retirement

401(k) Trends for Business Owners [infographic]

The Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) released its 60th Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans this week. The good news is that participation rates in retirement plans, including defined contribution profit sharing and 401(k) plans, rose steadily. This means that more employees are taking advantage of their employer sponsored retirement benefits. Plan sponsors also continue to employ plan features like automatic enrollment, auto-escalation, and Roth 401(k)s to assist employees to grow their retirement savings.

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3 essential financial tips for recent college graduates

It is that time of year where college graduates enter a new phase of their lives. Yes that is me from 20 years ago after earning my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Richmond. I can't believe that so much time has passed but I thought I would share 3 financial tips for recent college graduates because most people learn little to nothing about it in school — which is pretty crazy to think that our kids aren't taught crucial life skills like finance but I will leave that topic to another day. Let's dive right in.

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Please mind the (retirement savings) gap

When I was a junior in college, I studied in England for 6 months so I became familiar with the subway reminder of “please mind the gap.” It seems so courteous and there doesn't really seem to be much danger in the tiny gap between the subway car and the platform but it is nice to be reminded to keep safe. Unfortunately, there is a huge gap emerging in retirement savings and the it is more of a chasm than a gap. According to the World Economic Forum, longer life spans and disappointing investment returns will help create a $400 trillion retirement savings shortfall by 2050, a figure more than five times the size of the global economy today. Needless to say, this is a monumental problem that needs to be addressed.

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401(k) Tune Up: How to Lower Your Fund Fees

Runnymede has increasingly been serving as a fiduciary advisor to companies' 401(k) plans so I continue my series of articles on how to tune up your retirement plan.  The intended audience is the company and its trustees that sponsor the plan but participants are also advocating for better plans.  It is our hope to help employers optimize and better manage their retirement plan.  In doing so, we seek to help employees achieve their goal of successfully preparing themselves for retirement.

This week, I want to help you to decipher mutual fund share classes.  By far the largest component of 401(k) plan fees and expenses are those associated with managing plan investments.  Moving to less expensive funds is an action item that can save money fast and have a huge impact over time.

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