Nevin's Data "Points"

Are you scared of retirement? Well, if you are, you have some company. And, at least according to one of those  click-bait survey headlines , 40% of some 800 individuals surveyed claim to be more afraid of retirement than … death. And more than half—52%—of those younger than 39 claim the same. Now, as silly as that seems, could those survey respondents simply be more ready to meet their maker than most? Now, as it turns out, they have some pretty concrete concerns about retirement—or more specifically what they are afraid they will lose; things like income and employment-based healthcare benefits. So, they aren’t scared of retirement, per se—but of the things they fear they will lose because of retirement. [i]   I get it. Anyone who has changed jobs, a home, even a boss—can appreciate a certain level of anxiety around the unknown—even when it’s a result of your choice. And when it’s not?        Despite that level of concern, this is a group in whi...

Halloween is the time of year when one’s thoughts turn to trick-or-treat, ghosts and goblins, and things that go bump in the night. But what are the things plan sponsors are scared about? Getting sued. Plan sponsors will often mention their fear of getting sued, and little wonder. The headlines are full of multi-million-dollar lawsuits against multi-billion-dollar plans, and if relatively few actually get to a judge (and those that do are decided in the plan fiduciaries’ favor), they nonetheless seem to result in multi-million-dollar settlements . Oh, and not only has this been going on for more than a decade, the issues raised are changing as well. As a plan fiduciary, you can still be sued of course; and let’s not forget that that includes responsibility for the acts of your co-fiduciaries, and personal liability at that (see 7 Things an ERISA Fiduciary Should Know ). That said, those cases seem to involve a rather small group of rather large plans. Most plan sponsors won’...