Low-Income Workers to Benefit from PPA Provisions

Low-income workers are expected to see the greatest increase in their 401(k) accounts as a result of the automatic increases allowed by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, according a recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

Along with opening the door for automatic enrollment, the PPA allows employers to automatically increase a worker’s 401(k) contribution to coincide with a raise or a work anniversary—though the employee can decline both enrollment and the increase.

The findings by EBRI suggest that the introduction of automatic escalation will result in a significant increase of 401(k) accumulations—especially for low-income workers—compared with estimates previously determined for automatic enrollment.

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The automatic escalation scenarios executed by the Washington, D.C.-based group were found to increase 401(k) accumulations by 11% – 28% for 401(k) participants in the lowest-income group and 5% – 12% for participants in the highest-income group.

More information about the research can be found here.

Mercer Drops HR from Name to Reflect Range of Business

Mercer is the new brand identification for Mercer Human Resource Consulting, effective immediately.

In a news release, Mercer said its new global brand initiative reflects the firm’s full range of consulting, outsourcing and investment services, which extend beyond the category of human resource consulting.

“The fact is… that Mercer provides a much broader array of solutions than those for which we have traditionally been known, and our business growth is fueled by a number of new initiatives,” said M. Michele Burns, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mercer, in the news release.

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Mercer is communicating its range of capabilities and its name change through a new advertising campaign, the creation of a new summary of its corporate capabilities (at www.mercer.com/globalcapabilities), and the launch of a newly redesigned Web site, www.mercer.com.

Mercer’s global client base includes nine of ten Fortune 100 firms, three of four Fortune 1000 firms, two of three FTSE 100 firms and a majority of Nikkei 225 firms, according to the company. Some 60% of Mercer’s clients are located in Europe, Asia/Pacific and Latin America.

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