
15th Anniversary of RPAY: Heffernan Financial Services
Despite the lack of in-person communication in 2020, the practice has gained a fair amount of new business by disseminating promotional videos.

T. Rowe Price: 401(k) Participation Nears 80%
What is particularly encouraging is that 37% of plans on T. Rowe Price’s platform automatically enroll their participants at a 6% or higher deferral rate.
Plan Sponsors Calling on Advisers to Improve Participant Outcomes
“They are hiring advisers to understand how well their plan is functioning and how to improve it,” Jordan Burgess, with Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, tells PLANADVISER.
Proactive Plan Sponsors Reap Benefits
Plan sponsors that fully automate their plans are more likely than others to believe their workers are on the path towards a financially secure retirement, J.P. Morgan found.
Nearly Half of Vanguard Plans Use Automatic Enrollment
At year-end 2018, 66% of new plan entrants were enrolled via automatic enrollment.
Average 401(k) Account Balance Has Soared 466% in Past 10 Years
Fidelity analyzed the balances of those who remained invested in their 401(k) in the decade following the Great Recession of 2008 and found that the balances went from $52,600 to $297,700.
Tailoring Plan Designs to Reflect Shorter Employee Tenure
Recent research reports suggest average employee tenure in the U.S. has trended downward; retirement industry experts agree this fact should inform plan design discussions and participant-level services.
UK Auto Enrollment Initiative Shows Participation Rate Increase
While the UK's requirement to automatically enroll all workers into a retirement plan showed a potential for a big boost in participation if the U.S. were to adopt a similar policy, finding about re-enrollment did not show a big boost.
IRS Asks for Comments Regarding 403(b) Plan Auto Enrollment
The request regards information collection for Revenue Ruling 2000-35, which describes certain criteria that must be met before an employee's compensation can be reduced and contributed to an employee's section 403(b) plan in the absence of an affirmative election by the employee.
Employer Contributions on the Rise
Fidelity Sees Continued Progress in 401(k) Plans Despite Market Volatility
With participants not panicking in Q4 2018 and the longer term trends resulting from automatic plan features, Fidelity Investments finds an overall improvement in average participant savings and account balances.
Senators Portman and Cardin Offer Another Retirement Reform Bill
A bipartisan pair of Senators introduced another retirement-focused piece of lame duck legislation, including more than 50 provisions aimed at increasing savings in DC plans and IRAs.
More Efforts Needed to Increase Retirement Plan Participant Savings Rates
While automatic enrollment gets participants into plans, a sizable segment are starting their average contributions at a minimum 3.3% rate and failing to take any additional action to increase that, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
PSCA Finds Improvements in 401(k) Plan Design
More plan sponsors are making Roth contributions available, automatic enrollment default deferral percentages are increasing, and company match formulas are becoming more generous.
When Auto-Roth Accounts Make More Sense
Janus Henderson research suggests the vast majority of auto-enrollment programs fund only pre-tax accounts; this is despite the fact that for younger, lower-income employees, funding a Roth account may be a more appropriate long-term option.
2019 Planning for DC Plan Clients
Willis Towers Watson offers nine actions for DC plan advisers to help their clients mitigate risks in 2019.
Even More Retirement Industry Evolution Expected in 2019
Setting Defaults and Auto-Escalations Too Low May Undermine their Power
In addition, a person invested in a stable value fund versus someone invested in a target-date fund could end up with a balance as much as 59% lower, BlackRock says.
Young Savers Are the Group Most Likely to Meet Retirement Goals
Workers under age 35 are realizing they need to start saving now, according to Ascensus.
Plan Sponsors Turning to Financial Wellness Programs to Improve Retirement Security
Ten percent more employers than in 2016 that offer retirement programs are measuring the financial readiness of employees to retire, a survey found.