Corporate Retirement Plan News | Compass Corporate Retirement Solutions BLOG

11 Aug

Survey Finds Gen Y in Trouble Financially

Many of the more than 87 million Americans age 18-34, popularly known as “Gen Y” are in financial trouble, according to survey results just released by Western Union.

The latest Western Union Money Mindset Index, a national survey of 3,000 consumers, finds nearly 30% of Gen Yers report having difficulty in managing their spending, more than 20% wait longer to pay their bills, and 35% have borrowed money from friends or family members.
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11 Aug

401(k) Day 2010 is about ‘Taking You There’

The Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (PSCA) has unveiled its 2010 401(k) Day campaign with the theme of “401(k) Day… Taking You There.”

A news release said 401(k) Day is an annual comprehensive communication and education strategy campaign designed to help sponsors educate their plan participants about the many advantages of participating in an employer-sponsored defined contribution plan. Officially, PSCA said this year’s 401(k) day falls on September 10, but plan sponsors “are encouraged to celebrate any day of the year that works best for their employees.”
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08 Jul

Will 401k World Change by Fall? 3 Pressing Regulatory Issues 401k Plan Sponsors Need to Know Right Now (Part I of II)

By Chris Carosa | June 15, 2010

They say things happen in threes. By the time the leaves begin to fall, this adage may prove true for 401k plan sponsors (and any ERISA fiduciary for that matter). Since the start of the year, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have worked diligently on developing a fresh regulatory framework. These potential new rules may dramatically change how 401k plan sponsors manage their companies’ retirement plans. Failure to understand the implication of these changes can ensnare companies and their ERISA trustees with unexpected liability issues.
Continue reading “Will 401k World Change by Fall? 3 Pressing Regulatory Issues 401k Plan Sponsors Need to Know Right Now (Part I of II)” »

08 Jul

The Government wants Your 401(k) and Retirement Account

By Scottsbluff : NE : USA | Jul 07, 2010

Hang onto your Individual Retirement Accounts, and 401(k) plans because the Federal Government wants them. According to an article by Goldworth, Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, and Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis Borzi head an endeavor to have Americans convert their retirement accounts. The Government wants them converted into annuities and Treasury bills, to fund the national debt. They need to sell $2 trillion dollars of bonds, and foreign countries aren’t buying like before. The world is concerned about the growing debt of the United States.
Continue reading “The Government wants Your 401(k) and Retirement Account” »

23 Jun

Is the Fiduciary Standard Enough? 3 Critical Fiduciary Duties Every ERISA Plan Sponsor Must Know

Congress, regulators and the financial industry itself sit on the cusp of requiring all financial service providers who provide investment advice to adopt the fiduciary standard. Now is a great time for ERISA Plan Sponsors (as well as those who provide investment advice to ERISA plans or participants), to familiarize themselves with the nature of fiduciary duties. The anticipated change in the law may expose these officers and vendors to a fiduciary liability they might not have anticipated.
Continue reading “Is the Fiduciary Standard Enough? 3 Critical Fiduciary Duties Every ERISA Plan Sponsor Must Know” »

23 Jun

Court Keeps 404(c) Shield in Place for Trustee

A retirement plan trustee was protected by Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) 404(c) safe harbor shield against a lawsuit by two 401(k) participants in connection with wrongdoing charges against the plan’s investment adviser.

The plaintiffs filed the suit after finding out that their accounts had been hit with a significant asset loss because of the activities of the adviser, whom both had appointed to manage their accounts.

The court noted that plaintiffs David Tullis and Michael Mack were two physicians who maintained pension funds through the Toledo Clinic Employees’ 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan, and that in the early 1990s, they chose William Davis of Continental Capital Corporation as their investment adviser.
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23 Jun

House Passes Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Relief Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that provides for defined contribution plan fee disclosure and temporarily eases pension funding requirements.

The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213) was considered by the House this week, after passing the Senate (see “Fee Disclosure Rides Along with Pension Relief”).
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27 May

401(k) Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Provisions of H.R. 4213

By
Kittredge, Betsy Miller
on May 21, 2010 1:09 PM
Protecting Americans’ Retirement Security

A majority of American workers rely on 401(k)-style plans to finance their retirements. Most account holders report that they do not know how much Wall Street middle men are taking from their retirement accounts. Just a 1-percentage-point in excessive fees can reduce a worker’s 401(k) account balance by as much as 20 percent or more over a career.
Continue reading “401(k) Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Provisions of H.R. 4213” »

27 May

Should You Adjust Your 401(k) Now?

By Brian O’Connell

Increasingly, economists and stock market pundits are sounding the alarm over an imminent bear market.

* Economist Nouriel Roubini predicts that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will fall by 20%.
* Reuter’s financial blogger Felix Salmon offers a similar warning, telling investors that unless you're a large institution, get out of the stock market right now. “Stocks are dangerous things to own,” writes Salmon. "We are entering an era of massive volatility. You, as an individual investor, just simply don't have the risk appetite to be able to deal with that kind of volatility."

Continue reading “Should You Adjust Your 401(k) Now?” »

12 May

2010 ERISA guide to reporting & disclosure

Link To PDF

This 2010 Guide to ERISA Reporting and Disclosure was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Human Resource Services practice to help plan sponsors, plan administrators, plan trustees, attorneys and accountants comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)and the Internal Revenue Code. The Guide is useful in:

* Identifying forms to be filed and distributed annually
* Developing controls for compliance, including an internal calendar for reporting and disclosure
* Determining and coordinating reporting and disclosure items for actuaries, attorneys and accountants to prepare
* Identifying special reporting and disclosure requirements for plan installation, amendment, termination, etc.
* Evaluating administrative considerations in establishing a new or supplemental plan
* Advising on responsibility for compliance with the reporting and disclosure rules