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Showing posts from December, 2015

Naughty or Nice?

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A few years back — when my kids still believed in the reality of Santa Claus — we discovered an ingenious website. This was a website that purported to offer a real-time assessment of your “naughty or nice” status. Now, as Christmas approached, it was not uncommon for us to caution our occasionally misbehaving brood that they had best be attentive to how those actions might be viewed by the big guy at the North Pole. But nothing ever had the impact of that website — if not on their behaviors (they were kids, after all), then certainly on the level of their concern about the consequences. In fact, in one of his final years as a “believer,” my son (who, it must be acknowledged, had been particularly naughty that year, and he knew it) was on the verge of tears, worried that he’d find nothing under the Christmas tree but the nuggets of coal in his stocking he so surely deserved. Bad Behaviors? With so many reports purporting to chronicle the sorry state of retirement confidence

6 Tips on Shopping for a Provider

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My single memory of venturing out on Black Friday to shop came at the instigation of my “little” sister, who has long undertaken such forays. Nor was this to be a random shopping expedition — armed with circulars and coupons, she directed me and my two brothers with the fervor and furor of General Patton as to which stores we were to invade, the objective(s) of these intrusions, and in some cases, the line(s) in which we would take up residence while she pursued items she (apparently) did not trust to the pursuit of mere amateurs. Shopping for a new provider is not something one would normally compare with a Black Friday foray, but if you have a plan sponsor — or plan sponsor prospect — who’s thinking about shopping for a new provider, here’s a list they may find useful. Make a list — and yes, check it twice. In an area fraught with as much potential complexity as searching for a retirement plan provider, it’s easy to think you’ll learn what you need to look for by simply going

The 5 W’s: A New Plan Fiduciary Perspective

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The Five Ws (or as they are sometimes called, Five W’s and one H) are questions whose answers are considered basic in information gathering in a variety of settings. There are a lot of questions that plan fiduciaries should ask, but here are five W’s and an H that every new plan fiduciary — or every “old” fiduciary who is new to a plan — should ask. Who are the (other) plan fiduciaries? Fiduciary status is based on your responsibilities with the plan, not your title. If you have discretion in administering and managing the plan, or if you control the plan’s assets (such as choosing the investment options or choosing the firm that chooses those options), then you are a fiduciary to the extent of that discretion or control. And, if you are able to hire a fiduciary, then you’re (probably) an ERISA fiduciary because the power to put others in a position of power regarding plan assets is as critical — and as responsible — as the ability to make decisions regarding those investments