News & Analysis as of

Retirement 401k Financial Services Industry

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Workplace Retirement Plans: Participation Is Up, But So Is Financial Stress

Retirement plan participation is up, but don’t pop the champagne just yet. According to Morgan Stanley at Work’s just-released State of the Workplace Report, while more employees are enrolling in their 401(k) plans, many are...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Are We Robbing Peter to Pay Paul?

The 401(k) match has long been one of the most powerful tools for building retirement savings. It’s the “free money” we’ve all been trained to chase—and advise our clients to chase. So when Fidelity, Schwab, and others start...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Problem of Organizational Drift For 401(k) Plan Providers

I enjoy business history and why certain businesses and organizations fail. I knew Sears and Blockbuster Video would fail, years ahead of time. I knew the synagogue where I was a member and where my son had his bris, would...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Intangibles You Need To Succeed In The 401(k) Business

The most disappointing part of going to law school was the lack of practicality. Sure, it helps you think like a lawyer and teach you the basics of the law, it never helped with becoming a successful lawyer or how to draw a...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Schwab Self-Direct 401(k) plans gain 13.6% in 2024

The average Self-Directed Brokerage Account (SDBA) 401(k) balance at Charles Schwab finished the fourth quarter of 2024 at $352,605, up by 13.6% since 2023, according to Charles Schwab’s latest SDBA Indicators Report....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You can’t sell Betamax in a VHS World

A plan provider once asked me if I had written a comprehensive article on why trustee-directed 401(k) plans are superior to participant-directed plans. Although I believe in this argument, I haven’t actually written such an...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

A New Way to Count Participants in Individual Account Retirement Plans

Employers who sponsor retirement plans for their employees face annual reporting requirements that may involve significant expenses. One of these is the requirement that a plan be audited annually by an independent qualified...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You need the right partner

Whether it’s a partner in your business or a business partnership with another plan provider, it needs to be the right fit. I worked for two third-party administrators (TPAs) where partnership mismatches helped doom them....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Don’t shrug

One of my pet peeves out there is when you give a list of complaints to a business or an organization and they give the proverbial “shrug of the shoulders.” The “proverbial shrug” is basically the business or the organization...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Participants still think it’s free

I once said that I thought I lived in a great community until I joined the Facebook community newsgroups. You just can’t imagine what people think. The same can be said about some of these polls of plan participants, which...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

SeaWorld Litigation will continue

A class action lawsuit brought by former SeaWorld employees that alleged participants in the SWBG LLC 401(k) plan were harmed will continue. The former employees’ arguments sustained the fiduciary breach of the duty of...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

AI is here for 401(k) review

I’ve been long in this business to remember no participant websites, so I’m amazed by technological breakthroughs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools BenchMine is billed as the first-ever AI 401(k) comparative analysis...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

More immediate eligibility for salary deferrals

New Vanguard data shows that 72% of plan sponsors allowed for immediate eligibility of retirement saving deferrals in 2021, which is an increase over the 58% in 2012, according to own research. Although not every Vanguard...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

One Digital makes another practice purchase

One Digital announced it has acquired - 401K Resources and The Clear Group 401K Resources was founded by Renee Scherzer, the President-Elect of the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA). The Clear Group, founded by...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The deferral rate is important as to plan health

While the past 11 years, 401(k) plan sponsors have been concerned with cost since mandatory fee disclosure, I think there is one diagnostic that they should focus on and rarely do. The diagnostic is the deferral rate of...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Trust is the underpinning behind any plan provider relationship

When working with other plan providers, trust is the biggest underpinning. Without it, you have nothing else. If you can’t trust the plan provider you’re working with, then why are you in business with them?...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Plan sponsors simply can’t overpay

How to determine whether a plan sponsor is paying way too much? Like Justice Potter Stewart would say, I know it when I see it. I have seen the information shown on Form 5500 or a fee disclosure form. Whether it’s the plan...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

There is never a need to troll

Social media is one of the great tools that I needed to start my own ERISA practice. While my Twitter handle can attract some interaction with non-retirement folks, I’m always mindful of what I post and how I handle myself....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Employees are not interested in state plans

I like state mandates for retirement plan coverage, because it increases interest in employers sponsoring 401(k) plans. I’m of the opinion that when push comes to shove, employers would rather sponsor their own 401(k) plan or...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Get those affiliated service issues straightened out

As a 401(k) plan sponsor, you need to make sure that all your plan providers understand any ownership interests in other companies that you may have and make a determination whether those interests constitute a controlled...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

IRA assets swell, thanks to rollovers

Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) remain the biggest segment of the retirement plan market, hitting almost $14 trillion in assets, thanks to 401(k) rollovers. Over the past 10 years, IRA market share has increased...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

That 401(k) National Virtual Conference 2023 was a big hit

With some great presentations and a lively roundtable, That 401(k) National Virtual Conference entertained and educated more than 50 plan providers on January 26-27th. Presentations included a litigation update from Invesco’s...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

U.S. Bank slapped with lawsuit

U.S. Bank and its 401(k) Savings Plan is the latest target of a class action lawsuit in Minnesota. According to the complaint, from the years 2016 through 2021, the Plan paid an effective average annual administration fee of...more

23 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide