LPL Teams with Dave Ramsey in Financial Wellness Program

LPL has established a relationship with Ramsey Solutions to offer SmartDollar to LPL retirement plan advisers and plan sponsors.

Retirement plan advisers and plan sponsors of LPL Financial will be able to offer the financial wellness program, SmartDollar, to their participants. SmartDollar is the creation of Ramsey Solutions, Dave Ramsey’s personal finance organization. The program adds to the financial planning and financial education resources available on LPL’s Worksite Financial Solutions platform.

Created by financial expert Dave Ramsey, SmartDollar is designed to educate, inspire and empower employees to proactively take control of their money and get on track for retirement. It aims to help participants change their behavior toward money, and use their income to save and invest instead of paying consumer debt. SmartDollar will be offered as part of LPL’s Worksite Financial Solutions platform.

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LPL’s Worksite Financial Solutions delivers services to employees who participate in retirement plans managed by LPL plan advisers. The goal is to provide employers with a guidance-based, beginning-to-end retirement solution to help employees become more confident financially. Employees can use a range of services to save, track retirement plan assets and appropriately invest their savings.

Access to the program will better position workers to reach long-term goals, according to David Reich, executive vice president and head of Retirement Partners, LPL Financial. “We strive to provide the best options to advisers and plan sponsors so that they can customize programs to best address their needs,” he says. “We understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for employers and advisers to take in planning for the future.”

“With so many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, it’s no wonder that employees are not on track for retirement,” said Brian Hamilton, vice president of Financial Wellness for Ramsey Solutions. “SmartDollar is designed to get to the root of the problem and helps employees have a step-by-step plan to get on a budget, build their emergency savings and get out of debt so they free up their largest wealth-building tool: their income.”

Last September, LPL entered into an arrangement with Financial Finesse to provide wellness content through interactive webcasts and workshops. According to an LPL spokesman, Financial Finesse is no longer the exclusive vendor for LPL’s Worksite platform. New subscriptions to Financial Finesse’s learning center and platform must be established through Financial Finesse.

PBI Bank Settles with DOL over ESOP Transaction

PBI Bank will no longer serve as a trustee or service provider for any plan covered by ERISA, with a few exceptions.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has reached a settlement with PBI Bank in a lawsuit regarding the bank’s role as trustee of the Miller’s Health Systems, Inc. employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

In the suit, the DOL alleges that PBI Bank authorized the purchase of company stock by the plan for $40 million, an amount far in excess of the fair market value of the stock. It is also alleged that PBI Bank approved financing for the transaction at an excessive interest rate.

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The DOL charged PBI Bank with violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) after it determined the stock purchase was not made for the primary benefit of participants and did not promote employee ownership in Miller’s Health. The suit sought to require PBI Bank to restore all losses suffered by the ESOP, plus interest.

A federal court in Indiana has entered an Agreed Order and Judgment requiring PBI Bank to pay $1,052,613 to the ESOP to restore alleged losses. The terms of the judgment also require PBI to pay $83,750 to Miller’s Health Systems and penalties of $113,636 to the department for violating ERISA.

Neither Miller’s Health Systems nor PBI Bank have acknowledged any wrongdoing in the matter. However, PBI Bank, a subsidiary of Porter Bancorp in Louisville, Kentucky, has agreed to refrain from serving as a trustee or service provider for any plan covered by ERISA, with a few exceptions.

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