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A recent survey found that the percentage of companies participating in the survey that offer employee health benefits for retirees dropped from 32% in 2007 to 25% in 2012. (Other surveys have reported much lower numbers.) To put this disparity in perspective, nearly two-thirds of employers offered...
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Weighing in on the separate regulatory efforts underway at the SEC to establish a uniform fiduciary standard and at the DOL to redefine a fiduciary, 10 Senate Democrats urged the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to ensure that the two agencies coordinate their work. “We remain very...
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One overlooked factor in the sale of the Washington Post, announced on Monday: a massively overfunded pension plan. With $2.07 billion in assets and facing $1.47 billion in pension liabilities, the plan is overfunded to the tune of $604 million. The Post’s next owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,...
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Small business owners are offering and investing in 401(k) plans at rates considerably higher than they were five years ago, according to a nationwide survey by ShareBuilder 401k. Twenty-four percent of the 500 small business owners polled in June now offer a 401(k), up sharply from 10% in 2008....
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Not only do individuals who take out 401(k) loans deplete their retirement savings by the sheer act of withdrawing money from their plan, but a recent report from New York Life confirms that those who take out 401(k) loans also contribute to their plan at a lower rate. The average contribution rate...
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The reader poll has returned to NAPA Net! The regular poll, which was replaced during June and July by the 2014 NAPA 401(k) Summit poll, has been rechristened “Question of the Week.” It can be found at the bottom of the right column of any page on the portal. On mobile devices, scroll all the way...
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Chris Carosa of Fiduciary News tackles the question that seems to be on many people’s minds: What are the appropriate fees that an employer should pay for its 401(k) plan? Like most difficult questions, the answer is complicated. But perhaps even more important, how can an employer know if its plan...
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The upcoming NAPA DC Fly-in Forum, slated for Sept. 17-18 on Capitol Hill, presents both an opportunity to get the straight story on retirement policy from key players in Washington, and an opportunity to make your voice heard on the impact of possible changes in retirement policy, Brian Graff...
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Risk-averse investors have long turned to deferred income annuities to provide an income stream in retirement. In fact, while the overall annuity market has lagged since the 2008 market crash, DIAs have shined. Sales of nearly every other type of annuity declined in the first quarter of 2013, but...
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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 a financial advisor in Washington is representative of a...
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Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has a plan to solve the looming $2.7 trillion in unfunded state and local pension plans. Rather than go the route of Detroit and file for bankruptcy, Riordan proposes that state and local entities raise money through low-cost bonds guaranteed by the federal...
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Last week’s top five most-read posts on NAPA Net reflected keen interest in Matt Hutcheson’s prison sentence, participants’ reactions to receiving fee disclosure notices, the dismissal of an ERISA lawsuit against John Hancock, President Obama’s speech on who benefits from DC plans, and which mutual...
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It has become something of a truism in our industry that defined benefit plans are “better” than defined contribution plans. We’re told that returns are higher[1. In the days following publication of the EBRI Issue Brief, (“Reality Checks: A Comparative Analysis of Future Benefits from Private-...
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Congress wrapped up its business for the summer last week. The House of Representatives and the Senate are now in recess until Sept. 9. Last week, the House passed bipartisan legislation to address interest rates on federal student loans. There was no “stretch IRA” provision in the final student...
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The SEC and DOL recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to share information and coordinate efforts on matters of mutual interest. The MOU requires:• Regular meetings of DOL and SEC officials• Cross-training initiatives• Mutual access to non-public informationThe obvious area...
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With more and more wirehouse and regional reps turning to a fee-based financial planning model, experts say it’s getting harder for RIAs to distinguish themselves. Even if these reps are not acting as fiduciaries, there’s a huge challenge for RIAs to separate themselves from reps with the same...
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In the 2013 edition of the DCP Online Survey of 7,000 active DC participants, published in June, we focused on the behavior and attitudes of Job Changers — defined as active participants in DC plans who changed a full-time job in the past three years. To understand the magnitude of the orphaned...
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There is much concern about the lack of retirement coverage for employees at smaller companies. In turn, those companies are weary of the costs and complexities of running a 401(k) plan. As a result, unaffiliated MEPs have become popular. Some states have considered MEP bills; and the Treasury...
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While retirement income products struggle to gain significant traction in DC plans, BlackRock has announced 10 indices to help people approaching retirement calculate how much their savings will generate in income when they turn 65. Five bond funds are linked to these indices that adjust for...
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The final results of our online poll of ideas for sessions at next year’s NAPA 401(k) Summit are in! Here are the top 10 ideas:1. how to let the client know what has been accomplished for the plan, year-to-year2. How advisors should price their services3. should participants view their 401(k)s as...
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It’s no secret that DB plans generally outperform DC plans, but the gap in 2011 was striking — almost 3% — according to a study by Towers Watson. DB plans have outperformed DC plans in 13 of the last 17 years, leading over that period by an average of 76 BPs. There are clear benefits to DB plans,...
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Amid the ubiquitous reports over the last five years that Americans are not saving enough to retire, there emerges some much-needed good news regarding IRAs. According to recent research from Fidelity, average balances on IRAs that Fidelity administers topped $81,000 at the end of 2012, a 53%...
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The once-prominent retirement plan advisor and trustee who touted fiduciary standards was sentenced to 17 years in prison by a federal judge in Boise, Idaho. Rejecting Hutcheson’s plea to turn himself in later, the judge stated: "You're too smart, you're too devious. You're going to have to serve...
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Can a pre- or post-nuptial agreement override a spouse’s retirement plan beneficiary rights under ERISA? According to recent decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the answer is no. After having been married and divorced two times, a couple decided to remarry (again) and then executed...
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As we reported last week, the DOL has delayed enforcement of the 2013 round of 404a-5 participant fee disclosures for six months. The analysts at Relius have released two helpful follow-on resources — a technical update taking a deeper dive into the implications of the 404a-5 enforcement delay and...
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