Topic: Retirement Plans

Legislative Update: More Changes May be Coming for Retirement Plans

The SECURE Act, passed into law during the last few days of 2019, was designed to make retirement plans more accessible to employees and less cumbersome for employers to sponsor and administer. The full impact of many of these changes has yet to be measured, but legislators are forging ahead with more proposals intended to help American workers’ save for retirement. 

Loan Interrupted: What Happens to a Defaulted Plan Loan?

What happens when a plan loan is in default, and what steps do plan sponsors need to take? To keep plans in compliance, plan sponsors that allow plan loans must understand the loan rules and what happens when a a loan is in default.

 

Developing Successful Participant Education Strategies

Plan design features that turn employees’ inaction into positive savings behavior, like automatic enrollment and automatic escalation, can increase a plan’s participation and contribution metrics. But employees who understand the importance of their employer’s retirement plan benefits and who are actively engaged in saving for retirement will improve their odds of meeting their retirement income goals.

Financially Preparing for Retirement 

New studies continuously show that the American workforce is inadequately preparing for retirement. These go on to claim that poor retirement preparation adds to an employee’s financial stress. Further, the combination of these two factors is impacting employee work productivity, resulting in costs to employers. Are these studies accurate? If so, what can be done to improve the situation? This white paper from Newport explores what is driving retirement preparation in America and the reasons behind financial stress in the U.S. workplace.
 

Year-End Testing Results: Did Your Plan Pass or Fail?

Each year, 401(k) plans must pass certain tests to ensure that plan contributions stay within permissible limits. When you receive your plan’s testing results for the 2019 plan year from Newport, your report will show a pass or fail score for each test or limit. If your plan failed one or more tests, you can easily change the score by taking corrective actions such as refunding contributions to higher paid employees or making additional contributions for lower paid employees. 

An Analysis of the SECURE Act

On December 20, 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 was enacted. The SECURE Act is the most sweeping retirement legislation since the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and many of its provisions are designed to make retirement plans more accessible to employees and less cumbersome for employers.
 

Aligning a Plan Sponsor’s Business Objectives and Plan Design

Assessing plan design is not only important when establishing a plan, but as part of ongoing annual reviews. Taking time to evaluate the plan sponsor’s goals each year can help pinpoint plan features that are no longer aligned with your clients current needs.

Pension Plan Sponsors Continue to Search for Ways to Reduce Liabilities

In an environment where defined benefit pension plans are seeing rising costs from declining interest rates, rising participant longevity/mortality, and rising Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums, most pension plan sponsors are looking for ways to manage, or eliminate, their defined benefit liabilities and their annual pension expense. 

Get Ready for Year-End Testing

Every 401(k) plan is subject to certain year-end testing requirements (even plans that have adopted a safe harbor design feature). As the sponsor of your company’s 401(k) plan, you must ensure that plan contributions have not exceeded the annual limits set by federal tax law and are not discriminatory against lower paid workers.

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Newport Group, Inc. and its affiliates provide recordkeeping, plan administration, trust and custody, consulting, fiduciary consulting, insurance and brokerage services. 

Investment Advisory and fiduciary consulting services are offered through Newport Group Consulting, LLC, a registered investment adviser. Securities are offered through Newport Group Securities, Inc., a dually-registered investment advisor and broker dealer, member FINRA. Securities in California are offered through Newport Securities Insurance Services. For more information about Newport Group Consulting and its services, Newport Group Securities, Inc. or Newport Securities Insurance Services and services offered, please refer to our Form ADV Part 2, which is available by contacting us at 407-333-2905, visit our website at www.newportgroup.com, or advisorinfo.sec.gov.  

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