Retirement

Some plans sponsors go to greater lengths than others to find ways to reunite former employees with their retirement funds.

Beginning this month, new transparency rules on 401(k) fees go into effect, and experts agree that HR leaders need to pay close attention to the other changes coming later this summer and beyond.

The Ford Motor Co., fresh on the heels of a major turnaround achieved over the past few years, is making change again. This time, the Dearborn, Mich.-based automotive giant is not announcing a new hybrid model or supply-chain strategy.

Anna Rappaport, the noted futurist and actuary, discusses in a Q&A her view on the state of retirement planning in the United States, the top retirement risks for workers and how HR can help mitigate them.

Human Resource Executive® and its sister publication, Risk & Insurance®, profile the best of the best in the area of employee-benefits consulting.

It should come as no surprise that stress levels are elevated in every nook and cranny of the modern-day business world.

With many younger workers neglecting their retirement planning amidst a sea of competing priorities and distractions, some forward-thinking companies are making savings programs a priority -- as well as a retention tool.

A new report from Vanguard shows that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to take loans and hardship withdrawals from their 401(k)s than whites and Asians -- but all of those groups borrow roughly the same amount.

This article accompanies Plan Ahead.

Ford says it has a better idea as it looks to "de-risk" its pension funding by offering lump-sum buyouts to retirees. The impact on HR could be significant among large employers, if this becomes a trend.

It's not enough to expect workers to delay retirement as a way to stretch out their savings, says the head of the PBGC -- because they already are delaying retirement. Josh Gotbaum says his agency not only protects workers from losing assets because of failing pension plans, but also works with companies to maintain their voluntary private plans.

When the U.S. Department of Labor chose to require plan administrators and investment companies to disclose the costs associated with 401(k) plans, the prime goal was increased fee transparency.

While the disclosures to plan participants don't begin until August, HR leaders should be communicating now with employees to make sure they understand that such fees already exist -- even if they haven't been disclosed before. HR leaders should also make sure their staff will be able to understand the disclosures they will receive from service providers -- and that such fees are "fair and reasonable."

This note is in response to Trading Pay for Benefits.

A recent survey indicates an increasing fear among employees that a comfortable retirement may not be in the future. To help assuage that fear -- and the need for some predictability -- HR leaders need to step up their educational efforts and tools, as well as consider some creative benefit strategies.

When one organization did more than just restore its 401(k) contribution-matching program after the recession, it found a great retirement-savings program can also be a great retention tool.

There are a multitude of ways employers can be sued for their fiduciary responsibilities related to employee retirement plans. Here are some ways they can protect themselves.

Following another report that finds fault with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s audit processes and valuation of plan assets, the agency has cut most of its ties with one auditor and has promised to change procedures so that errors are prevented -- or corrected. Critics say it's about time the agency responded to problems.