| 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. [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| Are You Monitoring Your Forfeiture Account?
- February 2012 Qualified plans have a requirement to not carry forward any unallocated assets from year-to-year. [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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). [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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.
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| 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 [...]
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| 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”). [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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. [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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 [...]
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| 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.
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| 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 [...]
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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. [...]
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| 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 [...]
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