Employee benefits

Fidelity Investments has added a Bank Deposit Portfolio to its five direct-sold 529 college savings plans: New Hampshire’s UNIQUE College Investing Plan, California’s ScholarShare College Savings Plan, Massachusetts’ U.Fund College Investing Plan, the Delaware College Investment Plan and the Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan.

High-balance retirement plan participants aren't showing much loyalty to plan providers when rolling assets into an individual retirement account-yet this could signal room for improvement for 401(k) plans and their advisers.

New York Life is introducing an employee participant program that aims to personalize and simplify the retirement planning process.

Putnam will join USAA, Columbia Management, Vanguard and Upromise, who also run 529 plans through Nevada. Columbia also manages an advisor-sold plan.

Government workers are not sitting pretty on top of fat future pensions. More realize that their pensions could be under pressure in the future, and that their government employers are shifting more of their retirement burden onto workers. The smart government and municipal employees—especially those who are slated to only receive a partial pension and are being guided to save in a 457 or other defined contribution plan—are looking to save more.

Retirement plan participants are calming down, according to a Mass Mutual analysis of its plans.

A bill before Congress seeking to increase retirement savings among workers will unnecessarily overburden small employers, according to a new report from Aite Group.

Fund managers and other experts say that target-date funds need to increase the amount of information they provide investors to understand their investment risk. But they don’t want the Securities and Exchange Commission to change the way the funds are named.

Although it supports the Securities Exchange Commission’s goal of bringing more disclosure to target-date funds, the proposal to include asset allocation information in the fund’s name will only confuse investors, BackRock said in a letter to the agency this week.

The fourth annual College Savings Indicator study found that the percentage of college costs parents are projected to meet is only 16%, down from 18% last year, and 24% in 2007, the first year of Fidelity’s survey. However, those who work with an advisor are projected to meet 28% of college costs, down from 34% last year.

The Tuition Plan Consortium said Monday it re-launched Independent 529 Plan as Private College 529 Plan, to foster pre-purchasing of tuition fees as present rates. The consortium said its Private College 529 Plan will offer investors a way to lock in tuition rates at more than 275 private colleges and universities.

The Tuition Plan Consortium said Monday it re-launched Independent 529 Plan as Private College 529 Plan, to foster pre-purchasing of tuition fees as present rates.

I ventured forth with predictions about what's in store for 401(k) plans in 2010 and beyond ("The shape of things to come for 401(k) plans," available at ebn.benefitnews.com).

The insurance company made a series of changes to its college-savings program, including a new business relationship with Upromise and new age bands in the age-based portfolios.

As Federal Express first indicated last November, it announced Monday that it will restore 401(k) matches. But the wait is still a long way off: The matches don’t start until Jan. 1, 2011.

A new survey from Country Financial found that the number of Americans who think college is a good financial investment plunged to 64%, down 16 points from last year and 17 points from 2008.

The Department of Labor issued an interim final rule on fee disclosure in 401(k) plans Thursday morning. The final Rule 408(b)2 relieves plan sponsors and their fund providers and consultants from having to share and store written documentation on disclosure obligations.

For employers with 401(k) plans, auto enrollment is growing, and target-date funds are an increasingly popular default option. But concern is building over what happens when the two trends meet.

The nadir of the economic downturn ravaged many American families’ college savings accounts, sending balances down almost 50%, according to Deborah Fox, founder of Fox College Funding. It frustrated investors, but it also prompted some to become more educated about the fees associated with 529 plans.

Plan managers hope lower prices lure back savers who are savvier — and more wary — of fees.