Retirement Plan Advisory

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	Improper Handling of Hardship Distributions May Result in Significant Problems - April 2013 These days, many plans are experiencing an uptick in the number of participant requests for hardship distributions. Much of this increased activity may be attributed to [...] Read More
	Why is it so Hard to Take a Hardship Withdrawal? - April 2013 Plan sponsors may offer hardship withdrawal provisions as part of their 401(k) plan. This design feature is optional. These provisions allow an employee to withdraw money from their account for reasons [...] Read More
	Fiduciary Training - April 2013 A recent article by the Plan Sponsor Counsel of America came as a bit of a surprise to many plan sponsors. It read, “During several recent audits, plan sponsors were surprised to hear the DOL auditor ask for documentation [...] Read More
	2013: A Great Year To Be “Courageous” - March 2013 Over the past three years, we have worked with our clients to move the “needle” when it comes to Courageous Plan Design. Each year, we calculate how many positive “plan metrics” our plan sponsor clients have [...] Read More
	Behavioral Finance and Plan Design - March 2013 401(k) plans have been around for over 30 years now, and we have learned a lot over that time about what has worked, and what has not. As pension strategies have migrated from the traditional defined benefit (DB) [...] Read More
	Courageous Plan Design - March 2013 There are a myriad of reasons why an employer maintains a qualified retirement plan. They may use it as a talent attraction/retention tool. They may see it as necessary to keep pace with industry peers. [...] Read More
	2013 Plan Limits - November 2012 The Internal Revenue Service announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement related items for Tax Year 2013. In general, many of the pension plan limitations [...] Read More
	5 Steps for Retirement Plan Success - November 2012 At a recent, virtual PLANADVISER National Conference, panelists identified five ways plan sponsors can re-focus their goals for plan significance and success. [...] Read More
	Third Quarter 2012 Market Review - November 2012 Risk is on Again — Risk-based assets posted strong returns over the third quarter, coming back from a poor (“risk-off”) second quarter. Indications of continued easy monetary policy fueled the markets, unlike [...] Read More
	404a-5: Final Rule to Improve Transparency of Fees and Expenses - October 2012 The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a final rule that will help America’s workers manage and invest the money they contribute to their 401(k)-type pension plans. [...] Read More
	Target Date Fund Glidepath Explained - October 2012 Target date funds (TDFs) have gained a significant amount of assets across the retirement industry. “Target date” refers to the date of expected withdrawals at retirement; the fund is not guaranteed at the target date [...] Read More
	Survey Says: Trends in Defined Contribution - September 2012 Fidelity recently released a study (Building Futures Report: Q1 2012 Trends) on their client base to illustrate trends that are likely impacting the entire industry. As a reminder, Fidelity has a large presence in the industry [...] Read More
	Best Practices in Hardship Distributions - September 2012 These days, many plans are experiencing an uptick in the number of participant requests for hardship distributions. Much of this increased activity may be attributed to our prolonged and tepid economic recovery. [...] Read More
	Save Early, Reach Your Goal - August 2012 One of the biggest mistakes participants make in any qualified retirement savings plan is to not contribute to that plan as soon as they are eligible to do so. The earlier they start contributing to the retirement plan [...] Read More
	Survey Says: Online Tools Improve Saving - August 2012 A recent study conducted by Principal Financial Group adds further support to the valuable affects that online tools and interactive group education meetings have over the behavior of plan participants. The Total View [...] Read More
	New 401(k) Plan Disclosure Rules - August 2012 You may have heard about new disclosure rules that will soon apply to 401(k) plans. Before describing what is ahead, however, a look back may be helpful. While we will refer to 401(k) plans in this article, the new [...] Read More
	Second Quarter 2012 Market Review - August 2012 After two consecutive quarters of strong positive returns, the markets shifted gears in the second quarter as investors fled risk-based assets in favor of more conservative asset classes like fixed income. A “risk-off” [...] Read More
	Fiduciary Focus: Best Practices in Distributing Assets - July 2012 Many employers discover that finding missing participants can be next to impossible. Our February article, Locating Missing Participants, discussed the various good faith efforts required in attempt to locate missing [...] Read More
	Are Your Written QDRO Procedures in Place? - July 2012 A QDRO, or a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, is a court mandate to divide the assets of a retirement account amongst divorcing spouses. While there are probably few QDROs that will need to be processed by your plan [...] Read More
	Participants Ask: Why Contribute to a 401(k) Plan When No Match is Offered? - July 2012 A great incentive to any company sponsored 401(k) retirement plan is a company match contribution, also known as an employer match. In addition to an employee’s contributions, the employer shares in the retirement [...] Read More
	Common Misconceptions among Plan Participants - June 2012 The JPMorgan Guide to Retirement, 2012 Edition was recently released and discusses how retirement is different now than it was for previous generations. Here are a few highlights of how retirement is different. [...] Read More
	More Can be Done: Getting Young Workers on Track for Retirement - June 2012 In April, we issued an article entitled Survey Says: Younger Workers More Diligent About Saving for Retirement, which provided compelling and encouraging statistics that younger employees are diligently [...] Read More
	Fiduciary Focus — Preparing for a Partial Plan Termination - June 2012 The IRS is currently actively pursuing plans that may have experienced a partial plan termination. A partial plan termination may have occurred if you have experienced a substantial reduction in your workforce. [...] Read More
	408(b)(2) Disclosures Approaching — Are You Ready? - June 2012 For some time now you have either heard from industry professionals, or read in industry publications, that new disclosure rules were imminent. Repeatedly the Department of Labor pushed back the effective date of [...] Read More
	Challenging Times for Stable Value in 401(k) Plans - May 2012 Stable Value funds typically invest in short-term diversified bond portfolios while entering into insurance contracts (wrap contracts, also known as “wrappers”) to protect participants against the market value fluctuations [...] Read More
	First Quarter 2012 Market Review: Risk-based Rally Continues - May 2012 Risk-based assets continued to rally from the fourth quarter, with both domestic and international equities posting strong double digit gains. U.S. equity markets posted a strong 13.1 percent return (DJW 5000 Index) [...] Read More
	Have You Considered a Non-Qualified Plan Lately? - May 2012 Tired of getting 401(k) refunds or not allowing your highly compensated employees to save enough for retirement? A non-qualified plan is not subject to the requirements of ERISA. As a result, these plans are designed [...] Read More
	Monitoring Asset Allocation Funds for Meaningful Analysis - April 2012 The Scorecard^SM System ranks active, passive and asset allocation strategies based on a zero to ten scale (worst to best). In evaluating asset allocation funds (most commonly seen in the form of target date funds), we address two major [...] Read More
	Fiduciary Focus: ERISA 404(a) and 404(c) Revisited - April 2012 With so much change facing our industry and the ongoing challenges confounding plan sponsors today, now is a good time to review basic fiduciary responsibilities. At your next Committee meeting, consider a discussion around the basic guidelines [...] Read More
	Survey Says: Younger Workers More Diligent About Saving for Retirement - April 2012 A significant challenge for many plan sponsors is to encourage, educate and explain the benefits of saving for retirement to their younger employees. Historically, it is the younger group that chooses not to participate, but according to a recent survey [...] Read More
	Pass or Fail? Corrective Actions to Remedy Your Test Results - April 2012 Each year you receive a “pass” or “fail” from your service provider regarding required non-discrimination testing – the Actual Deferral Percentage test (ADP) and the Actual Contribution Percentage (ACP) test. The ADP/ACP tests govern the [...] Read More
	4Q11 Market Review - March 2012 Equity markets bounced back over the fourth quarter, finishing on a strong note, but leaving mixed results for the year. For the quarter, U.S. equity markets posted a strong positive 12.0% return [...] Read More
	4Q11 Retirement Legal and Compliance Update - March 2012 Fourth Circuit Rules on Fiduciary Duty to Investigate and Diversify Investments: In Plasterers’ Local Union No. 96 Pension Plan v. Edgar Pepper and James Lertora (4th Cir. Dec. 1, 2011), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth [...] Read More
	By the Numbers: Industry Report Reveals Retirement Plan Trends - March 2012 Principal recently released their The Total View 2011 report, which examines changing trends within the retirement plan services marketplace. Principal gathered data from a variety of retirement plans [...] Read More
	Record Retention: What to Keep and for How Long - March 2012 When it comes to plan-related document storage, remember that your primary goal should be to preserve materials in a format allowing for quick and easy retrieval. It is appropriate to store plan records electronically [...] Read More
	Every Fund Has Style! - March 2012 New Wealth Advisor’s Investment Due Diligence process places an important emphasis on a fund’s style, employing a technique called “quadratic optimization.” A big word, and even bigger mathematical equation [...] Read More
	2012 Plan Limits Reminder - February 2012 Last October the Internal Revenue Service announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for 2012. [...] Read More
	The Three Stages of Rebuilding - February 2012 Over the past few years participants have seen widely varied results in their retirement plans. First we saw tremendous drops in values, most notably in the fourth quarter of 2008. [...] Read More
	Are You Monitoring Your Forfeiture Account? - February 2012 Qualified plans have a requirement to not carry forward any unallocated assets from year-to-year. [...] Read More
	Locating Missing Participants - February 2012 At one time or another all plan sponsors will likely be in the position of having to locate missing participants. [...] Read More
	Fiduciary Reminders: End-of-Year Planning - December 2011 As the end of the year approaches, you may wish to review your goals and objectives with your retirement plan consultant to determine if any changes should be made. Typically, a calendar-year defined contribution plan can be amended as late as December 30th [...] Read More
	DOL Issues Final Regulations Regarding Investment Advice to Participants - December 2011 On October 25, 2011, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a final regulation that will enhance retirement security by improving workers’ access to quality fiduciary investment advice. The prohibited transaction rules in ERISA [...] Read More
	Considering a Safe-Harbor 401(k) Plan - December 2011 It may be advantageous for a plan sponsor to consider adopting a safe-harbor design for their 401(k) plan. Adopting a safe-harbor 401(k) plan design permits an employer to essentially avoid discrimination testing (the testing is deemed met). [...] Read More
	Third Quarter 2011 Market Review: Stocks Reverse Course - December 2011 U.S. equity markets tumbled over the third quarter, posting a negative 15 percent return for the broad U.S. equity market (DJW 5000 Index). This was one of the markets’ worst quarters since 2009, a time when a credit crisis was underway. [...] Read More
	2012 Plan Limits - December 2011 The Internal Revenue Service has announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for 2012. In general, many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2012 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds [...] Read More
	DOL to Re-Propose Rule on Definition of a Fiduciary - November 2011 On September 19, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) stated it would re-propose its rule on the definition of a fiduciary. In its announcement, EBSA said a new proposal won’t be issued until 2012. [...] Read More
	Diversified or Diversity? The Importance of a Focused Fund List - November 2011 What is the appropriate number of funds to offer in a retirement plan? According to the Profit Sharing Council of America’s 53rd Annual Survey, the average retirement plan has 18 investments. In 1995, a Columbia business professor, Sheena Iyengar, conducted a study in which [...] Read More
	Third Quarter 2011 Market Review: Yields Pressured by Volatility and the Fed - November 2011 September brought with it more volatility in the markets, with concerns over Europe’s sovereign debt issues taking center stage. Questions remain as to how and to what extent any country or bank failure in Europe would affect the U.S. [...] Read More
	More Participants Staying the Course amid Recent Market Volatility - November 2011 Vanguard Research recently reported that 97.5% of participants made no changes in response to the market volatility in August. Participants holding a single target-date fund traded even less frequently – 99.6% of pure target-date fund investors did not react to the August market volatility by trading. [...] Read More
	Understanding Multiemployer Plans - November 2011 The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (also known as the Taft Hartley Act) allowed for the establishment of multiemployer benefit plans, often referred to as “Taft-Hartley plans.” A multiemployer plan, not to be confused with a Multiple Employer Plan [...] Read More
	2011 Trends and Experience in Defined Contribution Plans - October 2011 AON/Hewitt recently released the results of a survey they conduct every couple of years on trends and experiences in Defined Contribution (DC) plans. This year’s survey included 546 employers of various sizes and industries. About 30% of the Fortune 500 was represented in the survey. Not surprisingly, DC plans now constitute the primary source of retirement income for retirees. [...] Read More
	How Do You Measure Plan Success? - October 2011 Generally speaking, if 401(k) plans are meant to be used to augment retirement income, they may be considered a success. However, if they are expected to serve as the primary source of retirement income (along with Social Security), success is proving to be elusive for most participants. [...] Read More
	Press Release - September 2011 Aliso Viejo, CA, September 20, 2011— Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG) is proud to announce Scott Tuxbury, AIF®, of New Wealth Advisors as a 2011 Excellence Award recipient, revealed during RPAG’s 7th Annual Conference & Workshop, InflectionPoint 2011: the intersection of opportunity and action. Read More
	Up Close: Changing Market Conditions and Participant Behavior - September 2011 JPMorgan recently released a white paper titled “Searching for Certainty: Observations and opinions on how changing market conditions are affecting 401(k) plan participant outcomes.” The study, which surveyed 1,000 individuals with 401(k) plans nationwide [...] Read More
	DOL Extends Disclosure Deadlines - September 2011 For some time now you have been reading about additional disclosures that service providers will be required to make to you as fiduciaries (“408(b)(2) disclosures”), as well as additional disclosures that your plan will be required to make to plan participants (“participant disclosures”). [...] Read More
	Second Quarter 2011 Market Review: Volatility Picks Up - August 2011 U.S. equity markets were flat for the quarter (with the DJW 5000 Index posting a zero percent return), but not without experiencing a roller coaster ride. The last month of the quarter saw equity markets heading significantly lower and well off their intra-quarter highs, and the last four trading days [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - July 2011 Plan assets and average account balance are generally the two most significant demographic factors impacting total 401(k) plan costs, but plan services are also a primary driver of cost, especially when a plan sponsor takes the plan to market during an RFP Vendor Search. [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - June 2011 As you are aware, RPAG’s proprietary ScorecardSM System includes both quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate fund managers and their investment strategies. [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - April 2011 At a recent virtual PLANADVISER National Conference, panelists identified five ways plan sponsors can re-focus their goals for plan significance and success. [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - March 2011 J.P. Morgan Asset Management recently released their “Retirement Insights: 2010 Guide to Retirement,” focusing on important issues and considerations for retirees. Retirement needs continue to show that couples [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - February 2011 U.S. equity markets finished the year strong, posting a positive 11.6 percent return (Russell 3000) for the fourth and final quarter of 2010. International equities continued to lag their U.S. counterparts, but nonetheless [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - December 2010 On September 27, 2010, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA ’10) was signed into law. The new law significantly expands the potential use of Roth philosophy within the retirement plan landscape. Read More
	Market Review 4th Quarter 2010 - December 2010 U.S. equity markets finished the year strong, posting a positive 11.6 percent return (Russell 3000 Index) for the fourth and final quarter of 2010. International equities continued to lag their U.S. counterparts, but nonetheless posted a strong absolute return of a positive 6.7 percent for [...] Read More
	Retirement Report - November 2010 On October 28, 2010, the IRS announced cost of living adjustments applicable to retirement plan contribution limits for 2011. As a result of low inflation over the previous 12 months, the contribution limits remain unchanged. Read More
	Retirement Report - October 2010 U.S. equity markets bounced back from a poor second quarter showing, returning a positive 11.5 percent return for the third quarter of 2010 (Russell 3000). International equities posted even stronger results, returning a positive 15.8 percent for the quarter (MSCI EAFE). Read More
	Market Review 2nd Quarter - April 2010 U.S. equity markets backed-off their heady advance by posting a negative 11.2 percent return for the second quarter of 2010 (DJW 5000). After four quarters of strong gains, equity markets continued to display their heightened volatility, but this time, to the downside. [...] Read More
	Market Review 1st Quarter - January 2010 U.S. equity markets continued advancing in the new year, posting a gain of 6.2 percent for the first quarter of 2010 (DJW 5000), besting the 5.9 percent return posted in the previous quarter. International equities, however, took [...] Read More