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Do private workers envy their fellow Americans, especially public workers, because they have amassed rich pensions? As reported last year during the election, there’s a growing divide between people who have a pension and those who don’t — a divide that may turn out to be more significant than... READ MORE

John Hancock’s Retirement Plan Services (RPS) division enjoyed a 28% increase in sales last year and drove overall performance of the company, as Manulife reported 2012 sales and earnings. Driven by higher plan turnover and Hartford’s announced sale in 2012, RPS achieved record sales in the fourth... READ MORE

At a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing last week, “Pension Savings: Are Workers Saving Enough for Retirement?”, the tone and substance of the hearing were generally encouraging for advocates of the employer based retirement system. Committee members were... READ MORE

While some people, especially in the financial services industry, are enjoying low or almost zero interest credit fueled by the Fed, PIMCO’s Bill Gross warns that when the music stops — which could be soon — the party will end. For an example, look at Japan, Gross says — but there are options for... READ MORE

On a monthly basis, EBRI produces estimates of the cumulative changes in 401(k) account balances — as a result of both contributions and investment returns — for several combinations of participant age and tenure. For individuals in the EBRI database during January, the average account balance rose... READ MORE

Busy week. Here’s what we covered:Industry Trends & ResearchEBRI’s Nevin Adams, noted writer and prolific NAPA Conductor, opined about how hard it is for plan advisors to know how much participants should save with the moving target of health care costs; EBRI research indicated that more people... READ MORE

The recent Wall Street Journal article reporting that a surprisingly high percentage of Americans are likely to delay retirement is causing a real buzz and highlighting the problem that almost everyone in the retirement industry knows: Most people are not saving enough to retire comfortably. Based... READ MORE

What do Congress and federal regulators have in store for the retirement industry in 2013? According to Aon Hewitt, although health care will get the most attention on the benefits front, retirement issues will get their fair share of attention from federal regulators, including:• Definition of... READ MORE