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News Archive
(K)rypto?
Sponsored by MFS Investment Management. Last year the Labor Department issued a “Compliance Assistance Release” regarding the inclusion of cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans – we asked members at that time in a QOTW if they would consider Cryptocurrency as an investment option in their plans and though a handful were considering it, the overwhelming... Read More >>
‘Sharp Declines’ in Financial Progress: Report
Employees’ financial situations and mental health are bearing the brunt of the burden of a year where economic uncertainty and inflation have upended saving and spending habits, according to a new report. With market declines across asset classes in 2022 and the potential for a recession dominating news coverage, 70% of respondents say they’... Read More >>
SECURE 2.0 a Step in Right Direction, But Participants Yearn for More
Various provisions under the SECURE 2.0 Act strongly resonate with employees amid considerable changes in retirement expectations, financial conditions and workforce demographics, but the findings of a new survey suggest that more can be done to promote retirement security. And even though nearly half (47%) of respondents believe they are on... Read More >>
Could Employer Contributions Actually Lead to Leakage?
I recently stumbled across an academic study that claimed to find a correlation between higher employer contribution rates and leakage. I will confess to a certain skepticism at that finding. There are, after all, a well-established series of things that contribute to leakage, broadly defined as distribution of retirement savings prior to... Read More >>
Customized Plan Education
Sponsored by MFS Investment Management. In light of the recent completion of PSCA’s Annual Signature Award competition recognizing retirement plan education and communication campaigns, we wondered how prevalent customized campaigns such as those submitted to program are. Forty-two percent of respondents stated they provide general/stock... Read More >>
Auto Escalation in Plans
Sponsored by MFS Investment Management. Automatic features are known to help boost plan participation in 401(k) plans and while automatic enrollment is now used in a plurality of plans (and the majority of large plans), auto-escalation has been slower to take hold. According to PSCA’s 65th Annual Survey (2021 plan data) only 40 percent of... Read More >>
Benartzi Makes a Call for Smart Defaults: NAPA 401(k) Summit
The man who was instrumental in encouraging behavioral finance-focused default structures in 401(k)s now cautions that those defaults need to be “smart.” Speaking at the NAPA 401(k) Summit, professor Shlomo Benartzi — who, along with Richard Thaler authored and advocated the Save More Tomorrow structure back in the mid-1990s (which was... Read More >>
Use of FinTech in Financial Wellness Programs
Sponsored by MFS Investment Management. There is a growing dialogue around the use of technology-based financial education (i.e., FinTech) and financial wellness programs. We know that some recordkeepers provide technology based programs, but were curious what the take-up rate of these programs are and if plan sponsors are providing this... Read More >>
Move Over Millennials, Gen Z Slated to Be the Next Retirement Disruptors
While Millennials remain the largest cohort in the workforce and bring their own unique perspectives and expectations, the so-called Zoomer Generation born between 1997 to 2012 is beginning to enter the workforce and is already starting to have an impact on the retirement industry. This is according to the Principal Financial Group’s Future of... Read More >>
Brokerage Window Availability
Sponsored by MFS Investment Management. While the uptake of ESG funds and other alternatives remains low, we have heard anecdotally from plan sponsors that they offer a brokerage window for participants who want access to those fund types without having to add a specific ESG fund to the lineup. I wondered if the availability of brokerage... Read More >>