Category Archives: Defined Benifit

05 Sep

Uncertainty Makes It Hard to Plan for Retirement

Shifting and uncertain retirement dates are becoming the norm in the
American workforce, making it harder for employees to establish
meaningful financial plans, recent MetLife research indicates.
According to the company’s 9th annual Employee Benefits Trends Study, four out of ten employees have changed their predicted retirement date since last year, and 30% raised their expected retirement age. Furthermore, this trepidation about hitting retirement goals could be accelerating; 59% of workers in the study expect to work beyond age 65, compared with 52% one year ago.

Given these indistinct targets, many employees lack confidence in their ability to prepare for the culmination of their working years, with only 39% feeling assured about managing the funds in their employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to the survey findings.
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16 Jun

Who is The New Fiduciary?

The Department of Labor’s (DoL) proposal for a new definition of fiduciary was discussed at the PLANSPONSOR National Conference—and a representative from the DoL was present to add his viewpoint.

Michael Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the DoL, today began by saying how the concept of fiduciary is the core component of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  ERISA was created to protect participants and their assets, he said, and the fiduciary serves as the umbrella for these protections. The original five-part test to determine if one is acting as a fiduciary (the advice is individualized, provided for a fee, provided on a regular basis, pursuant to a mutual understanding between the plan sponsor and adviser, and the advice will form the primary basis for the plan’s decision-making), is being overhauled, Davis said, to better protect plan sponsors—particularly sponsors of smaller plans.
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11 Aug

‘Wrong’ Headed? 10 things you’re probably STILL doing wrong as a plan fiduciary

In this as, perhaps, many professional endeavors, it seems that the more you know, the more you know you don’t know. Moreover, the standards imposed on plan fiduciaries by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are not only demanding, they may be the highest found in law—and with personal liability imposed, to boot.

About a year ago, I compiled a list of “10 things you’re (probably) doing wrong as a plan fiduciary.” By all accounts, it was well-read, much forwarded, and useful in terms of helping plan sponsors and retirement plan advisers highlight areas of possible improvement with your plan sponsor clients.
Continue reading “‘Wrong’ Headed? 10 things you’re probably STILL doing wrong as a plan fiduciary” »

24 Sep

Investors Need Adviser Help to Navigate

Fred Schneyer

September 23, 2009 — Financial advisers might have significant opportunity helping Americans figure out where their investments are and where they need to go, a Hartford poll suggests. —

Americans in a recent poll were less confident and more conservative about their personal finances than they were a year ago, according to a news release about the Hartford Mutual Funds Findings.
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17 Sep

Who Can Advise At Company Retirement Plans

By Kristen McNamara

Independent financial advisers will benefit from the rule-making that is under way regarding which financial professionals can advise participants in company-sponsored retirement plans — and which ones can’t.

Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary of Labor of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, said this week the department expects to strike a proposal that would have allowed advisers connected to investment companies to provide retirement advice.
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17 Sep

Experts Pin Hopes on Labor Department for Retirement Plan Fee Disclosure Regulations

Retirement plan fee disclosure regulations from the Department of Labor are preferable to legislation because they allow for a comment period from the industry.

Industry experts are hoping the Department of Labor pre-empts Congress in issuing new regulations mandating increased disclosures for retirement plan fees.
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17 Sep

Early Returns in 401(k) Fee Cases Favor Defendants

September 16, 2009
Bob Eccles, Wayne Jacobsen

A recent spate of so-called 401(k) fee cases has generated anxiety among employers and 401(k) service providers. While the majority of these cases remain undecided, the early returns are positive for employers and service providers. This Client Alert provides a brief overview of the most significant developments and expected future events in these cases.
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14 Sep

Labor Department nixes Bush rule to let brokers advise 401(k) plans

By Sara Hansard
September 14, 2009, 4:38 PM EST

The Department of Labor is killing a regulation issued in the last days of the Bush administration that would have allowed advisers affiliated with mutual funds, brokerage firms and other companies that sell investments to provide investment advice to 401(k) participants.

“We believe the final investment advice regulation published in the Jan. 21, Federal Register went too far in permitting investment advice arrangements not specifically contemplated by the statutory exemption,” said Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, a unit of the Labor Department.
Continue reading “Labor Department nixes Bush rule to let brokers advise 401(k) plans” »


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