November 2007
401(k) Newsletter
General Issues
The Five Stages of Retirement — Summary: Paying for your retirement years is likely the single most expensive undertaking in your life, and chances are you've already started financially preparing for it. But no matter how much you've saved for this next stage in life, your dream of retirement could become a nightmare if you're not emotionally prepared as well. Located at:
TheStreet.com. Click on headline for full article.
Free Ebook Helps Women Prepare for Retirement — Summary: The Heinz Foundation and WISER are offering this free ebook, "What Women Need to Understand About Retirement," which gives women a critical view into their retirement planning needs. Located at: Heinzfamily.org (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
Sharp Increase Found In Automatic 401k Plans Use — Summary: Survey Finds 66 percent of employers already use automatic enrollment in their 401k plans or intend to implement it within the next 18 months. The survey also shows a dramatic shift over the last year in the investments into which employees are automatically enrolled. Located at: 401khelpcenter.com. Click on headline for full article.
Midsize Firms Adopting 401k Automatic Features — Summary: As the use of auto-enrollment continues to grow, a fresh rationale for adopting auto-enrollment has emerged among midsize employers. Located at: Employee Benefit News (free registration may be required). Click on headline for full article.
PSCAs Annual Survey Now Available — Summary: PSCA's 50th Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401k Plans reports on the 2006 plan year is now available. Located at: PSCA. Click on headline for full article.
Summary of PSCAs Annual 401k Survey — Summary: The trend toward greater sponsor involvement in plans continues and the increase in the number of companies utilizing automatic enrollment has been especially strong. Located at: 401khelpcenter.com. Click on headline for full article.
Employees Want Advice Customized by Life Stage — Summary: Employees are interested in receiving information regarding which kinds of benefits to select during open enrollment if the information is geared toward their life stage, according to a new survey from MetLife. Located at: Employee Benefit News (free registration may be required). Click on headline for full article.
An Annuity Option in DC Plans — Summary: When Smithfield Foods decided to start offering an annuity option in 2006 for the 15,000 participants in its three defined contribution plans, Corporate Benefits Manager Mary Fisher worried about employees' reaction. Located at: Plansponsor.com (free registration may be required). Click on headline for full article.
Fiduciary Issues
401k Risk Management — Summary: Fred Reish talks about how to design a plan, from the ground up, to minimize risk. Located at: Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen. Click on headline for full article.
Labor Department Launches ERISA Fiduciary Advisor Website — Summary: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration announced a new interactive Web tool to serve as a resource for employers in complying with federal retirement laws. Located at: U.S. Department of Labor. Click on headline for full article.
Research
The Dynamics of Lifecycle Investing in 401k Plans — Summary: This paper concludes that recent pension legislation sanctioning target maturity funds as the default fund will modify participant 401k investment patterns. The speed with which behavior changes will depend both on employer plan menu decisions as well as voluntary choice by new entrants and low-literacy employees. Located at: Pension Research Council. Click on headline for full article.
A New Model for Retirement Education and Counseling — Summary: This paper provides information about the current state of retirement readiness and why workers perceptions about their retirement futures are generally not matching their actions. The purpose of this is to demonstrate the changes that are needed to the current approach to retirement education and counseling/guidance services that are part of the employee benefit structure. Located at: ANC Foundation (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
SOL and IRS Issues
Pension Plan Limitations for 2008 — Summary: The Internal Revenue Service today announced cost of living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for pension plans and other items for Tax Year 2008. Located at:
401khelpcenter.com. Click on headline for full article.
401k Plan Potential Mistakes — Summary: This 43 page document was prepared by the IRS and tells you what potential plan mistake there are, how to identify the them, how to correct the mistake and how to avoid the problem. Lots of good information. Located at: IRS (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
DOL Issues Final Default Investment Regulations — Summary: This is an overview of the final DOL regulations that provide ERISA relief to fiduciaries of participant-directed defined contribution plans that invest participant accounts in certain types of default investment alternatives in the absence of participant investment directions. Located at: Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
Headline News
