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Portal Conductor, Columnist: Nevin E. Adams, JD
Nevin is the former Chief Content Officer and Head of Retirement Research for the American Retirement Association. One of the retirement industry’s most prolific writers, these days he’s “retired,” which means he writes less, but continues to keep his eye on developments in, and threats to, the nation’s private retirement system.
In addition to helping guide the agenda development for the NAPA 401(k) Summit, he’s also the “Nevin” in the Nevin & Fred podcast (along with renowned ERISA attorney Fred Reish), offering irreverent, but relevant perspectives on the critical issues confronting plan sponsors, advisors, and retirement industry professionals.
Article Index
By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/26/2015
While each client, and each client's situation, is unique, this week’s reader poll finds a big gap between what advisors want to talk about and what plan sponsors want to cover in their periodic review meetings.The meeting frequency cited most often was semi-annual (56%), while quarterly was cited...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/24/2015
Every plan, and every investment committee, is unique — and yet, conducted properly, there are inevitably areas of commonality. As the quarter draws to a close and preparations for these meetings get underway, here are some questions that could enhance the discussion, if not the outcome, of your...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/22/2015
As the second quarter draws to a close, many of you will be making preparations for your quarterly client reviews.While each client and each client’s situation is unique, inevitably there are things you need to talk about, things you want to talk about, and things your clients want you to talk...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/19/2015
Think you’ve had a bad week? It could have been worse. Check out what happened to these guys…
In Sutton, South London, a passerby spotted a snake on a patio there…summoned police…who initially kept their distance…waiting for the snake to move…for over an hour, as it turned out…only to find out…...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/19/2015
By most accounts, target-date funds are the predominant default investment vehicle on most 401(k) plan menus today. But this week we asked NAPA Net readers about the qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) they primarily recommend, and why.Not surprisingly, TDFs did indeed dominate the...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/17/2015
A House bill plans to stop the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal by cutting off funding to implement the measure.The measure was included by the House Appropriations Committee in the draft fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill, slated to considered in...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/17/2015
New research shows that so-called “automatic” IRAs can help narrow the retirement savings gap, but it’s going to take more than a 3% deferral rate to close it.Data has shown that workers who have access to a retirement plan at work are 15 times more likely to take advantage of the opportunity to...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/16/2015
A research paper finds that introducing a Roth 401(k) option doesn’t have much impact on current plan savings rates — but what does that have to do with their preference for tax preferences?Well, according to “Does Front-Loading Taxation Increase Savings? Evidence from Roth 401(k) Introductions,”...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/16/2015
A new report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirms that in the years to come the U.S. Treasury will receive “significant” tax revenues from retirement plan withdrawals.In fact, the CBO’s extended baseline projects that revenues as a share of GDP are projected to climb by about 0.3...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/15/2015
By most accounts, target-date funds are the predominant default investment vehicle chosen by 401(k) plan sponsors today. In this week's reader poll we’d like to know what you recommend — and why — and what response you get from plan sponsors, if any.All responses are confidential, of course....
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/12/2015
Think you’ve had a bad week? It could have been worse. Check out what happened to these guys…
In St. Johnsbury, Vermont, James Lowe managed to get out of jury duty last week. But this is not the way to do that.
In Red Bay, Alabama, Christopher Trail walked into the Redmont Pharmacy there, armed...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/12/2015
If retirement has a soundtrack, it’s going to be one heck of a playlist.This week we asked NAPA Net readers to vote on the best song(s) about retirement. We not only got a lot of votes, we also received a lot of additional “requests.” I think it’s fair to say we have something for just about every...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/9/2015
Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled with its conclusion: “Most Households Approaching Retirement Have Low Savings.” The title was no surprise — though the definitions of “most” and “low” bear further understanding.The GAO Analysis The GAO based most of its...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/8/2015
Summer may still technically be a couple of weeks off, but as the temperatures rise, the car windows (and tops) are lowering, and the music is wafting out at louder volumes. So, as you crank up the tunes (in your car or personal listening device), this week we wanted to give you a chance to think...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/5/2015
Think you’ve had a bad week? It could have been worse. Check out what happened to these guys…
In Franklin, Tennessee, Anna Thomas, 28, was charged with driving under the influence after crashing her car into a mailbox…and running into a ditch…now, Anna has an unfortunate history with DUI…but you’...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/5/2015
It’s National Business Etiquette Week — and NAPA Net readers have weighed in with their sense of the worst business etiquette transgressions.First and foremost, if you don’t have something good to say, don’t say anything — readers said that “criticizing others publicly” was, far and away, the worst...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/3/2015
A new research paper investigates whether mutual fund families acting as service providers in 401(k) plans display favoritism toward their own affiliated funds.The title of the paper — “It Pays to Set the Menu: Mutual Fund Investment Options in 401(k) Plans” — gives away the conclusion. The...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/2/2015
The headlines are all about revenue-sharing, conflicts of interest and statutes of limitation — but the things that are likely to get plans and plan sponsors in trouble are a lot more mundane.Here are seven that are more likely to gum up the works for your average plan sponsor. 1. Not following...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/29/2015
Think you’ve had a bad week? It could have been worse. Check out what happened to these guys…
In Mesa, Arizona, Jeremy James Wallace, 30, had something he wanted to sell…so he went to Craigslist…and found out the hard way that there are some things you shouldn’t sell on Craigslist.
In Bedford,...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/28/2015
The reason Americans aren’t saving enough may be that we don’t speak the “right” language.Research by UCLA behavioral economist Keith Chen suggests that there’s a link, and perhaps even a causal link, between a speaker’s language and his or her propensity to save. Chen points out that languages...
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