Final DOL Reg Could Bring Big Change to Retirement Industry - Summary: Big shifts may be coming in how retirement plans are managed after the the Labor Department announced the final version of its rules under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, which require broker dealers disclose their services and fees to plan sponsors for individual plans. Source: Employee Benefit News, February 2012.

Feds Propose a New Approach to Utilizing Retirement Savings - Summary: As things stand now, when a 401k plan participant retires, he or she has just two choices in where to put funds — take it all out in a lump sum or stash it all in an annuity. The Treasury Department has announced a proposal to make things a little more flexible. Source: HR Morning, February 2012.

New Treasury Rules Ease 401k Annuity Purchase - Summary: The Treasury issued several new regulations intended to make it easier, and maybe cheaper, for middle-class people in retirement to transfer the money they accumulated in their 401ks into an annuity that would guarantee monthly payments until they die. Source: New York Times, February 2012.

New 401k Policies Are a Mixed Bag - Summary: The Obama Administration took aim at the nation's retirement worries on Thursday with a series of rules and proposals addressing everything from 401k fees to mandatory distributions and annuities for older retirees. The package, taken as a whole, will likely provide some help for workers, but insurance companes will probably be the most excited about it immediately. Source: Reuters.com, February 2012.

New Lifetime Income Options for 401k Payouts - Summary: In a joint announcement Thursday, the Departments of Treasury and Labor unveiled two executive actions to expand the transparency of 401k fees and broaden the availability of retirement plan payout options to encourage the use of annuities to provide lifetime income. Source: Investmentnews.com (free registration may be required), February 2012.

IRS Newsletter Highlights Leased Employee Compliance Project, Electronic Signatures, and More - Summary: The IRS has addressed a variety of issues for employers and plan sponsors in the latest edition of Employee Plans News, including complying with leased employee rules, requesting copies of or corrections to determination letters, abandoning pre-approved plans, and electronic signature problems. Here are highlights. Source: Thomson Reuters, February 2012.

DOL and IRS Issue Final Fiduciary-Level Fee Disclosure Regs and Proposed Guidance on Lifetime Income - Summary: In a coordinated effort, the DOL and IRS have announced agency actions that are intended to enhance retirement security. Source: Thomson Reuters, February 2012.

Finally the Final … 408(b)(2) Regulation - Summary: The Department of Labor has issued the long-anticipated final service provider fee disclosure regulation. In finalizing the regulation, the DOL extended the compliance deadline from April 1, 2012, to July 1, 2012. In this article, Fred Reish and Bruce Ashton describe what the amendment says and what they think are the most important changes; in a subsequent piece, they will explain the impact on various service providers. Source: Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP , February 2012.

Who's on the Hook for Decisions Made in Your 401k? - Summary: If you are a business owner, on the Board of Directors or serve on the Plan Investment Committee, follow the line of questions from a "hypothetical deposition" directed to you and picture how you would answer the questions. Source: Forbes, February 2012.

IRS Issues Guidance About Annuities in Retirement Plans - Summary: The Internal Revenue Service issued two pieces of guidance to clarify how certain rules apply when a retirement plan offers an annuity to participants. Source: Plansponsor.com, February 2012.

Retirement Wisdom on 401k Loans Turned Upside Down - Summary: Articles about 401k loans tend toward the negative - using terms like "erode" or "raid" when characterizing loans' effect on employees' retirement savings. Consultant says 401k hardship withdrawals, not plan loans, are true villain hindering effective retirement savings, then debunks other myths about 401k loans. Source: Employee Benefit News, February 2012.

Labor Department Changes Tack on 401k Fee Disclosure - Summary: The U.S. Labor Department has removed a controversial part of its proposed 401k fee disclosure rule that would have required retirement plan providers to create a summary document, or "roadmap," of all their fees for employers. Source: Financial-planning.com, February 2012.

Final Regulation Relating to Service Provider Disclosures Under Section 408(b)(2) - Summary: The DOL published a fee disclosure interim rule on July 16, 2010. This final rule replaces the interim rule with minor changes and revisions. This final rule establishes specific disclosure obligations for plan service providers to ensure that responsible plan fiduciaries are provided the information they need to make better decisions when selecting and monitoring service providers for their plans. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, February 2012.

Changes to Final DOL Fee Disclosure Rule - Summary: The operative language of the final 408b-2 service provider fee disclosure rule reflects certain modifications to the interim final rule that was published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2010. The major changes are described here, with citations to the relevant provisions of the final rule. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, February 2012.

Reasonable Contract or Arrangement Under Section 408(b)(2) – Fee Disclosure - Summary: This document contains the full text of the final regulation under ERISA requiring that certain service providers to pension plans disclose information about the service providers' compensation and potential conflicts of interest. These disclosure requirements are established as part of a statutory exemption from ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions. This regulation will affect pension plan sponsors and fiduciaries and certain service providers to such plans. Source: U.S. Department of Labor , February 2012.

Top 10 Employee Benefits Compliance and Reporting Concerns - Summary: As the regulatory landscape changes, plan sponsors and administrators who keep pace with new requirements and filings prevent errors and problems down the road. Article offers 10 employee benefits compliance and reporting concerns as a tool or aid for keeping plan administration on the straight and narrow. Source: Employee Benefit News, February 2012.

Eight Moves to Improve Your Retirement Plan - Summary: Strategic retirement planning should be a blend of science and art. 401k returns are unimpressive, and Americans save far less than our global counterparts. If you want to maintain integrity in your fiduciary relationships, it's time to find the courage to make changes to your plan that will benefit your long-term employees for many years to come. Source: Employee Benefit News, February 2012.

Understanding the Emerging Trends in Employee Benefits - Summary: According to the authors, this study is a valuable reference that benefits providers and brokers/consultants can rely on to see the real challenges and trends we believe will shape the delivery of employee benefits programs for the next five years. It also serves as a valuable tool that can help them develop real benefits solutions now, while keeping an eye on the future. Source: Prudential, February 2012.

New Fee Disclosure Solution Released by Joint 403(b) Taskforce - Summary: With the new 403(b) Model Disclosure form, teachers and other school district staff have a simple uniform tool to make apples-to-apples comparisons among their 403(b) retirement plan investment options. The form is designed to offer public school employees simple and clear information about the services and fees associated with their retirement savings choices. Source: ASPPA , February 2012.

NEA Releases Suggested Disclosure Form for 403(b) Plans - Summary: A group calling themselves the Joint 403(b) Taskforce has issued a 10-page 403(b) model Disclosure Form. Source: Pension Protection Act Blog, February 2012.

Benefits Best Practices - Summary: This best practices guide shows how a tailored approach can help employers make the most of their investments in employee benefits. Source: Principal , February 2012.

401k Questionnaire Interim Report IRS Phone Forum - Summary: The 401k Questionnaire Interim Report, its next steps, and current issues found in 401k audits will be discussed by Monika Templeman, Director of Employee Plans Examinations, along with IRS staff members Janice Gore and Rhonda Migdail. Source: IRS, February 2012.

Will Savers Yawn at 401k Fee Disclosures? - Summary: Participants will soon find out how much they are paying in fees for 401k and other defined contribution plans. No one is sure how participants will react, but some are betting that most will yawn. Source: Smartmoney.com, February 2012.

New ERISA Definition of Fiduciary Alive and Kicking - Summary: Phyllis Borzi, Assistant Secretary of Labor for EBSA, made it very clear when she spoke as the keynote speaker at the 2012 Los Angeles Benefits Conference that a new definition of fiduciary was not a dead issue and that the DOL was fully committed to modernizing the fiduciary regulations. Source: ASPPA, February 2012.

Target-Date Funds in a 401k - Summary: If most potential clients walking through your door nowadays don't hold target-date funds in their 401k plans, that's likely to change in the next few years. The management consulting firm Casey Quirk estimates that such portfolios will account for about 48% of 401k assets in 2020, up from just 13% today. Source: Financial-planning.com, February 2012.

ETFs Make Strides in 401k Plans - Summary: The exchange traded fund industry has cultivated a strong following in the marketplace, but it has not made much headway into mutual fund dominated 401k plans. However, more retirement investment firms are beginning to make the shift as the market becomes more transparent. Source: ETFtrends.com, February 2012.

The Savings Crisis of Working Americans: The Retirement Industry Call to Action - Summary: This white paper examines the coming retirement savings shortfall and calls on the retirement industry, employers, working Americans, financial intermediaries, and the federal government to come together to develop solutions that improve the savings rate. Source: Legg Mason Retirement Advisory Council , February 2012.

The 401k You Thought Was Free...Isn't - Summary: Seventy percent of employees believe 401ks are free, according to a recent AARP survey. Will your employees become upset that the company has allowed them to believe the 401k plan is free by not telling them that it wasn't? Will they be shocked to learn the size of the fees they pay? Source: Dennisackley.com , January 2012.

Kodak Employee Files Lawsuit Regarding Retirement Plans - Summary: Kodak's CEO Antonio Perez and several Kodak board members are cited in the lawsuit filed by Mark Gedek on behalf of himself and others who are part of Kodak's employee savings and investment plan. Gedek claims that when Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, the company failed to take action to protect the plan or its participants from financial loss. Source: Plansponsor.com, January 2012.

Too Much 401k Sunshine? - Summary: The recordkeepers for some 401k plans are already experimenting with new ways to explain fees to retirement savers. And in at least one case, those disclosures are raising more questions than employers or investment advisers want to answer. Source: Wall Street Journal, January 2012.

401k Plans Step Into the Sunshine - Summary: The rules governing America's most popular retirement vehicle are about to change, and that could mean huge savings for millions of workers building nest eggs for the future. Source: Wall Street Journal, January 2012.

Mutual Funds Vs. ETFs: A Comparison - Summary: As with any investment, investors need to understand the risk and return profile of the asset classes in which they plan to invest and how the instruments work. Once they do, the choice of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund is simply a matter of implementation. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, January 2012.

U.S. Retirement Market Projected to Hit $22 Trillion by 2016 - Summary: The U.S. retirement market is projected to grow to nearly $22 trillion by 2016. That represents a 38% increase from an estimated $16 trillion mark for the end of 2011, due mostly to continuing market recovery, according to data released by Cerulli Associates. Source: Financial-planning.com, January 2012.

Target-Date Funds Get Customized - Summary: Custom target-date funds are beginning to proliferate at the expense of their off-the-shelf counterparts. That's due to plan sponsors wanting to have greater control over what's in a fund and have access to a wider array of investments to put in them. Source: Financial-planning.com, January 2012.

Many DC Plan Execs Unclear on Plan Data - Summary: Noticeable -- and sometimes stunning -- numbers of defined contribution plan executives are uncertain, unsure or unaware of key financial and management issues affecting their plans, according to a review by Pensions & Investments. Source: Business Insurance, January 2012.

How to Take Advantage of New 401k Fee Disclosures - Summary: With this new information about the 401k fees you are paying, you will have an opportunity to reduce the costs of your retirement investments. Here's how to take advantage of the new 401k fee disclosures. Source: U.S.News & World Report, January 2012.

A Retirement Plan Sponsor's Guide to Choosing a Third Party Administration Firm - Summary: Even if you are not looking for a new TPA, as a plan fiduciary, you need to shop around your plan to other TPAs in order to make sure you are exercising your fiduciary responsibility prudently by confirming that the fees you pay to the TPA are reasonable for the services provided. Here are some questions you need to ask. Source: The Rosenbaum Law Firm PC, January 2012.

Employers Adding Automatic Enrollment to DC Plans - Summary: More employers intend to add automatic enrollment features to their 401k and other defined contribution plans, according to an Aon Hewitt survey. Under automatic enrollment, employees who don't respond to participation notices are enrolled automatically in a plan unless they notify their employers that they want to opt out. Source: Workforce.com, January 2012.

Significant Compensation and Benefit Due Dates for 2012 - Summary: The 2012 Compliance Calendar is intended to alert the reader to some of the more significant dates for 2012 and is not intended to identify all compliance obligations or due dates. This Compliance Calendar assumes a plan administered on a calendar year basis by an employer with a calendar fiscal year. Source: Aon Hewitt , January 2012.

Good, Bad, or Meh? Readers Rate Their 401k Plans - Summary: Defined-contribution plans like 401k's have become the chief retirement-savings vehicle for many individuals, but the quality of these plans varies broadly by employer. Even those satisfied with their 401ks can spot room for improvement; common wish-list items include index funds, more bond funds. Source: Morningstar.com, January 2012.

COMMENTARY: Stable-Value Funds Are Shaky 401k Options - Summary: Many small employers have plans that lack target-date funds, mostly because the employer would face higher costs to get a plan with sufficient options to serve every age group on the payroll, while also offering a complete line of funds for the do-it-yourselfers. In those cases, the oversized helpings of stable value are common — and that's a problem. Source: Marketwatch.com, January 2012.

Low-Cost Entries Shake Up Small Retirement Plan Market - Summary: Low-cost plans are cropping up, as new federal regulations kicking in this year call for greater disclosure of fee information to plan participants and sponsors. Source: Reuters, January 2012*.

A Primer on 401k Plan Design Alternatives - Summary: Many times a plan sponsor doesn't want to adopt a "standard" 401k plan design because they have different business objectives. Here are some plan design alternatives. Source: Plan Design Consultants , January 2012.

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