defining a retirement plan standard of excellence
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American Views on Defined Contribution Plan Saving
- February 26, 2021
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
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A survey by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) polled respondents about their views on defined contribution (DC) retirement account saving and their confidence in 401(k) and other DC plan accounts.
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Department of Labor Investment Advice
- December 9, 2020
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Recently, the DOL sent to the OMB the proposed Fiduciary Advice Rule. An understanding of when a firm and its representatives provide investment advice and thus act as fiduciaries is important.
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Reflections for the End of the Year
- November 13, 2020
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
As the year draws to a close, it’s a great time for qualified plan sponsors to reflect on their goals and objectives for sponsoring a retirement plan. In addition, they should reflect on whether the plan is providing the participants with the best means possible to reach their retirement income goal.
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Unintended Effects on Plan Contributions
- September 28, 2020
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
The second key element in “Defining a Retirement Plan Standard of Excellence” is Inspiring participants to save for retirement. There are several methods through which this can be accomplished: automatic enrollment, auto escalation, financial wellness programs, investment advice, and managed accounts. It’s a great time of year to begin discussions about these concepts with plan sponsors.
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Insight for Designing a Qualified Retirement Plan for a Standard of Excellence
- September 3, 2020
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Economics, Financial Plan, Resources
The second element of our Standard of Excellence is to inspire participants to save for retirement. We’re looking at a white paper that highlights this element, and how the Secure Act makes creates a significant opportunity for qualified plan professionals to provide participants with the resources and knowledge to reach their retirement income goal.
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Inspiring Participants and Perceptions of Risk
- December 16, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
A key element in Defining a Retirement Plan Standard of Excellence is inspiring participants to save for retirement. Most participants do not have the time, knowledge, or inclination to make good investment decisions and emotions play an important role in the participant’s investment decisions. At some point there will be a test of the quality of the QDIA being utilized in the Plan. It is imperative Plan Fiduciaries devote time to properly evaluate the Plan’s QDIA or engage an expert to assist them in doing so.
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Contract Considerations for Service Providers
- October 28, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
A key aspect of plan governance is understanding the contract provisions of each party providing services to the plan. Plan sponsors can expose themselves to potentially substantial monetary risk if they do not review and understand service provider agreements thoroughly.
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Automatic Enrollment: the Power of Default
- October 22, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
As we near the end of 2019, the time is right for plan sponsors to review the feasibility, advantages, and disadvantages of adding automatic enrollment features. Many participants want to save for retirement, but they do not want to go through the process of making the necessary decisions to enroll in their employer sponsored plan. Automatic enrollment could be the answer.
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Fiduciary Loan Regulation
- September 26, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Plan leakage can be the result of participants terminating with outstanding loan balances. This leads to an important question for plan fiduciaries. If a participant is going to be terminated involuntarily due to a reduction in workforce or poor job performance, and the participant applies for a loan, should the loan be granted? Based on the content of the article we’ve attached, the fiduciaries of the plan could create a fiduciary breach by granting the loan to the participant.
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Simplify Menus to Encourage Participant Engagement
- September 18, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Complex fund menus lead to participant confusion, disengagement and poor investment decisions, so the traditional DC investment menu spread across asset classes and styles is evolving toward a smaller set of choices. Some examples are simplifying the plan menu with fewer, broader menu choices, and re-labelling those choices to correspond with the way participants understand their retirement objectives.
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