Tag: Plan design

In the past 10 years, the average 401(k) balance has grown 87%, from $56,900 in the third quarter of 2008, Fidelity Investments reports.

Above-average-rated plans are more apt to be found at companies with 20% to 80% higher profitability than are average-rated plans, says T. Rowe Price.

Sponsors of defined contribution (DC) plans are invited to respond to the annual PLANSPONSOR DC Survey through October 5. The survey is among our largest and most important research project of the year, but we need your clients' help for it to be a success.

According to Josh Cohen, a big part of PGIM’s strategy as a DCIO provider is to foster conversations across plan sponsors’ own organizations, “presenting them with a framework for frank and practical discussions between the HR and finance functions.”

The firm will be presenting the tool to its own network of advisers.

To help employees achieve their savings goals, 82% of sponsors are making changes to plan design, and 83% are updating their investment menus.

Employees of small businesses with retirement plans that include automatic enrollment have far higher participation rates across all demographic variables, according to new data shared by Vanguard. 

They are on track to replace 75% of their income, compared to 64% for Americans overall.

There is more emphasis than ever before in the DC plan space on identifying the best way to offer a benefit that is not just a to-retirement program, but also a through-retirement program.

“Because the Department of Labor views plan loans as investments, they should be treated with the same level of care and scrutiny as any other investment,” says Rob Reiskytl, a partner in retirement consulting division of Aon in Minneapolis.

While the conference is quickly approaching, there is still time to sign up. All the information you need is here. 

Two new IRS publications lay out important rules and clarifications for when and how to prorate compensation and benefit limits for short plan years.

Legal experts generally consider reconsideration of a judgment an extraordinary remedy, one which will be granted only sparingly; even so, a federal district court has admitted key mistakes and says it will reconsider its ruling in a retirement plan lawsuit in which it had previously denied summary judgement in favor of the defendants.

Defining retirement goals by a particular age can be risky, according to LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute research, as it doesn’t account for the actual savings and assets available to support the person in retirement.

Looking across today’s DC plan marketplace, researchers suggest it is still much more common to see plan designs that are tailored to drive retired or terminated participants out of the plan.

Brodie Wood, SVP of healthcare, education and not-for-profit markets at Transamerica Retirement Solutions, discussed the efficiencies and benefits a closed MEP can offer not-for-profit 403(b) plans.

New features allow users to view Employee Benefit Plan Audit Prospecting ReSource firm histories dating back to the 1999 plan year.