Advertisement
Defined Contribution Plans
One of my favorite movies — and perhaps my favorite “holiday” movie — is Groundhog Day, the 1993 film starring Bill Murray as an arrogant weatherman who finds himself stuck in Punxsutawney, Penn. by a blizzard, who then discovers that he is also “stuck” reliving Feb. 2 — over and over and over. A...
READ MORE
Deferral and savings rates in 401(k) plans improved at a stronger rate than expected in 2014, recent studies reveal.According to Cogent Reports found that almost one-third of participants increased their contributions in 2014. That’s almost 12 percentage points higher than the number who in 2013...
READ MORE
Your clients offer 401(k) plans, and all have 401(k) plan committees. Those committees have fiduciary responsibility, and it’s in your clients’ interest to make sure they are fulfilling their duties. They can do that through meetings of those committees and quarterly reviews, our friends at the...
READ MORE
The number of private sector defined contribution plans and participants continues to expand, while defined benefit plans distributed more than they took in, according to just-published statistics from the Department of Labor (DOL).According to the Private Pension Plan Bulletin Abstract of 2012...
READ MORE
The digital world offers revolutionary means to communicate, store and share data. But using it in a responsible and ethical manner is as important as it is challenging, as Lauren Bloom, an expert on professional ethics and risk management, pointed out in the recent ASPPA webcast, “Ethics and...
READ MORE
Lobbying groups representing minority investment fund managers, backed by key Democratic members of Congress, recently met with key administration officials to press the case for doing business with minority and women-owned firms.According to The Hill, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory...
READ MORE
Notice 2014-53, the recent guidance from the IRS on pension funding stabilization under the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HATFA), contains a provision that is in accordance with a request by ASPPA’s College of Pension Actuaries. On Aug. 13, the ASPPA and ACOPA sent a comment...
READ MORE
Its authors may not have led with that title, but a recent paper calls for wholesale changes to the way Americans currently save for retirement, including suspending all defined contribution savings arrangements because “they are complex, costly, and challenging for employers and employees to...
READ MORE
In a piece published in The New York Times on Tuesday, July 22, Gene B. Sperling, former Director of the Economic Council under the Office of White House Policy for President Obama, put on a white lab coat and diagnosed the tax incentive system for private retirement savings with a serious illness...
READ MORE
Target date funds (TDFs) are growing and likely to comprise a larger percentage of 401(k) assets, says Paladin Registry, an independent educational resource for investors. Paladin cites statistics from Target Date Solutions that project that TDFs will grow by 30% per year for the next six years and...
READ MORE
The Treasury Department issued a rule July 1 that essentially allows employees to convert part of their IRA or 401(k) balances into a longevity annuity. Under the rule, an IRA or 401(k) can allow participants to use $125,000 or up to 25 percent of their IRA or 401(k) — whichever is less — to buy a...
READ MORE
Nondiscrimination tests, sometimes described as the “rocket science” of the tax compliance world, can make an employer run afoul. And that’s exactly what happened to 57,277 of the 401(k) plans that Judy Diamond Associates reports in a study it recently released. The study says that the plans in...
READ MORE
According to Acting Director of IRS Employee Plans Thomas Petit, the IRS still lists 401(k) plans among its top examination priorities. Petit provided that confirmation to attendees of the ASPPA Regional Conference in Chicago.IRS EP Exam Projects and Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) projects...
READ MORE
Critics of 401(k)s argue that they will not deliver on what they promised. But MSN Money reports that the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) has provided empirical evidence that their assessments may be very much off the mark. To illustrate, EBRI examines the way workers age 25-29 save for...
READ MORE
While assets in IRAs are larger than those in DC plans, the vast majority of their growth comes from rollovers, according to research from EBRI. The EBRI database covers $2.09 trillion of the ICI-estimated $5.6 trillion in IRAs as of the end of 2012 and includes 25.3 million accounts for 19.9...
READ MORE
Auto enrollment and escalation can be very useful in boosting plan participation and setting in motion all the good effects that result from that. But like medicines, they should be used properly — and if they’re not, they can cause harm. So argues a new white paper from Milliman, “Auto enrollment...
READ MORE
Lauding the federal Thrift Savings Plan as “one of the most efficient savings plans in America,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) urged that the DC plan for federal employees be made available to private workers nationwide. Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, floated the idea in a May 13...
READ MORE
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has created a task force to explore how his state can improve retirement security for private sector employees, with an eye toward recommending further action.According to a press release, the task force will meet this year “to conduct a comprehensive examination...
READ MORE
Workers are more concerned about — and more interested in doing something about — their retirement income than they are about financing their health care, a new Towers Watson study reveals. In fact, not only are they more concerned about setting something aside for their retirement, a majority said...
READ MORE
The Great Recession wrought a lot of havoc — and 401(k)s did not escape the maelstrom. Many consider the recovery of the U.S. economy to be very gradual; a recent report by Gallup indicates that the same may be said for that of confidence of those not yet retired in 401(k)s as a primary source of...
READ MORE