Advertisement
News Archive
Jay Clayton was sworn into office last week by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy as the 32nd Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.Clayton was nominated to chair the SEC on Jan. 20, 2017, by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 2, 2017.Previously, Clayton...
READ MORE
Americans are counting on their 401(k) to be a major source of income in retirement at the highest level in nearly a decade.A new Gallup poll finds that 50% of nonretired Americans expect their 401(k) or other retirement savings account to be a major source of income in their golden years – and...
READ MORE
The House Financial Services Committee approved legislation May 4 that would rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and provisions of Dodd-Frank, and repeal the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule.The 34-26 vote along party lines followed three days of intense debate regarding the Financial...
READ MORE
House Republicans narrowly passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a significant overhaul of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that significantly expands health savings accounts (HSAs).HSAs are triple tax-advantage accounts that eligible individuals can use for current and future health care...
READ MORE
A recent report notes that the most common reason plan sponsors picked their plan’s default rate is because it was recommended by an industry consultant or other professional. This week we asked readers to share their most recommended – and rejected – ideas.Not surprisingly, this week’s respondents...
READ MORE
Having dealt with the requirements of ERISA’s prudent man rule and of the best-interest standard of care for IRAs and plans, noted ERISA attorney Fred Reish now examines the requirements of the two prohibited transaction exemptions.In his most recent blog post, Reish reminds that the two exemptions...
READ MORE
A new survey finds that debt, exercise and work reorganizations can have a huge influence on worker well-being. And you might be surprised at which generational cohort is taking it harder than anyone else.This year, the average person will most likely experience four life events such as starting a...
READ MORE
Having moved to unwind the Obama administration’s safe harbor exempting municipalities’ auto-IRA programs from ERISA, it now looks as though the state-run program version will meet the same fate.On May 3 the Senate passed H.J.Res. 66 by a vote of 50-49, echoing action taken by the House of...
READ MORE
Arguments by a plan's fiduciaries that a plaintiff’s claims were time-barred under ERISA’s statute of limitations (mostly) fell short.The suit, Creamer v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (C.D. Cal., No. 2:16-cv-09321), filed Dec. 16, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Central...
READ MORE
In a recent conversation, a very experienced retirement plan advisor shared with us that for years, he could walk into a prospective company, immediately demonstrate his value, and easily close the deal.He even said (in an old-timey, reminiscing kind of way), “One time, I sold a plan sponsor with a...
READ MORE
Senate Republicans feel they have the votes to undo the Department of Labor’s rules crafting a safe harbor that exempted states’ auto-IRA programs from ERISA.The vote on H.J.Res. 66, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution cancelling the Obama administration’s regulation on state government-run...
READ MORE
Amid all the changes and uncertainty that 2017 has brought so far, it is also the year that the first wave of the Baby Boom generation must start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), and the number doing so will only grow from this point.Most plan participants who roll their money out of...
READ MORE
The average 401(k) balance ended the first quarter like a lion, and there was nothing mild about the gains in the first month of the second quarter.In April the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found that the average account balance for younger (25-34), less tenured (1-4 years...
READ MORE
It’s tempting to believe the report that Millennials spend more on coffee than they save for their eventual retirement. Especially if one has even one eye open at Starbucks. But a recent analysis challenges what seems to be conventional wisdom.In “Fake News Fact Check: Do Millennials Spend More on...
READ MORE
One of the most important – and, in my experience, least understood – aspects of plan administration is the requirement that those who handle plan funds and other property be covered by a fidelity bond.While ERISA requires the bond to protect the plan from losses resulting from acts of fraud or...
READ MORE
It’s not unusual to find a plan fiduciary sued for keeping stock in a plan after it has dropped in value. What’s less common is the situation where a plan fiduciary is sued for too quickly discarding a stock investment by the plan.In June 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a...
READ MORE
A new Harris Poll survey claims that fake financial news is impacting Americans’ ability to make retirement, investment and health care decisions.Nearly two-thirds (63%) say that the spread of fake news has made it more difficult to make critical financial decisions, specifically: health care...
READ MORE
Colorado’s proposal to create a state-sponsored retirement savings program for private sector workers fell short in a Senate vote April 26.The vote to postpone consideration of the measure indefinitely fell along party lines in the GOP-led Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs...
READ MORE
The Labor Department is planning to undertake a long-term research study that will track U.S. households over several years “in order to collect data and answer important research questions on how retirement planning strategies and decisions evolve over time.”The Labor Department has submitted for...
READ MORE
New research finds concerns about state-run retirement plans for private sector workers among small business owners – but also ignorance about the program.Recently LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute conducted four focus groups conducted by Greenwald & Associates comprised of small-business...
READ MORE
For the rest of this year – the “transition period” – most firms will use either the Best Interest Contract Exemption or (more likely) the “transition” version. What will that mean for you?In his latest blog post, noted ERISA attorney Fred Reish reminds that, following the Labor Department’s delay...
READ MORE
A recent report notes that the most common reason plan sponsors picked their plan’s default rate is because it was recommended by an industry consultant or other professional. But this week we’d like to know: What do you most often recommend that plan sponsors don’t accept?Of course, every plan...
READ MORE
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor.The Senate voted 60-38 in favor of confirming Acosta on April 27. He was approved March 30 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on a 12-11 party-line vote.Currently Acosta serves as dean of Florida...
READ MORE
New research suggests that a few relatively minor changes in plan design – heavily influenced by advisors – can have a significant impact on employee savings levels.The analysis by David Blanchett, Morningstar’s Head of Retirement Research, uses a combination of plan data and online participant...
READ MORE
A recent analysis by Morningstar indicates that target-date fund flows are favoring passive strategies. Have those trends impacted NAPA Net readers?Roughly 43% of respondents to this week’s reader poll say they currently recommend three to five TDFs, with the remaining 57% split between those who...
READ MORE
Pages
Most Popular
NAPA's 401(k) Rollover Specialist (k)RS Credential
Recent Comments