Category Archives: Plan Education

28 Oct

Senate Hearing Asks, Are Target-Date Funds Missing the Mark?

Nevin E. Adams, JD

October 26, 2009 — This week a Senate committee will once again take up the topic of target-date funds. —

U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, today released a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examining the effect automatic enrollment has on 401(k) participation and retirement savings (see GAO Says Automatic IRA no Silver Bullet), and also announced panelists for a hearing titled, “Default Nation: Are 401(k) Target Date Funds Missing the Mark?”
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06 Oct

GAO: Higher fees more likely in 403(b) plans

By Doug Halonen
October 5, 2009, 3:44 PM ET

Participants in 403(b) plans are more likely to pay higher fees than those in other kinds of defined contribution plans, in part because 403(b) plans don’t have the resources to hire retirement plan specialists, according to a GAO report.

While not providing any data comparing fees paid by participants in different kinds of DC plans, the Government Accountability Office report, based on GAO interviews with DC plan experts, said sponsors of 403(b) plans generally take fewer actions to decrease participant fees than sponsors of other kinds of DC plans.
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01 Oct

NJ Companies See Lower Retirement Participation Rates

Rebecca Moore

September 30, 2009 — Four-in-10 surveyed New Jersey plan sponsors use a financial adviser to help educate employees, while 33% do not provide any help in educating employees regarding their 401(k) plans. —

The survey by O’Meara Financial Group also found New Jersey’s economy has affected retirement plan participation rates and employer contributions. A release of the study results said 14% of the New Jersey employers surveyed have experienced an increase in retirement plan participation, while 35% have seen a decrease. More than a third (35%) of respondents said they have added automatic enrollment to their plans.
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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

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.
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14 Sep

Retirement Losses among Worst Effects of Recession

Fred Schneyer

September 14, 2009 — Some 56% of respondents in a recent survey said their retirement savings losses were among the most significant impacts on their lives from the economic downturn.

An American Express news release about its spending poll also reported that 54% of respondents cited stock market losses, while 74% pointed to the trauma of seeing family and friends affected by the recession as key impacts the recession had on their lives.
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