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Technical Resources
Over the coming weeks, a question that you’re likely to see posed (again and again) about the President’s Executive Order is – “will it work?”“Work” in this case means to expand access to workplace retirement plans, for that is the stated policy of the Trump administration in issuing the order.The...
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You may have taken a summer vacation, but the average 401(k) balance kept right on working!
According to estimates from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) based on the actual contribution records and investment choices of several million consistent participants in the EBRI/...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has modified the Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2018 Plan Years. The PBGC made the announcement on Sept. 4.
The PBGC made the modifications on pages 2 and 35 of the instructions. On page 2, the PBGC updated payment address information; on...
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President Trump’s Executive Order has three specific directives – and some specific timetables for action on those directives.
The Executive Order begins by stating, “It shall be the policy of the Federal Government to expand access to workplace retirement plans for American workers.”
The much-...
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Americans continued to save for retirement through their DC plans, with most maintaining their assets allocations even as stock values edged down during the early part of the year.
In the first quarter of 2018, 5.1% of DC plan participants changed the asset allocation of their account balances,...
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Single premium pension buy-outs remained strong in the second quarter of 2018, says a recent report, marking more than four years in which sales exceeded $1 billion in each quarter.The LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute reports that in the second quarter of 2018, pension buy-outs were greater than $...
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The retirement industry is all abuzz about President Trump’s appearance in Charlotte Aug. 31 – and about what might be the subject of that executive order “strengthening retirement security in America.”
While it’s just speculation at this point, published reports have focused on the prospect of...
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President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on retirement security at a public appearance in Charlotte, NC on Friday, Aug. 31.The White House announced the appearance Aug. 28. Published reports note that at around 2:00 p.m., President Trump is scheduled to go to Central Piedmont Community...
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It is not unusual to delegate or even outsource functions investment committees commonly perform. But taking that step doesn’t mean washing the hands of all involvement with governance. A recent blog post makes suggestions regarding what can be done to continue to monitor and exercise active...
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Most people view automatic enrollment in a 401(k) as a good thing1 – but apparently it has a heretofore unappreciated “dark” side.At least that was the focus of a headline in a recent Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) that asked (and answered) the provocative question: “401(k) or...
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Witnesses at a U.S. Senate hearing addressed industry efforts to improve financial literacy and offered a number of policy solutions to alleviate financial stress and improve retirement security.The Aug. 21 hearing by the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary...
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Automatic enrollment has long been touted as an effective means to increase participation in retirement plans. And a recent study has found strong retention among employees added to plan rolls automatically.
In a recent study, the Pew Charitable Trusts found that overall retention rates among...
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When ranking their interest in retirement education, employee plan participants are most interested in financial wellness and better understanding retirement planning resources available to them, new survey results reveal.Of the more than 9,200 participants who took part in CUNA Mutual Retirement...
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Initially dismissed without prejudice, a suit that challenged a stable value provider of taking “hundreds of millions of dollars annually in undisclosed compensation” from retirement plans and participants has come up short.
Here Darlene Dezelan, a participant of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center...
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Scottrade’s attempt to make a federal case of an administrative proceeding filed by Massachusetts alleging violations of internal policies adopted in anticipation of the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule has been rebuffed by a federal judge.
Here the plaintiff (the Enforcement Section of the...
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Participants took a vacation from 401(k) transfers in July, with no above-normal trading days – the first time that’s happened in more than a year.Not that it hasn’t been heading in that direction; May and June each saw only one day of above-normal trading. Still, July was the first month since...
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Being a fiduciary is serious business. And complex. But a recent blog entry boils it down to seven common sense rules for a fiduciary to keep in mind.In “7 Rules Every Professional Fiduciary Must Follow,” Christopher Carosa of Fiduciary News suggests that complying with the legalities of serving as...
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Concerns about increasing health care costs and the potential to outlive savings are dampening employers’ confidence in their employees’ retirement futures, new survey results show.Nearly half of nonprofit and corporate, for-profit employers are only “somewhat confident” in their employees’...
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The Pension Benefit and Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has proposed changes to two schedules to the Form 5500 — Schedule R, Retirement Plan Information, and Schedule SB, Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Information.Schedule RThe PBGC is proposing to modify Schedule R to obtain...
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You may have seen recent coverage of a new “study” that found a surge in bankruptcy filings among retirees.
The New York Times led the charge with “Too Little Too Late: Bankruptcy Booms Among Older Americans,” and the Wall Street Journal jumped in with “Bankruptcy Filings Surge Among Older...
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