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News Archive
2022 Retirement Plan Limits
As expected, many of the key plan limits increased for the 2022 plan year, including the elective deferral limit, the DC Plan combined limit, and the annual compensation limit. Below are the limits for 2020-2022 with changes highlighted – click here for a downloadable version. See IRS notice IR-2021-61 for a complete list of all plan limitation... Read More >>
QOTW: Retaining Participants
This week we asked plan sponsors if their organization actively makes an effort to keep ex-participant accounts in the plan. Three-fourths of respondents do not – though most say they allow it and provide education on the options, they do not actively try to retain assets in the plan. Many of these plans cited the increased administrative burden... Read More >>
QOTW: Fiduciary Insurance Increases
At a recent committee meeting, a few plan sponsors noted that the renewal process for fiduciary liability insurance was more comprehensive this year, with many new questions, including questions on excessive plan fees, and rates were going up. We asked ICYMI readers this week if that was their experience as well. A few of you noted that it was,... Read More >>
Fiduciary Insurers Follow Plaintiffs’ Paths
Fiduciary liability insurers have apparently taken note of the recent surge in excessive fee suits—and are now making pointed inquiries based on the plaintiffs’ bar’s playbook. This “new”[i] generation of questionnaires cover the same type questions outlined above, but now get into areas such as how fiduciaries are selected, as well as whether a... Read More >>
QOTW: Top Plan Concerns
As we begin planning for 2022, we wanted to know what issues are top of mind for plan sponsors. We hear in the industry a lot about ESG, retirement income, and HSAs.Only one of these made the top 5. The number one concern of plan sponsors, by far, is participant education, cited by nearly 70 percent of respondents. More than half of plan sponsors... Read More >>
DOL Proposal Would Reverse Trump ESG, Proxy Voting Rules
The Department of Labor has just released a new proposal that would set aside the previous administration’s final rules on the use of ESG factors in selecting plan investments and fiduciary duties regarding proxy voting for one that explicitly allows a consideration of those factors. The Oct. 13 proposed rule seeks to remove barriers to plan... Read More >>
QOTW: Education
This week we asked members how often they provide retirement plan education to participants – is it a one and done at hire/eligibility, an annual education program, ad hoc, etc., and we also asked what their biggest challenge with plan education is. A plurality (40.0 percent) indicated they provide education throughout the year on an ad-hoc basis... Read More >>
QOTW: Great Resignation
In the last 18 months many employees have left jobs as the pressure from the pandemic caused a shift both in the responsibilities people are juggling, and the mindset of many Americans around work and work/life balance. We were curious if, as part of this “great resignation,” employers were noting an uptick in workers retiring sooner than they had... Read More >>
QOTW: RFPs
We asked members how long it has been since their company has put out an RFP for the retirement plan. The most common response was within the last 1-3 years (30.5 percent of plans), followed by “doing one now” (15.3 percent of plans). A common theme in the comments was that RFPs are a lot of time and work, and for those not doing them frequently,... Read More >>
QOTW: Financial Wellness
Financial wellness has been a “hot topic” for a while now, despite the fact that there is (still) not a consensus as to its definition (go ahead, google “financial wellness definition” and watch your head spin), and in the last 18 months as we have dealt with the pandemic and its impact on the labor market, there is a general sense that there is,... Read More >>