| Benefits & Administration | Beyond Auto-Enroll: Auto-Escalation and Stretched Match | Plan sponsors that have adopted automatic
enrollment may, indeed, like the numbers they see. Joe Ready, director of
institutional retirement and trust for Wells Fargo Retirement, is emphatic:
“The only way people will have a good retirement outcome is to save their way
there.” Utilizing automatic deferral escalation and stretched matching formulas
are “the next evolution of how we can help on their savings behavior,” he says.Read more > | More 403(b) Sponsors Contributing to Employee Accounts | Non-profit organizations that sponsor 403(b)
retirement plans saw steady increases in participant contributions, leading to
higher average account balances, according to the 2015 403(b) Plan Survey from
the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA). The seventh annual benchmarking
survey of 403(b) plans, sponsored by the Principal Financial Group, also found
a significant increase in the number of plans offering an employer
contribution—up to 96.6% percent in 2014 from 82.7% in 2013. Nearly one-quarter
of 403(b) plan sponsors match employee contributions dollar for dollar up to
the first 5% or 6% of salary. “The large jump in plans offering employer
contributions is one of the most noteworthy findings in this year’s survey,”
says Hattie Greenan, PSCA’s director of research and communications.Read more > | Baby Boomers, those between the ages of 49 and
67, and Generation X, between the ages of 35 and 48, do not appear to view
carrying debt as a stigma, according to Allianz Life Insurance Company of North
America’s “Generations Apart” survey. The large balances that they are carrying
could put their retirement in jeopardy, Allianz says.Read more > | Workplace the Right Place for Financial Education | On March 17, the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) convened a group of 20 financial literacy leaders and experts for
a forum focusing on financial education in the workplace. Forum participants pointed
out that employers already provide information about employee benefits, have
key information about employees’ lives, and are generally trusted to provide
sound financial information and advice. They suggested information provided by
employers should go beyond the current emphasis on retirement and other
benefits to include education about budgeting, money management, building
emergency savings and understanding the financial impact of health care.Read more > |
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Boomers Overly Optimistic About Working in Retirement | Sixty percent of Baby Boomers plan to work
during their retirement years, but they are overly optimistic about how much
they will be paid, the opportunities that will be available and the flexibility
that they will be afforded, according to a survey by Bankers Life Center for a
Secure Retirement. More than one-quarter (26%) of non-retirees would not accept
a pay cut, while only 21% would accept a significant pay cut, the survey found.
The reality is that 53% of currently employed retirees say they are working for
much less than they were before they retired.Read more > | | Sponsored message from MassMutual | Eric Weitsma, SVP of Retirement Services, Sales and Worksite Education with MassMutual discusses Plan Health, Financial Wellness and the Convergence of Benefits with Alison Cooke Mintzer, Editor-in-Chief of PLANSPONSOR.Read more > | | Products, Deals & People | ERISApedia.com’s searchable database now
contains a suit of new forms that can be used by plan sponsors and advisers to
efficiently manage 401(k) and 403(b) plan responsibilities.Read more > | MainStay Investments, a New York Life Company,
has appointed Charles Reinhard managing director, leading portfolio strategy. Reinhard
will lead portfolio strategy and thought leadership provided to advisers and
investors.Read more > | | Market Mirror | A halt to
trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) reportedly due to a technical glitch
contributed to losses for major U.S. stock indices Wednesday. The Dow lost
261.49 points (1.47%) to finish at 17,515.42, the NASDAQ fell 87.70 points
(1.75) to finish at 4,909.76, and the S&P 500 closed 34.65 points (1.66%)
lower at 2,046.69. The Russell 2000 shed 19.09 points (1.53%) to finish at
1,228.96, and the Wilshire 5000 lost 365.44 points (1.66%), closing at
21,628.96.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares traded, with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues
nearly 5 to 1. On the NASDAQ, nearly 2.9 billion shares changed hands, with a
more than 5 to 1 lead for decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note increased 19/32,
bringing its yield down to 2.192%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond
climbed 1 9/32, decreasing its yield to 2.976%.
| | GAO Requests | Survey of 401(k) Plans’ Use of Eligibility and Vesting
Requirements: Building savings in a 401(k) plan is a key step
to achieving income security in retirement for millions of Americans. That
savings may be affected by the eligibility and vesting requirements that are
used by many plans. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is asking plan
sponsors to participate in its survey examining why plan sponsors use certain
eligibility and vesting requirements, how they may have changed the
requirements, and how they communicate the rules to employees and participants.Read more > | Survey of Lifetime Income Options 401(k) Plan Sponsors
Offer Participants: An increasing American lifespan in an era when
the predominant workplace retirement plan no longer guarantees lifetime income
calls into question how well 401(k) plans work for the oldest Americans. The
GAO is asking plan sponsors to participant in a survey that examines the
mechanisms in 401(k) plans that can provide some financial stability to
participants until the end of their lives. It asks about the advantages and
disadvantages of these options, education about them, and barriers that might
limit their adoption.Read more > | | Small Talk | ON THIS DATE: In
1850, Zachary Taylor, the 12th
president of the United States, died suddenly from an attack of cholera morbus.
In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment was designed to grant citizenship
to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. In 1872, the doughnut cutter was patented
by John F. Blondel. In 1877, the All
England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club began its first lawn tennis tournament at
Wimbledon, then an outer-suburb of London. In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Thomas
Sanders and Thomas Watson formed the Bell Telephone Company. In 1878, the corncob pipe was patented by
Henry Tibbe. In 1947, in a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia,
General Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Florence Blanchfield as a lieutenant
colonel in the U.S. Army, making her the first woman in U.S. history to hold
permanent military rank. In 1948,
42-year-old Leroy “Satchel” Paige pitched two innings for the Cleveland Indians
in his debut with the newly–and barely–integrated American League. In 1971, the United States turned over
complete responsibility of the Demilitarized Zone to South Vietnamese units. In
1985, Joe Namath signed a five-year
pact with ABC-TV to provide commentary for “Monday Night Football.”
In 1997, Mike Tyson was banned from
the boxing ring and fined $3 million for biting the ear of opponent Evander
Holyfield. In 2005, skateboarder Danny
Way rolled down a large ramp and jumped across the Great Wall of China. He was
the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid. | SURVEY SAYS: If
you’re like me, you held your breath for a minute as news came out yesterday
that the New York Stock Exchange, United Airlines and the Wall Street Journal
reported technology failures simultaneously. In this digital age, nearly
everything is dependent on technology. This week, I’d like to know, what do you
think would happen in your workplace if a technology failure occurred? You may
respond to this week’s survey by 6 p.m. Pacific time today.Read more > | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > | News from PLANSPONSOR.com
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