Ted Godbout
By Ted Godbout 6/24/2021
If the threat of a cybersecurity breach wasn’t enough cause for concern to take action, an inquiry by the Department of Labor might do the trick.
“We can confirm that the DOL has begun issuing information and document requests under this new initiative, and the requests are probing and indicate...
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By Ted Godbout 6/18/2021
Publicly traded companies would be required to disclose to shareholders certain environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics under legislation narrowly approved by the House of Representatives.
The House approved the Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act (H.R. 1187) ...
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By Ted Godbout 6/17/2021
More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, finances continue to be a top cause of employee stress, even above job, health and relationship stress combined.
In fact, nearly two-thirds (63%) of full-time employees say their financial stress has increased since the start of the pandemic, PwC...
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By Ted Godbout 6/17/2021
Employees who maintained a handle on cash flow and an emergency fund prior to 2020 fared best during the pandemic, leading many employers to add financial resiliency to their list of key focus areas for 2021, according to a new study.
Financial Finesse’s 2020 Financial Wellness Year in Review...
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By Ted Godbout 6/17/2021
The Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission offered a look at their regulatory priorities for the coming months on June 11, including proposals in the pre-rule and final stages.
For the Treasury Department, this semiannual regulatory to-do list was the first offered under...
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By Ted Godbout 6/17/2021
Plan design features, such as auto-enrollment, auto-escalation and target-date funds, helped DC plan participants stay the course and improve retirement outcomes, according to the most recent edition of the firm’s How America Saves study.
The adoption of automatic enrollment has more than tripled...
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By Ted Godbout 6/15/2021
While market volatility certainly affected retirement savings in 2020, new research shows that participants saved more, account balances grew and plan sponsors remained steadfast.
“Reference Point,” T. Rowe Price’s annual 401(k) benchmarking report, reveals that the overall average pretax...
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By Ted Godbout 6/14/2021
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) newly released Spring 2021 regulatory agenda confirms that a fiduciary rule rewrite is in the works and provides other key insight for the department’s regulatory plans for the coming months.
Fiduciary Rule Recast
The 10-year saga of the fiduciary rule will...
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By Ted Godbout 6/11/2021
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sheds new light on enforcement activities of the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.
The 56-page report, Enforcement Efforts to Protect Participants’ Rights in Employer-Sponsored Retirement and Health Benefit Plans, ...
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By Ted Godbout 6/10/2021
While market volatility certainly affected retirement savings in 2020, new research shows that participants saved more, account balances grew and plan sponsors remained steadfast.
“Reference Point,” T. Rowe Price’s annual benchmarking report, reveals that the overall average pretax deferral rate...
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By Ted Godbout 6/8/2021
The New York State legislature has taken another big step toward enacting a mandatory auto-IRA program.
The State Senate voted 44-19 on June 7 to approve NY A03213-A, legislation that would convert the existing New York state secure choice auto-IRA saving program from being voluntary to mandatory...
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By Ted Godbout 6/2/2021
The American Retirement Association has offered its support for newly introduced legislation that would provide a penalty-free “emergency distribution” option from employer-sponsored retirement accounts and IRAs.
The Enhancing Emergency and Retirement Savings Act of 2021 (S. 1870) was introduced...
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By Ted Godbout 6/2/2021
The ranking Republican member of the House Ways & Means Committee has put forward a new Family Savings Account proposal that seeks to support the needs of families, but would fall outside the employer-based savings system.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the top Republican on Ways & Means, along...
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By Ted Godbout 5/27/2021
A recent report by the Government Accountability Office finds that, over the last decade, the amount of debt held by older Americans has grown significantly and could ultimately derail an otherwise well-planned retirement.
According to GAO’s “Retirement Security: Debt Increased for Older...
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By Ted Godbout 5/26/2021
Bipartisan legislation creating a national lost-and-found database to help plan participants keep track of their retirement accounts has been introduced once again, but the bill’s prospects may be different this year.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Steve Daines (R-MT) reintroduced the...
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By Ted Godbout 5/21/2021
The First State has now entered the push to provide its private sector workers who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan with access to a state-facilitated retirement plan.
The legislation (HB 205), which was spearheaded by State Treasurer Colleen Davis and introduced May 20...
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By Ted Godbout 5/20/2021
The estimated health care costs that a healthy, 65-year-old couple retiring this year will spend in retirement has reached a new milestone, according to Fidelity.
In fact, the firm’s 20th annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate reveals that a 65-year-old, opposite-gender couple retiring this...
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By Ted Godbout 5/17/2021
New York State’s legislature is now looking at making its existing auto-IRA program mandatory.
The state’s General Assembly on May 11 passed NY A03213A by a vote of 125-22 that would make the New York State “secure choice” auto-IRA program mandatory for private sector employers that do not offer...
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By Ted Godbout 5/14/2021
Amid ongoing questions surrounding the use of private equity investments in professionally managed funds within 401(k)s, a senior Department of Labor (DOL) official confirmed that the department is conducting stakeholder outreach to assess the issue.
Speaking May 10 at the first day of EBRI’s...
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By Ted Godbout 5/14/2021
Witnesses testifying before a Senate panel called on Congress to address the retirement savings coverage gap, racial disparities and emergency savings, as well as other key retirement security issues.
The May 13 hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, “...
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