
Puzzling Through the Pieces: Finding Possible Themes and Conflict in the Changes at DOL
Instead of taking changes at the DOL as single item issues, it might be more useful to see how all the changes interact. Often, legislators and regulators want changes to interact like a puzzle; each piece interlocking to form a larger picture. But sometimes when many policies are changed at the same time, conflicts emerge that can put those supposed to be following them into the proverbial spot between a rock and a hard place.
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Long Term Care: It is Time to Talk, More
Many retirees are not well positioned for the health care challenges they may face in retirement because they did not take advantage of long-term care insurance. While many saving for retirement have begun optimizing savings through Health Savings Accounts, they may not understand how those accounts can be used for long-term care insurance premiums when they do retire.
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San Francisco v. EPA and the Safeguards Rule: Caution Ahead
A Supreme Court ruling curtailing the EPA’s rulemaking for outcome-based regulation could change cybersecurity rules for financial advisors. Well, maybe. We discuss the details by reviewing the Court’s decision and the federal framework for financial institution cybersecurity safeguards.
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Testing Your Loyalty: A Gathering Trend on Fiduciary Duties
There may be a new player in the fiduciary duty sandbox, and it involves ESG. Most often when discussing fiduciary duties, the topic at hand involves the research and appropriateness of decision making. Issues of loyalty and trust in investment advice are always worth following.
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Assessing Alternative Investments: What to Watch
When it comes to alternative investments, do clients want new options or a new approach to the traditional ones? We review the performance of traditional alternative investments, such as private equity, real estate, and commodities and assess new trends.
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Re-Enrollment Round Up
With the success of auto-enrollment in retirement plans for new hires, some plan sponsors are looking to a new trend among benefits. Many have begun creating plans for re-enrolling employees who have dropped out of retirement plans during their tenures.
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Lead Employees to the Benefits Trough Through Education
Employee education is often a topic plan sponsors or the employer delegates to vendors, such as a plan administrator. However, recent surveys indicate plan sponsors are opting for plan design changes. It is possible that linking employee education programs to these changes could facilitate those changes.
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La Plus ca Change: Digesting Investing 2024
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s tempting to say that the key themes of 2024 for the investment profession were the same as for years past. You might even ask yourself, is it worth it to do a year in review? We think so.
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Volatility, Behavioral Finance, and Your Clients
Some analysts are making predictions for how the Trump Administration may impact retirement planning based on changes in personnel, others are focused on the changed regulatory structure. But one thing is for certain: the market may be volatile once again.
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SEC Leadership Change and Trendspotting
The SEC may be making news lately for its crackdown on cryptocurrency, but the real story may be how its agenda has been changing concerning enforcement actions. Here are a few things financial advisors should consider.
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In a Marketing Pinch? Add a Dash of Menu Planning
Market costs have been putting many small financial firm owners in a bind. They may find themselves between the rock of needing to increase warm leads and the hard place of reducing costs. There is an answer, and it may be to borrow a popular trick from household management: meal prepping.
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High vs Wide: How Will the EBSA’s Budget Change its Enforcement Action Priorities?
Given the potential changes in regulatory power that could flow from the Supreme Court’s decisions in the summer of 2024, plan sponsors may be wondering if there might be changes in how the DOL enforces its regulations. But that might not be the right tree to go barking up. Instead, a key to understanding changes in enforcement actions could lay with its leadership and its budget.
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Common Misconceptions in Retirement Planning: Time to Review
Plan Sponsors may want to consider addressing common misconceptions plan participants have when looking to planning educational resources. Three of the most common misconceptions in retirement planning are 1) budgeting only to prepare; 2) longevity missteps; and 3) amounts over accounts.
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New and Newsworthy: A Review of 401ks and Company Retirement Benefits
Many Americans have access to retirement benefits through their workplace but may not know how to optimize these benefits. Sometimes, it’s helpful for plan sponsors to review the basics of just how those benefits work and what they mean. Here is a review of the news: both what gets media attention as well as new offerings by plan sponsors.
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Benefits Beyond the Plan: Interns, Habit Setting, and Retirement Readiness
Many employers have begun offering employee wellness benefits to their student and intern workers. Yet, some elements of those wellness programs, such as financial wellness components around retirement planning, may not be available to interns. Employers that are plan sponsors may want to help their participants with retirement readiness and may encourage early active participation in a retirement plan.
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Emotional Investing and Alternative Investments: Is Education the Answer?
The merits of alternative investments for many investors as appropriate vehicles for diversification can be reduced when decisions are motivated by emotional investing. While advisors are familiar with this dangerous dynamic duo, new approaches suggest that the risky mix of emotional investing and alternative investments may be harmonized by something as simple as education.
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Identity crisis: Verifying Personal Details and Employee Form Fatigue
REAL ID is making it really hard to open new accounts. The change in identity verification requirements may only impact not yet enrolled plan participants. Yet, for participants who may be opening multiple accounts (such as those who’ve moved or younger participants) the increase in requirements could deter their interest in enrolling in benefits.
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Risk Horizon: New Tools for Monitoring and Managing Investment Risk.
Recent research released in June of 2024 by MFS Investment Management may reflect that the scope of risk is shifting. These concerns include administrative and regulatory changes as well as continuing concerns about retirement readiness of plan participants. These concerns about managing volatility and adjusting for potential litigation risks may have financial advisors considering their current offerings of investment monitoring.
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Enforcement Actions and Litigation: SEC Has a Tough Q2
Recent enforcement actions by the Department of Labor indicate an uptick in cases against profit sharing plans. Class action settlements show that plaintiffs continue to keep a watchful eye on retirement plan fee choices. A new report indicates that activist shareholder whistleblowers may be using more than 10% of the SEC’s enforcement budget.
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Unauthorized AI at Work and Cybersecurity Threats
A new report shows that a large percentage of employees are using AI at work, without their employer’s knowledge or approval. Unauthorized AI can create serious cybersecurity risks for those handling private financial information. Such use may also run afoul of the EBSA’s recommendations for retirement plan service providers.
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EBSA Enforcement Data: Are Enforcement Numbers Up?
Has the agency tasked with enforcing ERISA performed on the prediction of increased enforcement action under in the Biden Administration or did it focus on new regulations instead? We compared the first year of the new administration to last year to find out.
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Supreme Court Weighs Power of Agencies Like the DOL to Impose Penalties without a Jury
Last Fall, we noted several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that could impact the power federal agencies have to regulate and prosecute plan sponsors. Many of those cases are now working their way through the Court and may have profound impact on agencies such as FINRA, the SEC and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. They may also impact the Department of Labor and its investigative wing, the EBSA.
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Major Overhaul of Financial Regulations Coming? Supreme Court Considers Chevron Change
Three major supreme court opinions may be coming soon that could have significant implications for financial advisors and they may not be the ones you’ve heard about. These cases may be more significant: they may reduce the ability of agency regulators to oversee, investigate, and fine financial advisors and institutions by changing a long-held rule deferring to federal agencies in their decisions.
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