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PLANSPONSOR NEWSDASH LOGO August 31st, 2022
Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday
Benefits
Plan Sponsors: Act Now to Link Student Loan Forgiveness and Retirement
Plan Sponsors: Act Now to Link Student Loan Forgiveness and Retirement
Alight Solutions offers tactics for plan sponsors to boost workers’ 401(k) deferrals following the president’s student loan forgiveness announcement.
Investing
Select 401(k) Balances Declined with Market in Second Quarter
According to a Charles Schwab report, average balances across all self-directed brokerage accounts finished 19% lower than a year ago.
Most Read
Benefits
Behind the 401(k) Match: Why Employers Offer It and How to Best Design It
Benefits
How SECURE 2.0 Provisions Can Alter Employer Strategies for 2025, 2026
Ask the Experts
What Are the W-2 Reporting Requirements for 457(b) Private Tax-Exempt Plans?
ECONOMIC EVENTS
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in August, following three consecutive monthly declines. The Index now stands at 103.2, up from 95.3 in July. The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions—improved to 145.4 from 139.7 last month. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—increased to 75.1 from 65.6.
MARKET MIRROR
Tuesday, the Dow dropped 308.12 points (0.96%) to close at 31,790.87, the Nasdaq lost 134.53 points (1.12%) to 11,883.14 and the S&P 500 sagged 44.46 points (1.10%)to close at 3,986.17. The Russell 2000 lost 27.35 points (1.45%) to 1,855.59 and the Wilshire 5000 was down 457.39 points (1.13%) to close at 39,855.86.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note decreased 1/32 bringing the yield up to 3.120%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond increased 2/32 bringing the yield to 3.233%.
BEST PRACTICES
Why Plan Sponsors May Want To Evaluate Their Recordkeeper's Partners
The employer’s role in plan participants’ retirement saving process has broadened.
Compliance
Lawsuit Cites 401(k) Plan Omission of Target-Date Funds Among Problems
The target of a new Employee Retirement Income Security Act case is a plan sponsor with more than 20,000 participants that ‘periodically’ reviewed the plan’s investment options to ensure they were suitable, according to a complaint. 
ASK THE EXPERTS
How Do We Treat Rehires in an Auto-Enrolled 403(b) Plan?
“Our 403(b) plan is an automatic contribution arrangement (ACA), or auto-enrolled plan. However, our plan is NOT an Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement (EACA) or a Qualified Automatic Contribution Arrangement (QACA), primarily because we only enroll new hires, and not existing employees. My question is, how do we treat rehires in such an arrangement? Should we auto-enroll them as new hires, or treat them as existing employees who we would not auto enroll?”
SURVEYS
DC Survey Now Open
For more than 20 years, PLANSPONSOR’s annual Defined Contribution Survey has provided benchmarking data for nearly 50 industries/business sectors and for 401(k), 403(b), and other DC plans, as well as nonqualified plans. Represent your industry and plan type by participating, and you’ll receive a free benchmarking report.
SMALL TALK
ON THIS DATE: In 1852, the first pre-stamped envelopes were created under federal law. In 1864, during the Civil War, the Confederate evacuation of Atlanta began, shortly before Union Army troops led by William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the city. In 1897, Thomas Edison received a patent for his movie camera, the Kinetograph. Edison had developed the camera and its viewer in the early 1890s and staged several demonstrations. In 1888, the body of Mary Ann Nichols was discovered in the Whitechapel district of London’s East End, and many believe she was the first victim of Jack the Ripper. In 1955, William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corp. demonstrated his 15-inch-long “Sunmobile,” the world’s first solar-powered automobile, at the General Motors Powerama auto show held in Chicago. In 1962, the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago declared independence from Britain. In 1991, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the Soviet Union. In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales—“the People’s Princess”—died in a car crash in Paris. In 2016, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office after the country’s Senate found her guilty of having used state bank funds to cover up a budget deficit in the run-up to her reelection in 2014. 
Industry Intel Roundup
State Auto-IRA Challenges Demonstrate Need for Federal Retirement Program, per BPC

A recent paper published by the Bipartisan Policy Center pointed out flaws in auto-IRA programs and argued in support of a federal program for private sector workers who are not offered an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

New Jersey Auto-IRA Program Reaches $1M in Retirement Savings

Approved in 2019, RetireReady NJ launched in July in coordination with Vestwell.

Workplace Plan Portability Network Supports 5M Participants

One year after launch, the network to transfer stranded workplace balances between participating recordkeepers is live with about 15,000 plans.

PBGC to Pay Benefits for St. Joseph Health Services Retirement Plan

The former Rhode Island church plan was underfunded by $88 million and was unable to fund the minimum required pension contributions.

Trump Selects Kevin Hassett to Lead National Economic Council

Hassett is known in the retirement industry for a paper he co-authored that expressed support for creating something similar to the federal Thrift Savings Plan for private sector workers.

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