Blog Medium Without Sidebar

Here are the most popular blog posts for the month of September 2018 from the Larkspur-Rixtrema team. Be sure to catch up on this month’s top articles: 5. How to Become an Expert on 404c Safe Harbor For Your Plan Sponsor Clients. Under ERISA plan sponsors or advisors who exercise discretionary authority are fiduciaries with significant liability in case of fiduciary duty violation. Section 404(c) provides safe harbor protection fiduciaries in case plan participants experience investment losses. How do you obtain that protection?…Continue Reading 4. What you need to know about the Crash Rating in Portfolio Crash Testing. Crash Rating is a number used to measure the risk of a portfolio. It is a...

Daniel Satchkov

01 Oct 2018

The importance of explaining 401k-related calculations to plan participants

It is often difficult to keep up in the modern fast paced world. Many people sign up for their company’s 401(k) plan and then do nothing, thinking that the plan will automatically take care of everything. But it will not fly on its own like some fire-and-forget missile. Plan participants need to take on an active role in managing their 401(k) for the benefit of their financial future. There is so many different factors when it comes to retirement plans that participants should be ready to take on: Checking statements and monitoring the returns of 401(k) investments; The awareness of the fees paid by the plan; Monitoring raises and consequent...

Daniel Satchkov

28 Sep 2018

5 Articles for your weekend reading list: September 29-30, 2018

Here are five suggested articles to read this weekend: 1. Why Partnering With an IRA Rollover Provider is Right for 401k Advisors – Year-end planning for business owners takes on many forms. For those that sponsor 401k plans, it should include a review of the company plan and preparing amendments accordingly. (401kspecialistmag.com) 2. DOL Set to Propose Rule on Open MEPs – The Department of Labor is set to formally propose a rule seeking to expand access to workplace retirement plans, less than a month after President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order calling on the agency to do so. (investmentnews.com) 3. Financial Advisor Success Requires Just 50 Great Clients – For many businesses and industries,...

Daniel Satchkov

27 Sep 2018

Avoiding lawsuits through fiduciary best practices

Within the course of the past few years from time to time we would hear about a case where a university, a hospital or a firm would be taken to court to dispute the retirement benefits offered to participants by the establishment. However, when the DOL tried to change how participants should be treated by all parties involved by pushing the Best Interest Rule, all the dirt in the mud started to surface. The participants became more educated about the rights and started to question plan administrators about their retirement plans. Many questions arose and became a pain point or even worse, a liability, to fiduciaries. Nowadays we hear about...

Daniel Satchkov

25 Sep 2018

Reasons Why 401k Participants are Dealing with Financial Stress

In a recent plan participant survey by OneAmerica, the results are clear that many participants are having financial stress, and not all of it has to do with saving for retirement. In fact, the survey shows that there is a direct correlation between the age of a participant and where their financial stress may lie. Younger participants seem to be more worried about paying their day-to-day expenses, while older participants are more worried about their ability to save for retirement: Those age 34 and younger indicate concern about having enough money to pay monthly bills (28 percent) followed by not having enough for retirement (22 percent). Not having enough for...