Fiduciary Fee Study

When fees are taken from 401k participant accounts, they directly decrease returns, resulting in less money available to grow over time. These fees can ultimately reduce a worker's retirement savings by hundreds of thousands of dollars and mitigate the success of offering a workplace plan. Fiduciary-grade investment advice can reduce the expenses of administering a 401k plan, including those of small businesses, according to a data deep-dive by Employee Fiduciary, LLC.

Source: Planadviser.com, June 2024

Chamber of Commerce, ERIC Plead for Fewer Retirement Plan Disclosures

Industry groups have asked the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to simplify and improve retirement plan disclosures with specific recommendations in response to a request for information issued by the DOL in January. The interest groups agree that most participants do not read nor understand many disclosures related to their retirement benefits.

Source: Planadviser.com, June 2024

Bechtel Faces 401k Suit Over Default Managed Accounts

Engineering and construction firm Bechtel, its board, and its trust and thrift plan committee have been sued for allegedly defaulting plan participants into managed accounts that were not justified for the fees. The plaintiffs are seeking payment including "all profits which participants would have made if the defendants had fulfilled their fiduciary obligations."

Source: Planadviser.com, June 2024

TDF Fiduciary Hygiene: An Appropriate IPS, Customized Benchmarks, and Thorough Committee Minutes

On May 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the plaintiffs' complaint in Bracalente v. Cisco Systems, Inc., holding that defendant Cisco did not violate ERISA's prudence requirement in selecting (and retaining) a suite of BlackRock target-date funds as the Cisco 401k plan's qualified default investment alternative. This article reviews the court's decision, highlighting three issues of practical significance for sponsor fiduciaries.

Source: Octoberthree.com, June 2024

DOL's Retirement Security Rule: Six Things Advisors Should Know

In April 2024, the DOL issued the final version of its Retirement Security Rule which imposes an ERISA fiduciary standard. Staying informed about and compliant with the new Rule is crucial for financial professionals to uphold ethical standards, maintain client trust, and operate successfully within the industry. Here are some questions and answers to help break down some of the key changes as well as a checklist to aid in complying with the new rule.

Source: Manning-Napier.com, June 2024

The Bumps in the Road of Being a 401k Plan Provider

Every business has a few bumps along the way, especially those in the retirement plan business. A third-party administrator the author once knew started from a desk at an accountant's office and also had bumps along the way. This article is about being a retirement plan provider and bumps along the way and how to navigate them.

Source: Jdsupra.com, June 2024

A Guide to 401k Withdrawal Strategies

Not all employees have the same financial or personal circumstances. There may be times when they may need to make partial or total early withdrawals from their 401k account. What are the 401k withdrawal rules? Is there a penalty for an early 401k withdrawal? How can you withdraw money from a 401k before retirement? InvestmentNews provides answers to these and more in this article.

Source: Investmentnews.com, June 2024

Merrill Data Bungle Hits Walmart 401k Plan

Merrill Lynch is the latest broker-dealer to report a snafu in handling client private data, with the Maine Attorney General's office last week disclosing that Merrill, as the recordkeeper for Walmart's 401k plan, revealed private client information to an "unauthorized recipient" having nothing to do with the plan.

Source: Investmentnews.com, June 2024

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