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JULY

• Conduct a review of second quarter payroll and plan deposit dates to ensure compliance with the Department of Labor’s rules regarding timely deposit of participant contributions and loan repayments.
• Verify that employees who became eligible for the plan between April 1 and June 30 received and returned an enrollment form. Follow up for forms that were not returned.
• Ensure that the plan’s Form 5500 is submitted by July 31, unless an extension of time to file applies. (Calendar year plans)

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Internal Revenue Service, Employee Plans

www.irs.gov/ep

Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

www.dol.gov/ebsa

401(k) Help Center

www.401khelpcenter.com
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Using several versions of e-mails to retirement plan participants, researchers at Yale University conducted experiments to determine if certain written cues would affect the saving behavior of participants. The e-mails reminded participants of the employer match and how much the participant had contributed so far in the year, and allowed the researchers to study the impact of specific wording and examples on saving rates.
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Although surveyed employees reported increasing satisfaction with their financial situation, they are still concerned and are planning to take steps to improve their finances.

Towers Watson’s Retirement Planning In a Post-Crisis Economy report found that 41 percent of survey respondents reported improved satisfaction with their finances, up from 33% in 2010. Also, 47% reported having seen a significant decline in their pension and retirement savings, down from 60% in 2009. Even so, nearly 60% were generally unsatisfied with their financial situation.

Retirement confidence rises

In stark contrast to the results of the surveys of plan sponsors described on page 1 of this newsletter, about 68% of workers said they were very or somewhat confident about having sufficient financial resources to live comfortably for 15 years in retirement, up from 62% the year before.

They have less confidence about living comfortably throughout retirement. Those who were very or somewhat confident that they will have enough resources to last 25 years in retirement amounted to less than half (47%) of respondents. In 2010, that figure was 40%.
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