John Iekel

Quick! Name a way to increase employees’ retirement readiness. Did you respond, “build employee engagement”? That’s the answer Richard Glass of Investment Horizons, Inc. would give. In his white paper, “Employee Engagement, Corporate Profitability, and Retirement Readiness," Glass argues that there... READ MORE

Generally, federal law requires employee benefit plans with 100 or more participants to have an audit as part of their obligation to file a Form 5500. Note that some pension plans with fewer than 100 participants also may be required to have an audit if they fail to meet certain conditions relating... READ MORE

Funds held in inherited IRAs are not retirement funds and must be included in a bankruptcy estate, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 12. The Court’s 9-0 ruling in Clark v. Rameker, No. 13-299 (U.S. 6/12/14), aff’d 714 F.3d 559 (7th Cir. 2013)) was definitive in drawing a distinction between... READ MORE

Have you voted yet in the market research ASPPA is conducting? The results are rolling in, but you can still participate in ASPPA’s effort to identify industry trends that regularly cause the most pain. After the first week, the top five pain points are:  Mergers and acquisitions Affiliated... READ MORE

Many sobering reports have been issued regarding the degree to which U.S. workers are preparing — or not — for retirement. The Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Personal Savings Initiative (PSI) may not be the first effort that seeks to help turn the tide of poor savings rates, but it has heft and... READ MORE

The federal government and U.S. workers agree that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — a.k.a. Obamacare — will affect the timing of retirements. However, IFAwebnews reports that there’s a wide gap between what the government and many workers expect that effect to be, according to a survey conducted for... READ MORE

When it comes to having sufficient funds during retirement, expectations are low and fears rife everywhere, according to a recent study. In “The Changing Face of Retirement: The Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey 2014,” the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and Aegon polled 16,000 employees... READ MORE

Fear of running out of money during retirement is common, but it’s mitigated by interest in saving — the importance of which is not lost on younger employees, according to a new BoA Merrill Lynch report. The Spring 2014 Merrill Edge Report is based on a semi-annual study that looks at the concerns... READ MORE

More often than not, employees who obtain investment advice do not follow it. And that’s among those who bother to seek it in the first place. The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey suggests that advisors have some work to do in boosting plan participants’... READ MORE