In late June, the Labor Department issued a proposed rule innocuously titled “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments.” While the proposed rule itself was relatively short and largely uncontroversial, the preamble and supporting analysis of costs left little doubt that the authors saw a... READ MORE

By all accounts last week was pretty bad for the market. All of the major indices fell by more than 10%, and the business news outlets all highlighted that it was the markets’ worst weekly decline since October 2008.  Comparisons to the financial crisis that began in October 2007 are as inevitable... READ MORE

Surveys of small business owners have consistently shown cost to be a significant impediment to the adoption of a retirement plan for employees. Well, the recently enacted SECURE Act has a provision that could really make a difference.   Congress has previously tried to address this concern by... READ MORE

If your workforce includes recent college graduates – or even not-so-recent college graduates – it’s likely that some of them have debt associated with their college years – and just as likely that it’s hampering their retirement savings.  Any number of studies have chronicled the impact of this... READ MORE

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board has challenged a specific “pay for” provision in the SECURE Act. But they’re missing the big(ger) picture. One of the main reasons the SECURE Act passed the House of Representatives by the large margin of 417-3 was that, as the WSJ acknowledges, it was “... READ MORE

The mid-terms are over and the Democrats took back control of the House for the first time since 2010, while the GOP slightly expanded its hold on the Senate majority. Believe it or not, while the talk outside the Beltway has largely focused on the prospects for even more gridlock, the prospects... READ MORE

The 21st Century is nearly two decades old — so why are we still relying on 17th Century technology for critical participant communications?A generation ago, plan sponsors only had to worry about the annual delivery of a Summary Plan Description. Much has changed since then, but not the mandated... READ MORE

The November election was a shock to many people. Few anticipated the outcome, which created a political environment that is the most conducive to a comprehensive reform of the tax code since it last happened 30 years ago. Given this reality, a close examination of the Tax Reform Blueprint issued... READ MORE

The 2016 general election is upon us, a knock-down, drag-out fight between two intensely polarizing figures – Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald J. Trump – vying for votes among an increasingly polarized electorate. In this intensely partisan political atmosphere, it is easy for the topic of saving... READ MORE