It wasn’t high costs or 401(k)s—necessarily—that ended the corporate pension plan’s reign, but rather ERISA itself. A recent paper from John Langbein, Yale Law School’s Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law and Legal History, argued that the 1974 landmark law's structure made defined benefit (DB)... READ MORE

Familiar 401(k) critic Teresa Ghilarducci testified before Congress on Wednesday, claiming America’s retirement system is “severely broken” and seniors must either “work or rely on the kindness of strangers to dodge the increasing risk of elder poverty." Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School... READ MORE

On Tuesday, the American Retirement Association (ARA) sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that addressed technical issues affecting certain SECURE 2.0 provisions. It noted a few that are of particular relevance to retirement plan sponsors and advisors. More specifically, the ARA... READ MORE

If the results of a recent retirement income quiz are any indication, there’s work to be done. Older Americans scored just 31% on the 2023 Retirement Income Literacy Study from the American College of Financial Services, which found a “direct relationship” between financial literacy and asset... READ MORE

Do savings incentives like tax preferences in defined contribution plans exacerbate the racial saving gap? It’s the subject of a recent working paper titled Who Benefits from Retirement Saving Incentives in the U.S.? Evidence on Racial Gaps in Retirement Wealth Accumulation from researchers at the... READ MORE

On Wednesday, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) introduced a bill to establish a federal auto-IRA for employers with more than 10 employees who do not currently sponsor a retirement plan.  The Automatic IRA Act of 2024 (H.R.7293) would require employees to be... READ MORE

"Guys, try not to suck," TPSU and TRAU's Fred Barstein said by way of advice to his fellow panelists at the opening session of the Viking Cove Institute's Industry Leaders Summit in Phoenix, Ariz. on Friday. The session, simply titled "Convergence," included high-profile industry personalities... READ MORE

While many sectors (and companies) in 401(k) and financial services experiment with artificial intelligence (AI), Financial Finesse is diving right in. The El Segundo, Calif.-based financial wellness firm was an early AI adopter with its pioneering virtual financial coach Aimee, and more... READ MORE

Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig reintroduced legislation last week to eliminate federal taxes on Social Security benefits for seniors. The bill would extend full benefits for two decades and reduce the federal debt by a substantial amount, according to the analysis it cited. Craig... READ MORE