PLANSPONSOR Magazine

COVER

Audience Poll

Who is the provider of your plan’s participant investment advice? Do managed accounts add enough value to overcome the additional cost? What do you think is the biggest challenge for the industry? What is the biggest factor behind the selection of your target-date fund? What percentage of your plan population works most of their time…

Survey Says |July-August 2017

Fears About Taking Vacation

The answer selected by the largest number of readers—38.3%—was “I will return to an insurmountable amount of work."
QDIA Analysis |July-August 2017

Next Generation

In the absence of a participant’s direction, plan sponsors that use automatic enrollment will invest that individual’s assets in a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA). Doing so shields...
Compliance Update |July-August 2017

Compliance Update

Summaries of the latest news from Washington and the courts—what’s coming, what’s contemplated and what’s critical for plan sponsors to...
UpFront |July-August 2017

Traditional-to-Roth Conversions

A relatively unknown investment strategy may help participants respond to changes in the tax treatment of their savings: making proactive traditional-to-Roth conversions during their lower-income retirement years. This...
Feature |July-August 2017

2017 PLANSPONSOR National Conference

From the latest trends in defined contribution (DC) plans, to repairing common plan errors using advanced programs, take a look...
UpFront |July-August 2017

Tracking Risk in a TDF Glide Path

Pulling assets out of a defined contribution (DC) plan during a severe market downturn is one of the worst actions a participant can take, says Jake Gilliam, a...
UpFront |July-August 2017

Skepticism About Performance Data

Forty-one percent of 401(k) investors say they are not offered, or do not know if they are offered, investment performance information by their adviser or their 401(k) provider,...
UpFront |July-August 2017

Correcting Gender-Based Income Gaps

New research from Prudential lays out the challenges that women in the U.S. face when planning for retirement: a longer life expectancy; the likelihood of being single at...
UpFront |July-August 2017

Employers Must Assess HSA Fiduciary Exposure

While health savings accounts (HSAs) are not traditionally considered a retirement vehicle, the Department of Labor (DOL) has broadened the scope of conflict of interest rules to include...
UpFront |July-August 2017

Written Financial Plan Unlocks Positive Behaviors

Written Financial Plan Unlocks Positive Behavior With written plan Without written plan 54% 33% 50% 24% 40% 19% 5% 26% 53% 67% Increased 401(k) contribution in the past...
Research |July-August 2017

Searching for Answers

Want to know the drivers behind participant decisions? We asked.
DB Focus |July-August 2017

De-Risking Windows

DB plan sponsors have several ways to shrink benefit obligations
PS Coach |July-August 2017

Similar, But Different

Understanding mutual fund share classes and various expense levels.
Feature |July-August 2017

The Top Trends Impacting DC Plans

The 30,000-foot view of employer-sponsored benefit programs and participant trends—what may stay and what may change.
Feature |July-August 2017

Final Fiduciary Rule Not So Final

The Department of Labor is still looking for ways to streamline and improve its new fiduciary rule, even though most provisions are now in effect.
Feature |July-August 2017

Trends in Fund Lineup Construction 

Collective investment trusts, white labeling, smaller fund menus and “tiered” approaches are becoming the norm.
Feature |July-August 2017

Learning From Litigation

It is not always possible, even for the most carefully run retirement plans, to avoid getting dragged into ERISA litigation, and so having a clear response plan in...
Features |July-August 2017

Retirement Security At an Inflection Point

“We are at a unique inflection point in history, with a number of forces converging simultaneously that are forever changing how we approach retirement,” argued Joe Ready, of...
Feature |July-August 2017

Holistic Education Programs

The panel compared utilizing different financial wellness tactics with general financial education, ROI and more.