Retirement benefits

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.

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).

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.