It’s become a familiar story in the retirement benefits industry—a company comes under fire for excessive fees charged to its retirement plan, and plan sponsors face class action lawsuits for failing to act in the interests of the plan’s participants. More often than not, these stories don’t end well for…
“Fee-fi-fo-fum!” roars the giant. You may not be afraid of giants or believe in fairy tales anymore, but that phrase still holds plenty of lessons if you serve as a fiduciary to your employees’ retirement plan. And, if you slip up on your fiduciary role, you may have plenty to…
Many assume the Form 5500 is a tax form, but the development of the entire 5500 series was a joint effort by the Department of Labor (DOL), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) to “satisfy annual reporting requirements under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.” In other…
Who watches over the 684,000 retirement plans and the 2.4 million health plans in this country? Through its enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), that task falls to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). It’s a job that the EBSA takes quite seriously. How seriously? Try…
When it comes to your company’s retirement plan, a process of prudence is the surest way to protect you and your employees. What is a process of prudence? It’s a formal plan to ensure you meet your fiduciary responsibilities, as defined by ERISA and the Department of Labor. Part of…