If Congress and the Administration fail to raise the debt ceiling, American workers’ 401(k) account balances could fall by more than 20%, according to new research from ASPPA. That would mean more than $2 trillion lost from private employer-based DC plans and IRAs. The ASPPA analysis gauges the... READ MORE

What resources would financial advisors like to have to advance their expertise in the areas of retirement income planning and strategy? According to the September edition of Russell Investments’ quarterly Financial Professional Outlook, nearly all respondents said they would like something to help... READ MORE

The highly anticipated debut of Schwab’s all-ETF platform has been delayed due to what company spokespeople are calling regulatory issues. The firm’s all-index platform, which launched in 2012, has won more than 80 clients. One of the issues with the ETF platform is the need for fractional shares... READ MORE

The ERISA consultants at the Columbia Management Retirement Learning Center Resource Desk regularly receive calls from financial advisors on a broad array of technical topics related to IRAs and qualified retirement plans. A recent call with an advisor in Massachusetts is representative of a common... READ MORE

Retirement plan assets have reached almost $21 trillion, acounting for 43% of all household financial assets, according to the ICI. Assets are up 1% since the end of Q1 2013 and 6% since the end of 2012. According to the ICI, assets in DC plans and IRAs have swelled to $11 trillion, with 401(k)... READ MORE

The Los Angeles Times weighs in on the raging debate over active versus passive investing. Comparing an “average” diversified large cap actively managed fund to an S&P 500 Vanguard passive fund, the results clearly favored the indexing approach, with a 10-year return of $20,002 versus $18,840,... READ MORE

Delivery of the NAPA Net Daily of Friday, Oct. 4 was blocked. Apparently our IP address has been flagged by a firm that identifies likely sources of spam. As soon as the issue is rectified, delivery will resume. Since you're already here, you can read the posts that would have been in Friday's... READ MORE

As discussed in my June 27, 2013 post, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. On Aug. 29, 2013, the IRS issued preliminary guidance regarding the effects of Windsor in Revenue Ruling 2013-17. On Oct. 4, 2013... READ MORE

With the 2014 NAPA 401(k) Summit now just over five months away, the pieces of what promises to be a standout program are starting to fall into place. The latest news: two influential congressional insiders — Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) and former congressman Jim McCrery (R-LA) have signed on as... READ MORE

The question is when, not if, interest rates will rise. Here are some options plan sponsors are adding to prepare, according to P&I:• shorter duration bonds• international bonds• TIPs and funds that include them• unconstrained bondsPassive bond funds are also falling out of favor.But just as... READ MORE

The ERISA consultants at the Columbia Management Retirement Learning Center Resource Desk regularly receive calls from financial advisors on a broad array of technical topics related to IRAs and qualified retirement plans. A recent call with an advisor in California is representative of a common... READ MORE

A subcommittee of the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee has submitted a draft “Recommendation of the Investor as Purchaser Subcommittee Broker-Dealer Fiduciary Duty” in advance of a scheduled Oct. 10, 2013 meeting of the Committee. The draft document from the Committee’s “Investor as Purchaser”... READ MORE