Millennials Investing in a New(er) Millennia

Gone are the days of calling a stockbroker to hear the latest picks to then place a trade with a $50 commission for a mutual fund with a 2% expense ratio. Today, the average American 20-something with a phone and a brokerage account can place a zero-commission trade for any security on an exchange in…

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Am I a Plan Fiduciary? What Does That Mean?

If your job responsibilities include involvement with an employee benefit plan, you may be a fiduciary, and so might be others who help manage the plan or its assets. Given that, it is important to know what a fiduciary is, who is deemed to be a fiduciary, and what their responsibilities are under ERISA. The…

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De-Risking Your Pension Plan: Is It Time to Assemble Your Team?

In 2022, MetLife commissioned a survey of 251 defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors and learned that 9 in 10 are considering a pension risk transfer (PRT), or a de-risking of their pension plan in the next 5 years.[i] Whether by lump-sum payouts to pension participants or through  group annuity contracts with insurers, plan sponsors are…

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Glide Path 2023: Do Headwinds Require a Change in the Plan?

The headwinds (and headlines) of 2022 included this: 2022 was a year of volatility and concern over the prospects of a recession in 2023. However, for many defined benefit plans, those headwinds were favorable in the way they affected plan funded status, or the measure of plan assets to meet future obligations. Funded status is…

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The Power of the PENsion: Labor Day and the Pension Plan

Although summer may end officially on September 21, for most Americans, the season ends with Labor Day. The first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882. Far from marking the end of summer fun, it was meant to be a “workingmen’s holiday” between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. Two years later, the first Monday in…

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