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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 4/24/2015
A recent survey finds that three-quarters of advisors are using social media for business, and two-thirds (66%) have gained new clients via social media — up from 49% in 2013.In fact, the 2014 Putnam Investments Survey of Financial Advisors’ Use of Social Media found that more than a third (36%) of...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/23/2015
For an increasing number of Americans, work is not just the place where they go to earn money to support themselves, it’s where they also expect to learn how much of that income should be saved for retirement. And according to a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey, a growing amount of...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/21/2015
The 2015 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates finds that the nation’s retirement confidence continues to rebound from the record lows experienced between 2009 and 2013 — but exclusively among those who, directly or...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/21/2015
When is a plan not a plan? When you have a retirement plan at work, apparently.The good news is that the 2015 Retirement Confidence Survey shows a strengthening of retirement confidence — at least among those who had some kind of retirement plan (DB, DC or IRA). Indeed, among that group, the number...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/20/2015
A new study maintains that, compared with other RIAs, those flagged as “marketing leaders” are seeing 40% more client growth, 23% more asset growth and 20% more revenue growth. So how do they do it?According to the 2014 Fidelity RIA Benchmarking Study, these leaders are 42% more likely to...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/16/2015
In the wake of several EEOC lawsuits regarding employer-based wellness programs, the Obama administration has issued guidance on how to avoid running afoul of nondiscrimination laws.As advisors know, a growing number of employers that provide health insurance also offer workplace wellness programs...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/16/2015
It’s not altogether clear (to me at least) what insights one might glean from the answer(s) to that particular interview question. Of course, that might explain why it was voted the weirdest interview question in this week’s NAPA Net reader poll.Some people maintain that weird interview questions...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/15/2015
Industry insider and fiduciary geek Pete Swisher has penned a timely and insightful piece on the history and potential future impact of the Department of Labor’s new “conflict of interest” proposal.Swisher, who has spent years studying and preparing for the issues surrounding the “definition of ‘...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/15/2015
The Department of Labor’s long-awaited fiduciary reproposal claims to protect consumers from “conflicts of interest” in retirement advice — but at what cost?While initial concerns about preserving the ability for 401(k) participants to work with the advisor of their choice on rollovers appear to be...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/14/2015
It’s been a long time coming, but after a nearly five-year odyssey the Department of Labor on April 14 unveiled a proposed regulation that redefines who a plan fiduciary is — and makes it clear that the Obama administration intends the rule to be a way to increase consumer protections for plan...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/14/2015
Last week I highlighted three “myths” about the retirement system that will not die — all the more distressing because they are perpetuated by retirement industry pundits. Here are three more that (mostly) aren’t perpetuated by those who actually work with retirement plans, but by academics....
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/13/2015
Years back, a friend of mine told me about an outlandish interview question.The question was simply this; if you could be any kind of tree, what kind would you be — and why?Now, as such questions go, it’s rather tame. Depending on who you ask, these kind of questions are designed to get past “...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/9/2015
We live in an era of expanding electronic communications — but there are limits for ERISA plans, as a recent federal court ruling reminds us.As paper virtually disappears from the workplace, we will surely see a softening of the conditions imposed by the DOL on the electronic distribution of...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/9/2015
How would you react if the star manager for your plan’s only fixed income option left his firm? How would you address inadequate savings in your DC plan? Your DB plan has dropped to a 70% funded status — now what?These questions — and many others — are faced by plan sponsors, fiduciaries and their...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/9/2015
There are a lot of things that can shake one’s confidence about retirement readiness — but American workers may be their own worst enemies.According to this week’s poll of NAPA Net readers, the most likely culprit behind retirement insecurity is not saving at all, with a close second being not...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/7/2015
Ours is a complex and complicated business — constantly changing and evolving. And yet, there are key fallacies about today’s retirement system — and how it compares with what used to be — that will not go away.Back in the good old days being “covered” by a pension plan meant you would actually get...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/7/2015
The United States Supreme Court recently agreed to hear another ERISA case, this one dealing with the ability of a plan fiduciary to recover an overpayment.The high court granted certiorari in the case of Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan to decide...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 4/6/2015
Seems like every other week there is a survey, or a story about a survey, that purports to chronicle Americans’ confidence (or lack thereof) about their prospects for a financially viable retirement.Those results frequently seem at odds with the financial realities shared by survey respondents, but...
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