.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have thrown a wrench into the pension de-risking plans of many corporations with new regulations aiming to eliminate the lump-sum payout option for retirees who already are receiving retirement benefits from their defined benefit plans.

As the baby boom generation approaches retirement, employers will need to ask themselves what role a highly experienced, part-time workforce can play in their organization.

Millions are covered under employee stock ownership plans, which take a considerable amount of research and planning before implementation.

As the White House kicks off its Conference on Aging this week, one financial services vendor is launching a new education program for its plan sponsor clients focused on creating greater awareness of the nation’s aging population.