Automatic enrollment has long been touted – and proven – to be an effective way to overcome retirement savings inertia in 401(k) plans. But these days automatic enrollment plan design seems to be suffering from its own inertia.For all the good press and positive results that automatic enrollment... READ MORE

Regardless of income level, more than 60% of respondents in a new survey by MassMutual agree that they are behind when it comes to preparing for retirement, and many expressed a need for more education about retirement savings and personal financial management.The overall survey results show... READ MORE

Another “mega” university 403(b) plan finds itself in the excessive fee crosshairs of a participant-plaintiff suit.The latest is a suit (Short v. Brown Univ., D.R.I., No. 1:17-cv-00318, complaint filed 7/6/17) brought by three participants (Diane G. Short, Judith Daviau and Joseph Barboza)... READ MORE

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, crop up from time to time as being a product whose time has (nearly) come. But are you using them in your practice? And are you seeing others do so?The Investment Company Institute (ICI) reports assets of all exchange-traded funds rose in May by $59.77 billion (2.1... READ MORE

A recent survey found the biggest one-year increase in Roth contribution offerings among its clients in 2016, and another recently chronicled the potential impact of a switch to Roth for 401(k)s. What are NAPA Net readers’ reactions?For more than one in five (21%) of this week’s respondents, the... READ MORE

Editor's Note: This is the first quarterly message from Paul D'Aiutolo, NAPA's 2017-2018 President. It appears in the Summer issue of NAPA Net the Magazine, published in June, and is available in pdf form here.First and foremost, I want to say thank you to Sam Brandwein, NAPA’s Immediate Past... READ MORE

Like their large corporation counterparts, small business 401(k) plans are increasingly implementing best-in-class design features to improve the retirement readiness of their employees, Vanguard says in a recent report.The growing use of automatic enrollment, target-date funds, employer... READ MORE

The Labor Department may be reviewing the impact of the fiduciary rule, but they’d still like the court to dismiss challenges to it.On July 3 the DOL urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to (mostly) uphold the fiduciary regulation, saying that the plaintiffs in the case – including... READ MORE

The comment period on the fiduciary rule request for information (RFI) is short – just 15 days – and we now know when it begins: Thursday, July 6.Politico Pro reports that the Labor Department plans to publish its request for information on the fiduciary rule in the Federal Register on July 6,... READ MORE

While they’re not quite as strong as the numbers for the first quarter of the year, there should be plenty to celebrate in this year’s June 30 participant statements.For younger (age 25-34), less tenured (1-4 years) workers, the average 401(k) account balance has risen 21.7% year-to-date (that’s... READ MORE

A recent survey found the biggest one-year increase in Roth contribution offerings among its clients in 2016, and another recently chronicled the potential impact of a switch to Roth for 401(k)s. In this week's reader poll, we’d like to know: What are your plan sponsor clients are doing?T. Rowe... READ MORE

Cafaro Greenleaf has announced the launch of its new reporting system, which the firm says will allow fiduciaries to have access to the complete documented process of their investment selection and monitoring and provides clients with fiduciary protection.According to the firm, documentation of the... READ MORE