Month: November 2015

401K Providers: 2015 Top 20 Lists

Editor's note: There is a more up-to-date version of this article at 401k Providers: 2017 Top 10 Lists. Thanks!

The good news is that plan sponsors have many choices when selecting a recordkeeper for their defined contribution plans. The challenge for many businesses, especially for small businesses, is that day-to-day running of their businesses leaves little time to review, monitor, and optimize their DC plan. The result is that many plan sponsors lack a comprehensive understanding of who the top 401k providers are. PLANSPONSOR magazine conducts an annual recordkeeping survey profiling top providers. Here is their list of the 2015 top 401k providers and a few of my thoughts.

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S&P 500 earnings are getting worse, not better

Two months ago, I wrote that the S&P earnings will suffer its first annual decline since 2008. The silver lining was that 2016 estimates still looked ok. However with the new year now drawing near, even those estimates are falling. For the first time, 1st quarter estimates are showing a year-over-year decline. Furthermore earnings for both 2015 and 2016 continue to contract.

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Why 401K Education is Important

“”An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.””

     – Benjamin Franklin

Your 401K plan can be a beautiful thing. With the benefits of favorable tax treatment, employer match programs, investment customization, portability, and loan and hardship withdrawals, the 401K empowers employees with a vehicle to grow their nest eggs for retirement. Trouble is you never learned about how to manage a 401K account in school. It's like your parent tossing you the car keys on your seventeenth birthday, telling you to drive cross country, and walking away. You're in charge of your financial destiny but you don't have the training or time to properly care for it.

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