The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced an interim new rule regarding the qualified domestic relations orders mandated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). These orders establish the right of a spouse or dependent to receive some portion of a participants’ benefits payable from a pension plan.

The Department of Labor recently issued a Field Assistance Bulletin in response to questions raised regarding the Pension Protection Act of 2006’s effect on the provision of investment advice.

The Department of Labor has published an interim final rule concerning the statutory exemption on cross-trading under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Cross-trading involves transactions in which an investment manager sells a security on behalf of one client and buys that same security on behalf of another client.

The Department of Labor has announced an interim final rule requiring that distributions of 401(k) type benefits to missing, designated non-spouse beneficiaries from terminated plans be rolled into Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The rollover is a condition of fiduciary safe harbor relief.

A new Vanguard study shows that the majority (61%) of American workers age 40 to 69 conceive of retirement as a period involving a “downshifting” from full-time employment to part-time employment rather than a period of full-time leisure. 

According to Transamerica’s Eighth Annual Retirement Survey, there is a major disparity between the view of employers and employees on the importance of retirement benefits. 

According to the Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking survey of Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), RIAs are focusing more on retirement issues in response to America’s rapidly aging workforce. 

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “Trendsetter Barometer,” few CEOs of fast-growth, private companies are knowledgeable about the new Pension Protection Act of 2006 guidelines.