401(k)

Published on: May 28, 2012

Retirement 101: What is a Target Date Fund, Anyway?

When you look over the investment options in your retirement plan, you probably see a 2020 fund, a 2030 fund, a 2040 fund, and on up the line. Those are “target date funds.” They can be mutual funds, exchange traded funds, or pooled separate accounts. But what are they and what are they designed to do?*

A target date fund is an investment vehicle that invests in equites, bonds, and other funds. What’s different about a target date fund is its stated goal. It does not claim to simply maximize your investment return.

A target date fund’s goal is to gradually transition your retirement savings – from riskier investments when you are young to safer investments when you near retirement. A 2040 fund will be highly invested in stocks with very few of its assets devoted to safe investment vehicles like bonds. For example, this John Hancock mutual fund, the Retirement Living through 2040 Portfolio, has only 4.6% of its assets devoted to bonds and nearly 35.7% of its assets devoted to aggressive growth stocks.**

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Published on: May 3, 2012

Protecting Your Retirement Savings: How You Can Use ERISA

By The Erlich Law Office, PLLC

Are the losses in your 401(k) plan due to poor investment performance or high administrative fees? Or both? Could either have been avoided? And whose responsibility was it to oversee those issues?

Retirement plans are governed by obscure law, are complex in nature, and include complicated investment products. Participants rarely understand their 401(k) plans or the investment options presented to them. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) provides participants with the right to take action against irresponsible plan fiduciaries, but what good is that when it is nearly impossible to know if a plan is being run well?

In short, employees simply do not know if they are getting a good deal or a bad one with their 401(k).

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Published on: May 3, 2012

Quick Link: The 6th Circuit Discusses ERISA’s 6 Year Statute of Limitations

By The Erlich Law Office, PLLC

Check out this entry by Suzanne Wynn at The Pension Protection Act Blog on the 6th Circuits recent discussion on whether ERISA’s 6 year statute of limitations on fraud requires actual concealment by fiduciaries. It’s a good read and we’ll address this issue on the Erlich Law Blog at a later date.

Published on: April 25, 2012

Should Your Small Business Have a 401(k)?

By The Erlich Law Office, PLLC

Should Your Small Business Have a 401(k)?

Small business owners often feel that offering a retirement savings plan legitimizes their business and makes them more competitive in the hiring market. Whether or not these perceptions are true, very few small businesses understand the legal implications of offering a 401(k). Before you decide to offer a retirement plan, you should understand the potential liability and how to avoid it.

First, the bad news. The law that governs employee benefit plans is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). By offering a 401(k), the named fiduciary, generally the business owner in a small business, takes on a full set of fiduciary responsibilities, including the duties of prudence and loyalty. The fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA are considered “the highest known to the law.” Howard v. Shay, 100 F.3d 1484, 1488 (9th Cir. 1996). The liability associated with being a fiduciary is not limited by your corporate structure. It attaches to the fiduciary in his or her personal capacity. As a result, the decision to operate a 401(k) plan without proper planning and advice can create substantial risk and liability to a business owner. These problems have solutions, including fiduciary insurance, the advice of an experienced attorney, and proper planning.

On to the good news. A 401(k) plan can be a great asset to a business and the requirements of ERISA are not problematic for small businesses that follow the necessary steps to avoid unnecessary risk. One important point to remember is that ERISA’s fiduciary duties are more about process than substance. This can be a problem for businesses that do not know how to properly document their decision-making processes. If you keep minutes of your meetings and record the documents you review while choosing a retirement plan, those records can go a long way toward proving you used a responsible, prudent process to make your decision. Obtaining competitive bids is also considered a fiduciary best practice. It is difficult to prove that your decision making process was prudent if you only consider one offer.

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