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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 8/22/2014
With the official report not due until September, a draft report released by the Oregon legislature's Task Force on Oregon Retirement Savings offers a blueprint of a proposed new mandatory auto-IRA program for the state. According to a report in the Oregon Statesman-Journal, the proposal calls for...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/22/2014
Advisors know that wellness programs — and increasingly financial wellness programs — are all the rage in corporate HR departments across the country. But one recently drew the attention — and a lawsuit — from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC said that Orion...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/22/2014
Despite their lack of retirement savings, a new survey finds that Millennials feel more financially secure than any other age group. Not only do Millennials — those between 18 and 29 years old — feel more secure in their jobs and more optimistic about their current financial situation than...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/21/2014
If you’ve been hiring, odds are you’ve stumbled across an embellishment or two. After all, a new CareerBuilder survey notes that 58% of hiring managers have caught a lie on a resume — and a third of these employers have seen an increase in resume embellishments post-recession. According to...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/20/2014
While plan sponsors and workers are not always aligned on issues of plan design, a new survey finds agreement on the number one reason for lack of plan participation — a lack of understanding. According to Deloitte’s Annual Defined Contribution Benchmarking Survey, the most-cited reason by...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/20/2014
A new survey claims that 401(k) participants are more likely to have someone change the oil in their car than to have someone help them choose their 401(k) investments. The nationwide survey of 1,000 401(k) plan participants, commissioned by Schwab Retirement Plan Services, found that 87%...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/20/2014
The U.S. Department of Labor has published a request for information on the use of brokerage windows, self-directed brokerage accounts and “similar features” in 401(k)-type plans. “We promised employers and other plan sponsors and fiduciaries that we would look into the use of brokerage...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/20/2014
Nearly 8 out of 10 investors say they are tapping into some form of financial advice in planning for retirement, but there’s a wide variety in how that is happening, and who is taking advantage of it, according to a new Gallup poll. A plurality — 44% — say they turn to a dedicated financial...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/19/2014
NFP reports that it has added 53 new advisors, all members of RPAG, one of the largest independent retirement plan consulting groups in the country. The announcement comes less than a month after NFP announced that 401(k)Advisors and RPAG have been integrated into NFP, with Vince Giovinazzo and...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/18/2014
How can the fiduciaries of terminated DC plans fulfill their obligations under ERISA to locate missing participants and properly distribute the participants’ account balances? It’s a question the Department of Labor answered in a Field Assistance Bulletin last week, while replacing prior...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/18/2014
With the ERISA fiduciary community still absorbing the impact of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the presumption of prudence standard for company stock in retirement plans, a federal appellate court has introduced a new and potentially complicating aspect to consider. The traditional...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/18/2014
The Washington State legislature had the right to eliminate state employee pension increases that were approved during the stock market boom of the 1990s, the Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously Aug. 14. In twin rulings, the Evergreen State’s high court found lawmakers were within...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/18/2014
The use of assumptions was the focus of a recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which not only highlighted the assumptions used in two separate retirement studies, but illustrated a real problem with their results. The EBRI report examined two earlier studies...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/15/2014
When it comes to benefit communications, traditional methods still dominate, but new digital delivery tools are expanding their reach, according to a new survey of employers. Group meetings and seminars are still considered the most successful communication methods, with 74% of employers...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/15/2014
Seen those reports that Gen Xers’ retirements are looking to be even more bleak than that of Baby Boomers? Well, you might want to take another look. A new report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) calls out two of those reports — one by the Center for Retirement Research...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/6/2014
A few months back, I was intrigued to catch several episodes of “Cosmos,” an updated version of the classic 1980 Carl Sagan series. Along with the significantly expanded and enhanced visuals and (to me, anyway, generally annoying) animations, the series recounted the work, travails and...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/4/2014
While the prospects for “comprehensive tax reform” may seem remote in this highly charged election year, the current tax preferences accorded employee benefits continue to be a focus of much discussion among policymakers and academics. Retirement plan advisors might well be inclined to gloss over...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 7/25/2014
My wife and I recently celebrated our wedding anniversary. It was a special day, as they all are, but as I thought back on the events of our life together, I was struck by the realization that I have now been married for about half my life. Not that I didn’t expect to remain married, or to live...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 7/18/2014
I’ve been hooked on the convenience of GPS systems since the first time one was included in the price of a rental car on a family trip in unfamiliar territory. There are, of course, horror stories about drivers who have blindly followed GPS instructions without paying attention to what they can see...
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