Employee benefits

The Internal Revenue Service is extending some deadlines for sponsors of defined-contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, that were affected by storms and other severe weather in Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Despite the resistance of small employers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the mutual fund industry in general, legislation to require companies with 10 employees or more to provide employees with a seamless lifetime savings plan through an Automatic IRA, is definitely gaining steam.

France raised its pension retirement age by a mere two years, from 60 to 62, and people took great umbrage to that. Protests broke out in the street, and union leaders said they'll strike. One-third of the nation's TVG fast trains were expected to be canceled.

The findings are a sign that advisers can be an important part of including children in the conversation around college savings and building a sound financial plan.

To attract more business from small businesses, Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced Thursday it relaunched a retirement services platform for companies with fewer than 100 employees.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun mailing out questionnaires to 401(k) plan sponsors to assess compliance with retirement plan regulations.

Financing a college education is a major concern for most high school seniors as they prepare for graduation, according to a study by Fidelity Investments titled "College Bound and Cost Conscious: A Survey of High School Seniors."

If the recession has any pluses at all, it’s that people now seem to be more mindful of how uncertain the market—and their future—really is.

New rules approved Wednesday by the Internal Revenue Service require 401(k) providers to offer participants at least three investment alternatives to company stock, which experts say most plan providers do anyway.

The average 401(k) plan balance at the end of the first quarter was up 40% from the year-earlier period, according to Fidelity highlights from its first quarter 2010 401(k) figures.

Putnam Investments will reveal all of the fees in the defined contribution plans it manages through a new sponsor website that launches next month.

Putnam Investments is expanding its reach into the 529 college savings plan arena, after its 10-year partnership with Ohio Tuition Trust Authority comes to an end in October. Putnam is seeking new opportunities in the nationwide college savings marketplace, including new state partnerships and investment-only mandates, a spokesman from the firm said.

Declining annuity premiums mean insurers may have to rethink their annuities products in order to survive, according to a report by Scott Hawkins, vice president and insurance analyst at Conning Research & Consulting in Hartford, Conn.

Evidently, less is not more when it comes to investment advice in 401(k) plans.

In retirement, employees will need 15.7 times their final pay when factoring in inflation and postretirement medical costs, according to a study by Hewitt Associates.

Add target-date funds to the list of headaches for advisers and investors.

WASHINGTON—The Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday issued an investor bulletin on target-date funds to better explain their intended function, glidepaths and appropriate use (see “SEC, DOL to Require More Target-Date Info,” MME 5/3/10).

Working within existing regulations for 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, Nationwide Financial Services is proposing 401KIncome, a new choice for workplace savings that includes an annuity option.

The 30th anniversary of the first 401(k) savings plan which I designed is rapidly approaching on Jan. 1, 2011, making this an appropriate time to briefly consider how 401(k) has impacted our retirement system.

The majority of dollars that wealthy investors formerly allocated to workplace-based retirement accounts like 401(k)s and 403(b)s are now being poured into individual retirement accounts, according to a report by Cogent Research LLC.