As a result, insurers are scrutinizing potential customers more carefully, asking for extensive documentation and proof of compliance with stated policies.

Thomas Dodd, executive director of Pavilion Advisory Group, speaks to the importance of implementing a strategic withdrawal plan once retirees initiate distributions of DC plan assets.

As one of the first steps of pursuing fee levelization, plan sponsors and advisers should consider whether participants will be charged on a “pro rata” or “per capita” model.

Both Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-governed and non-ERISA 403(b) plan sponsors need to start working on any plan restatements now.

When it comes to policing of retirement plans by the EBSA, the pace of settlements and corrections remains strong; experts pin this to the relative regional autonomy of EBSA offices.

Adding automatic deferral escalation and stretching the match are settlor functions because they are plan amendments, so plan sponsors should not fear fiduciary litigation, even if to some participants these changes seem to be not in their best interest.

It’s not hard to imagine why caregivers deprioritize their retirement savings; harder to figure out is how to support caregivers as they work to build their own financial wellness and retirement wealth.

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the Senate to address retirement plan leakage; among the opportunities being discussed by industry stakeholders is the use of “sidecar” emergency savings accounts.

Spend any significant amount of time in the retirement planning industry and, whatever the role, one will inevitably hear about the negative impact of “regulatory uncertainty.” Has it always been this way?

As retirement specialist advisers shift away from commissioned service and towards relationship-based wealth management and plan design consulting, providers of brokerage and investment management services are making their own changes to attract and retain skilled advice professionals—while protecting their own bottom line.

The growth in target-date fund usage continues to be incredible; missing is a deeper discussion of sequence of returns risk and other potential challenges for participants associated with this growth.

With the news emerging that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has certified its ruling to vacate the DOL fiduciary rule, Scott Gehman, a retirement plan consultant with Conrad Siegel, reflects on what is already an important legacy for the short-lived set of conflict of interest reforms.

Pressing industry trends and emerging opportunities are reflected in recent merger and acquisition activity among retirement plan advisers and service providers, and in the efforts of other firms to restructure their basic approach to sales and service; PLANADVISER hears from Fi360, AssetMark, Cetera Financial and others about their visions for the future.

When it comes to fiduciary liability insurance, having the broadest possible statement of coverage is generally best; this is because it is a functional test for determining whether any given plan official or company officer is a fiduciary.

From the unexpected derailment of the DOL fiduciary rule to the expanding debate about so-called ‘open MEPs,’ your plan sponsor clients face a tremendous amount of uncertainty in 2018.