Defined Contribution Plans

Defined Contribution Plans PDF

Author: U.s. Government Accountability Office

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-08-11

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9781974437627

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enroll workers, in 2007 the Department of Labor (DOL) identified three qualified default investment alternatives. One of these optionstarget date funds (TDF)has emerged as by far the most popular default investment. TDFs are designed to provide an age-appropriate asset allocation for plan participants over time.Because of recent concerns about significant losses in and differences in the performance of some TDFs, GAO was asked address the following questions: (1) To what extent do the investment compositions of TDFs vary; (2) what is known about the performance of TDFs; (3) how do plan sponsors select and monitor TDFs that are chosen as the plans default investment, and what steps do they take to communicate information on these funds to their participants; and (4) what steps have DOL and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) taken to ensure that plan sponsors appropriately select and use TDFs To answer these questions, GAO reviewed available reports and data, and interviewed TDF managers, plan sponsors, relevant federal officials, and others.

Defined Contribution Plans

Defined Contribution Plans PDF

Author: United States Government Accountability Office

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2018-01-08

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9781983612176

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Defined Contribution Plans: Key Information on Target Date Funds as Default Investments Should Be Provided to Plan Sponsors and Participants

Defined Contribution Plans: Challenges and Opportunities for Plan Sponsors

Defined Contribution Plans: Challenges and Opportunities for Plan Sponsors PDF

Author: Jeffery V. Bailey

Publisher: CFA Institute Research Foundation

Published: 2021-08-11

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 1952927218

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American workers rely on their employers to provide a way to generate retirement income beyond their Social Security earnings. Many employers still offer traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plans. A growing majority, however, have replaced DB plans with account-based defined contribution (DC) plans. Virtually everyone acknowledges that the basic DC plan design is flawed. Yet as a society with low private savings and a fraying Social Security system, we count on this imperfect structure to serve as a retirement security bulwark. Workers and society both need the employer-sponsored retirement system to function well. Enhancing DC plan design therefore becomes critical. Defined Contribution Plans: Challenges and Opportunities for Plan Sponsors offers guidance to plan sponsors interested in better understanding the primary issues confronting DC plans. We wrote this book from the viewpoint of the plan sponsor seeking to improve the DC system, and it follows five major themes: the plan participant, the plan sponsor, plan design, investments and investment managers, and asset decumulation in retirement. We present the material conversationally from a high-level perspective. We have not sought to write an encyclopedia on DC plans but rather focus on the basic features of well-run plans. We address key challenges facing DC plans and offer associated design and policy recommendations for plan sponsors and other interested parties to consider. Plan design improvements almost certainly will be incremental, rather than sweeping top-down changes mandated by regulators. Plan sponsors individually will make the important decisions that have lasting consequences for participants and for society. Our objective is to spark interest among sponsors, encouraging them to carry out additional research and take action. We believe the DC system will be strengthened by informed sponsors advocating for and implementing thoughtful strategic changes to their plans.

Retirement Income

Retirement Income PDF

Author: Charles Jeszeck

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2012-10-07

Total Pages: 79

ISBN-13: 1437988555

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As life expectancy increases, the risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge. The shift from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans also increases the responsibility for workers and retirees to make difficult decisions and manage their pension and other financial assets so that they have income throughout retirement. This report reviewed (1) strategies that experts recommend retirees employ to ensure income throughout retirement, (2) choices retirees have made for managing their pension and financial assets for generating income, and (3) policy options available to ensure income throughout retirement and their advantages and disadvantages. The report interviewed experts about strategies retirees should take; analyzed nationally representative data and studies about retirees' decisions; and interviewed experts and reviewed documents about related policy options. Figures and tables. This is a print on demand report.

401 (K) Plans

401 (K) Plans PDF

Author: Charles Jeszeck

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2011-05

Total Pages: 73

ISBN-13: 1437983235

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401(k) plan sponsors offer an array of appropriate investment options; participants direct their investments among those options. While participants expect to be able to switch investment options or withdraw money from their accounts, during the recent economic downturn, some 401(k) plan sponsors and participants found that they were restricted from doing so. This report: (1) identifies some of the specific investments and practices that prevented plan sponsors and participants from accessing their 401(k) plan assets; and (2) determines any changes the Dept. of Labor could make to assist sponsors in understanding the challenges posed by the investments and practices that restricted withdrawals. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

Successful Defined Contribution Investment Design

Successful Defined Contribution Investment Design PDF

Author: Stacy L. Schaus

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1119302544

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Start-to-finish guidance toward building and implementing a robust DC plan Successful Defined Contribution Investment Design offers a comprehensive guidebook for fiduciaries tasked with structuring and implementing a 401(k) or other defined contribution (DC) pension plan. More than a collection of the usual piecemeal information, this book seeks to offer a complete, contemporary framework for plan design, together with tested methodologies and analytic techniques to help streamline plan monitoring, management and improve participant outcomes. Examples from plan sponsors provide on-the-ground insight while suggestions from DC consultants add expert perspective. Views from ERISA expert counsel provide additional understanding—along with input from academic thought leaders. Finally, investment evaluation and analysis is joined with participant savings and asset allocation data to look prospectively at potential outcomes, and case studies illustrate real-world implementation of objective-aligned asset allocation such as custom target-date strategies. Though the focus is primarily on U.S. plan design, author perspectives from countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada provide relevant and helpful viewpoints for both new and experienced plan fiduciaries. For the vast majority of workers, DC plans have replaced traditional defined benefit pension plans as the primary source of employer-provided retirement income. This book provides comprehensive guidance to help you construct a plan to help workers to retire with confidence. Adopt a framework for DC evaluation and structure Learn new methodologies for investment choice evaluation Use the innovative PIMCO Retirement Income Cost Estimate—or PRICE—to help quantify the amount of money a worker needs to create and stay on track to building a real income stream in retirement Examine methodologies used at major companies in the U.S. and globally DC plans are the most rapidly growing retirement market in the world, yet sources of consolidated structural and analytical guidance are lacking. Successful Defined Contribution Investment Design fills the gap with a comprehensive handbook that covers the bases to help you develop an objective-aligned defined contribution plan.

401(k) Plans

401(k) Plans PDF

Author: Charlie Jeszeck

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2011-05

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 1437982336

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Recent volatility in financial markets highlights the need for prudent investment decisions if 401(k) plans are to provide an adequate source of retirement income. While plan sponsors and participants may receive help in assessing their investment choices, concerns have been raised about the impartiality of the advice provided. This report describes circumstances where service providers may have conflicts of interest in providing assistance related to the selection of investment options for: (1) plan sponsors; and (2) plan participants; and (3) steps the Dept. of Labor has taken to address conflicts of interest related to the selection of investment options. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.