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Misbehaving Savings - Part 2 of 5
Responding to Intriguing Participant Requests: June 1988 – But What About the Penalty Tax? During my three-plus decades in plan sponsor roles (1979-2010), I often studied workers’ savings elections and took the opportunity to frequently ask them to explain their contribution, investment, and withdrawal decisions. In a prior blog post, I shared the... Read More >>
Were You Generous or Are Company Contributions Part of Your Total Rewards Strategy?
From PSCA’s 61st Annual Survey: Company contributions are at a new high following the Great Recession – 5.1 percent. PSCA 61st Annual Survey results show that company contributions as a percentage of payroll have more than fully recovered after declines experienced during and following the Great Recession. Many employers adjusted or suspended... Read More >>
But I Repeat Myself Again: Sidecar = Suboptimal Part 2
Specific purpose savings “solutions” are suboptimal.1 Many workers live paycheck-to-paycheck. Many are unable to cope with any variability in expenses and/or income. When monies are set aside for specific purposes, too often what remains are unpaid bills or high-cost debt.2 Throughout parts of five decades in plan sponsor roles, I encouraged... Read More >>
Misbehaving Savings - Part 1 of 5
Responding to Intriguing Participant Requests Oct. 20, 1987 – I’m Too Late? During my more than three decades in plan sponsor roles (1979-2010), I often studied workers’ savings elections and took the opportunity to frequently ask them to explain their contribution, investment, and withdrawal decisions. Here is the first of five “classic”... Read More >>
Workers Got the Hints, Felt the Nudges - Part 1
PSCA’s 61st Annual Survey The First Time the Average Contribution Percentage Exceeded 7 Percent The average deferral percentage in PSCA’s 61st Annual Survey was 7.1 percent. Why the increase? Survey data confirm: Increases in new hire automatic enrollment, Higher default contribution percentages when deploying automatic features, and Increases... Read More >>
Five Plan Sponsor Resolutions and Five Predictions for 2019
Resolutions Automatic Enrollment: Consider changing your new hire 401(k) default to Roth.1 Financial Wellness: Expand your 401(k) into a holistic savings/debt management solution.2 Health Savings Account (HSA) and 401(k): Challenge participants to optimize savings by contributing the maximum to both accounts. For participants where that is not... Read More >>
Innovate in '08 - Looking Back Ten Years Later
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh Ten years ago, an individual at the Corporation for Enterprise Development (today, Prosperity Now) suggested I share my experiences as a plan sponsor innovator. In 2008/2009, I recounted actions we took to morph our 401(k) plan from a retirement savings plan... Read More >>
What's The Story? Part 2
Betcha Didn’t Know That America’s Most Valuable Benefits Tax Preference is Celebrating Its 40th “Birthday” This Year No, it isn’t 401(k) – Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k) (IRC §401(k)). I took my first corporate benefits position at Marathon Oil in Findlay, Ohio back in 1979. I had modest experience with the benefits industry as it existed... Read More >>
A Lump of Coal for Plan Sponsors
Naughty or Nice, Makes No Difference – A New Mandate Proposed For You! It should come as no surprise that DC beltway policy wonks always have another idea on how to spend your money and how you should run your business.1 The newest proposed federal mandate comes from individuals who have never served as a plan sponsor or worked in human resources... Read More >>
Are Your Retirement Savings Naughty? Or Nice?
A few years back—when my kids were still “kids” – and believed in the reality of Santa Claus—we stumbled across an ingenious Web site. This was a Web site that purported to offer a real-time assessment of one’s "naughty or nice" status. Now, as Christmas approached, it was not uncommon for us as parents to caution our occasionally misbehaving... Read More >>