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Benefit Insights: Fiduciary - The New "F" Word
There has been a large amount of upheaval in the retirement world as of late and it centers around the “F”
word. And by “f” word, I mean “fiduciary.” The New Fiduciary Rule means that many professionals in the finance world that weren’t previously considered fiduciaries will now have to take on that title. In April 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) laid out its plan to implement the “New Fiduciary Rule” or
“Best Interest Rule.” However, after several delays, further phases of the rule have been pushed out to July 2019. Read more to understand what the plan sponsors need to know.
ITR Economics: Economic Outlook on the US Dollar
Senior Analyst of ITR Economics, Alex Chausovsky, is frequently asked about the outlook for the US dollar. The dollar which has strengthened significantly over the last several years, should remain relatively strong versus foreign currencies in the near term.
ITR Economics: Consumer Power!
Consumption accounts for approximately 67% of Gross Domestic Product in the U.S.
Our ability to consume goods and services provides key insight into what the economy will look like in the months ahead. Consumer trends have turned more positive in the latest month and look good for increased activity through at least the next two quarters.
ITR Economics: Mitigating Risk
Mitigating risk. Sometimes that what it is all about. There is risk in any decision. There is risk in not making a decision.
Benefit Insights: Retirement Plan Rx
The latest news regarding retirement plans has centered around service provider fees. While fees are a highly important aspect of managing an employer-sponsored retirement plan, they are not the only metric of your overall retirement plan's health. A low-cost retirement plan does not necessarily parallel a fruitful pension program for employees. Studies show that since Social Security was never designed to fully fund an individual's retirement, employer-sponsored retirement plans have become an integral part of employee's overall financial plan for their future. Relying so heavily on this one component should prompt any plan sponsor to ask one very straightforward question... How healthy is my company's retirement program?
ITR Economics: Perspective
It is easy to get caught up in the moment and lose some perspective when the stock market drops.
Read Brian Beaulieu’s, CEO of IT Economics, perspective on the “hype” when then stock market drops.
ITR Economics: The Challenge of Success
Legacy companies will face increasing difficulty in choosing to invest in the future while paying dividends or advancing bureaucratic infrastructure because these are competing, cash-consuming aspects of the business.
If legacy companies attempt to have it both ways, they run the risk of ending up like Sears, JC Penny, Digital Equipment Company, Circuit City, Compaq, Macy’s, Eastern Airlines, Nordstrom, and, perhaps someday, Walmart.
What both today’s big names and smaller companies (which are most of us) need is disruptive change...
Benefit Insights: Benefit Communications in an Electronic World
With electronic communications becoming the standard in business industries worldwide, Plan sponsors are becoming increasingly interested in abandoning paper processes for a more electronic means of communication with plan participants and beneficiaries. This option has many advantages, however, raises a few important questions for today’s plan sponsors such as which documents do regulations allow to be e-delivered, and do I need the participants consent, etc.?
This newsletter will focus on the common participant communications acceptable via electronic delivery and their requirements.
Benefit Insights: Dealing with Uncashed Distribution Checks and Missing Participants
The Department of Labor (DOL) has estimated that there is $15 million in retirement plan distribution checks that go unclaimed because plan participants, or their beneficiaries have failed to cash distribution checks. This has now become an issue for retirement plans as uncashed checks become plan assets. As the plan sponsor, this is a fiduciary duty and failure to take the appropriate steps to locate the participants, can be considered a breach of duty.
This newsletter will focus on the requirements of what the plan sponsor should do and how to search for missing participants, as well as what the options are if the participant cannot be found.
ITR Economics: The New Administration and the Economy
Since the Trump Administration has recently released the initial budget proposal, the document is not nearly complete. And, it is too soon to know what will happen.
Read the full article and see what the experts have to say…