The $1.4 trillion appropriations package signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019 designed to fund federal agencies through September of this year contained the most significant legislative enhancements to retirement plans in over 10 years. These law changes designed to encourage retirement savings are bundled up in one of those Congressional legislative … Continue Reading
England and America are two countries separated by a common language. –George Bernard Shaw It’s not just the language that separates us and the British. It’s our attitude towards automatic enrollment in retirement savings plans. Spelling aside, automatic enrolment has been the law in U.K. since October, 2012. Here in the U.S., the Pension Protection … Continue Reading
The headline is a spin-off of a Mike Myers quote in the 2003 movie, View From The Top. Didn’t see the movie? A lot of folks didn’t since it only grossed $15,614,000 domestically and $3,912,014 internationally, totaling $19,526,014 worldwide. So let me fill you in. It’s about a young woman from a small town who … Continue Reading
I’ve seen it first hand with many employees eligible to participate in 401(k) plans. That is, employees who choose not to save for retirement. Sometimes, there’s a logical and personal reason. But sometimes, it’s just … procrastination. And that part of it, I could never understand. But I now have a little more insight thanks … Continue Reading
In a recent series of three Revenue Notices and four Notices the Treasury Department issued Retirement Savings & Initiatives to help Americans save for the future. The new Initiatives: Expand automatic enrollment in 401(k) and other retirement savings plans Create easier ways to save tax refunds Allow unused leave to be converted to 401(k) savings … Continue Reading
Here is a link to my column in the May issue of Employee Benefit news about how automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans boosts 401(k) participation. (Free registration may be required). This is the first of the monthly columns I will be writing for Employee Benefit news – an employee benefit publication which provides free newsletters, seminars and podcasts … Continue Reading
Suppose you’re a plan sponsor that wants to increase 401(k) participation among your low income employees, what do you do? You know, of course, that employee financial education programs by themselves are not enough to influence a change in employee behavior. You might consider automatic enrollment. Automatic enrollment has been shown to raise 401(k) participation … Continue Reading
It’s the New Year, and it’s prediction time. So what’s ahead for employers in 2008? Paul Secunda in his post in The Workplace Prof Blog, 2008 Workplace Trends, points us to Diane Stafford’s predictions in the on-line edition of the Kansas City Star. Paul comments that These all sound right to me, and I would … Continue Reading
Click to make bigger. Inertia, in classical physics, is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as: “a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.” In 401(k) plans, inertia can be defined as many eligible employees never signing up … Continue Reading
