Blogs

Do you feel like you spent the last year gripping the steering wheel and waiting to see what would happen? You aren’t alone. Still, as we collectively look ahead and the chaos wanes, bits of good news are emerging. In the investing world, 2020 was a year of records and firsts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out the year at well over the 30,000 mark, setting a new record high as it increased more than 7% from the beginning of the year. And right on the heels of that good news comes the annual survey from the Profit Sharing Council of America (PSCA). Based upon 2019 data — the most...

Understanding Uncertainty: Retirement Plan Webinar View Full Webinar Presentation All of us are surrounded by fear of risk. When the media discusses investments, so much is driven by what an investor could lose or gain. Some investments are marketed as growth, guaranteed, or safe. What is risk? What risks are relevant in your retirement plan? What is considered investment risk and what is our own behavioral risk? What do you do as a saver to combat the short and long-term risks so pervasive in our society? With the right strategies, you can manage risk and help grow your retirement account...

On the surface, retirement readiness did not suffer significantly in 2020, according to a close examination of the 1.1 million participants in 1,076 plans reviewed for a recent white paper. Of course, the market experienced significant dips in the first quarter of 2020, but results were broadly positive the rest of the year. Overall, year-over-year retirement readiness was down fewer than two percentage points — concerning, but not devastating. The paper, John Hancock’s State of the Participant 2021, examined data for the year ending September 30, 2020, digging deeper to see how participants...

More than a year after the start of the pandemic, you may be pleased with the overall growth of the assets in your company retirement plan. After all, more assets generally mean better prospects for retirement security for your valued employees. But according to a recent triennial survey of wealth held by Americans, some may not be enjoying growth to the same degree as the overall population—nationally and at your company. The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) examined data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) for the year ending 2019. True, that’s pre-COVID-19...

The Challenges The client was frustrated with their plan provider because they were failing nondiscrimination testing on an annual basis. In addition to this issue, the plan had over 120 participants and thus was audited every year. Since the plan provider was running testing and census information without reviewing it for potential savings, these two issues cost the plan and its highly-compensated employees (HCEs) money. Due to the plan’s nondiscrimination testing failures, its HCEs either had to have money returned to them or the plan had to contribute additions to its non-highly compensated...