Whether it’s through providing holistic financial wellness programming that addresses the issue of educational debt or offering a more formal, structured student debt repayment benefit, there are compelling reasons plan sponsors should care about the adverse effects of student loan debt on their employees and consider taking action. Read more.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, retirement plans and IRAs account for about 60 percent of the assets of U.S. households investing at least $100,000. Both state and federal laws govern the disposition of these assets, and the results can be complicated, especially when the account owner has been divorced and remarried. Therefore, it is important for plan fiduciaries of qualified retirement plans to understand their role regarding beneficiary designations and the regulations that dictate them. Read more.

U.S. regulatory measures ensure that a company’s plan does not disproportionately benefit some employees over others, regardless of their income or ownership status. To evaluate whether the plan is administered in an even-handed manner, the IRS conducts annual nondiscrimination tests. Failure of any of these tests can result in significant — and costly — additional contributions or required corrective distributions to some employees.  Read more.

Though many employees are aware that behaviors such as enrolling in and contributing sufficiently to their company 401(k) can help them prepare for a successful retirement, too often they fail to develop the necessary saving and investing habits. This could also be why participant engagement strategies that rely exclusively on financial education are sometimes met with limited success. Read more.