401k

How the SECURE Act Affects Retirement Plans

May 6, 2019 By Kathryn Vercillo Leave a Comment

The Secure Act recently passed unanimously through the House Ways and Means Committee. It is a small bill in some ways. Nevertheless, it represents the biggest change to private retirement plans that we’ve seen in quite some time. More and more people are reaching retirement age without adequate savings, so it’s important that we take steps like these.

What is the SECURE Act?

The Secure Act is a bill that recently passed through the House Ways and Means Committee. SECURE is actually an acronym. It stands for the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019. It’s also known as H.R. 1994.

The primary aim of the bill is to make it easier for people to sign up for 401(k) retirement plans. In particular, it helps ease the difficulty of those working for small businesses to access this crucial component for security in retirement.

3 Ways the Secure Act Helps with Small Business Retirement

If you work for a small business then you might not currently have access to a good 401(k) plan through your employer. The Secure Act should change that. It has three key components to that end:

1. Encourages Benefits

More than anything else, the Secure Act encourages small businesses to offer 401(k) benefits to their employees. Of course, people can get social security after retirement, but it’s not enough to support the average person. Therefore, we each need to have other retirement savings plans. The 401(k) is the most popular of those plans. However, small businesses often don’t offer those benefits. A series of details in the Secure Act should entice small businesses to change that around. Moreover, there are provisions that will make it easier for employees to understand and harness the benefits of these plans.

2. Offers Businesses a Tax Incentive

In order to further motivate small businesses to make those changes, the Secure Act has a built-in incentive. Any small business that creates a 401(k) plan or begins offering automatic enrollment for one may qualify for a brand new tax credit. They’ll get $500 back just for creating that plan, a credit that applies for three years.

Plus, there are a variety of details that make it easier for businesses to offer these plans. For one thing, small businesses are allowed to join together in groups to offer these plans. This makes it easier for the business to deal with their own costs and hassles.

3. Requires Certain Benefits for PT Workers

Of course, like many bills, this one has a carrot and a stick. Hopefully, small businesses will be inspired by the tax incentives to offer 401(k) plans to employees. However, in case they aren’t, some specific new rules are in place. The big one is that any small business that has part-time workers who are long-time employees much allow them to participate in the 401(k) plans that they set up. This is a protection for part-time workers who need retirement income as much as, if not more than, full-time employees.

Will the Secure Act Help You in Your Retirement?

Ultimately, you are responsible for your own retirement savings. If you don’t have a private retirement savings plan, then you should remedy that as quickly as possible. For some people, that’s just a matter of ease of access. Those are the people who will benefit most from the Secure Act. People who are already saving for retirement through 401(k) plans or other means will not likely see any change as a result of this bill. However, those people on the margins, particularly long-term part-time employees, can definitely benefit from what this bill has to offer.

That said, some of the provisions in the bill could benefit anyone interested in saving for retirement through 401(k) plans. Such details include:

Currently, employers can auto-escalate their employees’ 401(k) contributions to 10% of their pay. The new bill increases that amount to 15% which can mean significantly more retirement savings for those people.
Graduate students and post-doctoral students will both be able to include their stipends and fellowships as a means for saving for retirement, something that was not previously available.
Home healthcare workers will also see benefits that allow them to save more than previously allowed.
Loans based on credit cards will be prohibited, which is important because they tend to ultimately result in less money in the accounts.
Even though you’ve set that money into a retirement account, you will be able to withdraw some penalty-free if you need money to cover the cost of the birth or adoption of a child. This is an incentive to encourage more young people to start contributing to their own retirement. The earlier you start, the better off you will be.

2 Other Things the Secure Act Does

The thrust of this new bill is all about what it does to help small business employees save for retirement through 401(k) plans. However, there are a couple of extra things in the bill as well. After all, the 401(k) might be the most popular retirement savings plan, but it’s not the only one. Here are two more things that the new bill does:

1. Changes IRA Age Rules

The IRA is another popular retirement plan. The bill has two components that affect it:

Takes away the maximum age for IRA contributions. You can keep contributing to your IRA for longer. That’s important because people who are working later into retirement can set aside more money. Then when they need their retirement income, there’s more to access.
Increases the age for required mandatory distributions. It used to be that you had to start taking money out of your IRA by age 70.5. The new bill increases that to age 72. Again, this allows people who are working later into retirement age to benefit more from their IRA.

In addition to working longer, people are living longer. They need that retirement money into their 80s, 90s, and even past age 100. Therefore, these small changes can actually make a big impact for some retirees.

2. Expands 529 Savings Plans

The 529 savings plan isn’t for retirement per se. Instead, it’s tax-friendly savings account for future education costs. If you have children, you should set one up. Oftentimes, parents are looking towards retirement as their kids reach college age, so it does help ease the mind around retirement in that way. In any case, the new expansions from this bill will help some people reap more benefit from 529 savings plans.

Previously, the money in those savings accounts had to be used for college costs. However, the new bill changes that. For one thing, it allows the money to be used for homeschooling and apprenticeships. Perhaps even more powerfully, it allows the money to go towards paying off student loans. With student loan debt so incredibly high these days, that can mean a big change. Therefore, the Secure Act gives parents more reason to start setting aside money in those savings plans.

What’s Next for the Secure Act?

This act passed a critical committee in the House. It goes to the full House floor in May. The bill has a good chance of full Congress approval.

How 401K Fees Impact Your Retirement

March 11, 2019 By Doug Carey Leave a Comment

One of the biggest killers for investment performance over time is high fees. It used to be that many mutual funds would charge a fee for buying, an annual fee based on the balance invested, and a fee when the fund is sold. For most investors, those days are thankfully long gone. Vanguard started the push for lower fee funds, and nearly every online broker has followed suit.

But the lowering of fees is mostly seen in taxable and IRA accounts. In the world of 401(k) plans, this is not always the case. Many 401(k) plans still have investments with fees that are three to four times higher than what one would see when investing in an IRA.

Not only do many employees pay a high annual fee on the funds they invest in with their 410(k) plan, they also pay an annual administrative fee. Most people have no idea they are paying such an administrative fee, and many have no idea what the annual fees on their funds are inside their 401(k) plan.

Finding Your Fees

The administrative fee on a 401(k) plan can be difficult to find, which means you would need to ask your Human Resources director or person in charge of the plan for that information. But the annual fund fee, known as the expense ratio, is now easier than ever to find thanks to all of the great financial planning software and tools available to the public. I used WealthTrace’s financial planning application to view the fees on several ETFs.

Not only can I see the expense ratio for each fund, but I can also view the total dollars I pay each year in fees along with the fund turnover. For taxable investment accounts, the turnover can really make a big difference in taxes. The higher the turnover, the more in capital gains one usually pays.

How High 401k Fees Can Crush a Portfolio

Most of us know that investment gains compound over time as more money is reinvested. But fees work the opposite way. They are a negative and therefore compound negatively over time. I looked at a portfolio that has a balance of $700,000. I ran a fee what-if scenario where the annual fees on all investments were increased by 0.5%.

The portfolio value was reduced by over $655,000 over 30 years. This value does not even take into account inflation over that time frame either. The result is in today’s dollar terms. This just shows how even a small increase in fees can have a huge impact on retirement investments. A hit like this can mean that even $1 million might not be enough to retire on.

What You Can Do

If you have an IRA or taxable investments, make sure you are not paying too much in annual fees. Look for the expense ratio for your funds. For most funds that are not actively managed, you should not be paying more than 0.15% per year. Vanguard is usually the best in terms of fund fees so I always recommend starting there.

For 401(k) plans you should look for your expense ratios. Make sure your company offers index funds with fees that are at least below 0.4%. They should also offer a target date retirement fund that reallocated your investments towards a more conservative approach as you get older. These types of funds are great for those who do not want to worry about reallocating their investments over time. The fund does it for you!

You should also ask the person in charge of your 401(k) plan what the administrative fees are. If they are more than 0.5% per year, you should ask if they can change 401(k) providers. The 401(k) provider industry is becoming more competitive, and more and more companies are moving to Vanguard, which as mentioned earlier, is always a great place to start when trying to lower fees.

Lastly, it is a good idea to roll over a 401(k) to an IRA if you leave a company or retire. This way you will have access to thousands of funds with lower fees. You also will get rid of any administrative fee you are currently paying.

What You Need to Know About Trump’s Proposed Changes to Required Minimum Distributions

September 6, 2018 By Amanda Blankenship 8 Comments

Early retirement planning is the smart way to make your retired life better. Retirement savings are extremely important. Millions of Americans use IRAs and 401(k)s to save up for their golden years. These tax-deferred accounts provide a tax break now. The agreement is that they’ll pay taxes on it in retirement. Once you begin to withdraw from your IRA or 401(k), there is a required minimum distribution. You must adhere to the distribution to avoid paying a hefty penalty.

For years, people have looked at these laws as unfair. After all, many people save their entire lives to be able to retire comfortably just to be hit with fines. However, President Trump has signed an executive order that will lead to a change in these rules. The new change is mainly loosening the requirements for minimum distributions.

About Required Minimum Distributions

Required minimum distributions (RMD) are put into place to limit the tax benefits retirement savers are able to receive. RMD rules state you must begin taking withdrawals from retirement account the year you turn 70 1/2. Account holders must calculate the amount they have to take out each year, regardless of whether they need it or not. For many people, this has increased the likelihood of running out of money during retirement.

President Trump Calls for Changes

Last week the president signed an executive order calling for the Department of Labor and Department of Treasury to consider two things. First, he wants to raise the age when people are required to start taking the RMD. Second, Trump would like to find a way to make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement plans for employees.

He has given the Department of Treasury six months to consider pushing back the age because many Americans are outliving their retirement. The current average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 1/2. Additionally, he has given the Labor Department six months to consider easing regulations that would allow small businesses to offer retirement plans. This would give the opportunity to save for retirement to more than 42 million employees in the U.S.

Financial advisors helping retirees are hopeful that the order will lead to more relaxed RMD rules or, even better, the removal of the rules altogether. However, even if the executive order pans out, it could take years for the rules to change. It also isn’t clear whether a simple rule change can be done without congressional approval.

Either way, if you have an IRA or 401(k) that you don’t need to tap into right away, these changes could make a huge difference in your financial plan for retirement. For many, it would mean having more security than ever.

Readers, what do you think about President Trump’s proposal?

5 Challenges Women Face in Retirement

May 24, 2018 By Jeff Hoyt Leave a Comment

Challenges women face in retirement can be grouped in five categories.

How’s your retirement plan holding up? If you are a woman, you’re probably having more difficulty with retirement plans than your male counterparts.

Despite advances, women still face lower average salaries – 82 percent of the average man’s salary, according to the Pew Research Center.

Fewer working years on average, often due to time off for child care or family responsibilities, adds to the difficulty of earning sufficient income for retirement savings.

Here are five areas that seem to be most challenging for women approaching retirement, according to the recent edition of the Transamerica Retirement Survey of American Workers.

1. Lack of Confidence

Only 12 percent of women reported being “very confident” that a comfortable retirement is in their future.

Perhaps that’s because more than four out of five women don’t expect Social Security benefits to be available for them when they decide to retire.

2. Working Beyond Retirement

Over half of the women surveyed by Transamerica expect to be working beyond age 65.

While 53 percent of women say they intend to retire beyond age 65 or never retire at all, 54 percent expect to work after retirement.

Most of those women (43 percent) plan to work part time, while the remaining 11 percent plan to work full time.

The reason for working into retirement or never retiring at all may be financial, since 64 percent of women surveyed have no alternative plan for income if they have to retire sooner than expected.

Are women taking the proper steps to make a longer career feasible? Job-related factors are not promising.

Only 46 percent of women stay current with their job skills, and only 57 percent are focused on doing a good job in their current role – effectively reducing their value as retirement nears.

3. Savings Concerns

More women place a priority on paying down debt (68 percent) than on retirement savings (51 percent) – but at least they are saving.

Seventy-three percent of women contribute to a retirement program, and started saving for retirement at a median age of 27.

The median retirement account balance is estimated at $42,000 – not as grim as it sounds since this is averaged across age groups.

While 30 percent of women expect to depend on Social Security, 45% will be drawing from traditional retirement programs (401(k), IRA, etc.) or other separate savings accounts.

The good news – almost two-thirds of working women are offered employee-funded retirement plans, and 77 percent of those women participate in the programs.

The median contribution is 7 percent of their salary. The bad news – 28 percent of women work in part-time positions where employee-funded retirement plans are less likely to be offered.

Women’s emergency savings accounts contain a median of $2,000 – which doesn’t cover much of an emergency these days.

4. Health

While 63% of women report keeping healthy, only 26 percent of women consider their long-term health when making lifestyle choices.

Are women expecting their good health to continue into their retirement years?

5. Financial Knowledge and Education

Women expect to need $500,000 in retirement – but 55 percent admit that’s a guess.

Less than half (47 percent) of female baby boomers know “a great deal” or “quite a bit” about Social Security benefits – a low percentage given that boomer women are at or near retirement now.

Only 28 percent of women know about the Saver’s Tax Credit, a useful tool for lower-income women.

Professionals can fill the education gap – but only one-third of women use professional financial assistance in their retirement plans.

America’s women must be proactive with retirement plans. You’ve spent a lot of time taking care of others. Now it’s time to take care of yourself.

This article was provided by our partners at moneytips.com. Photo ©iStockphoto.com/PeopleImages

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Retirees Would Return to Work Under the Right Conditions

May 21, 2018 By Jeff Hoyt Leave a Comment

Are you planning to work in retirement? If so, is it because you need money? The recent American Working Conditions Survey (AWCS) from the Rand Corporation think tank suggests another reason – you want to be there.

A Rand brief on the AWCS survey compared working conditions and expectations of older workers (age 50 and up) to those of workers in their prime working years (ages 35 to 49).

Over half of those aged fifty and above who weren’t working or looking for work said they would return to work under the right conditions – but what are those conditions? Do they match up well with today’s workplace?

Trade-Off for Retirees

Generally, it’s a trade-off of benefits and salary for control – having some control over how they do their work, the pace of the work, flexibility in hours, and keeping the physical demands of the job at a reasonable level.

Workers approaching retirement have already achieved some of these conditions, according to the survey.

Over two-thirds of older workers tend to find their work more meaningful and useful to the company, and they are more likely to use their own ideas and apply problem-solving skills on the job.

More Interesting Work

Older workers are also less likely to have monotonous tasks – presumably, they have either advanced to more interesting work or found a different job.

While few jobs offer flexibility to balance work and family life, the survey shows that older workers are more likely to have such jobs – especially college graduates.

However, flexibility in retirement is less likely to meet the needs of the company without a compromise.

Physical Exertion

Older workers are still almost as likely to have exposure to “intense or repetitive physical exertion” as younger workers.

By accommodating older workers’ limitations, companies can retain knowledge and experience while maintaining workplace efficiency.

According to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, almost three quarters of companies think that most of their workers expect to work past age 65 or do not plan to retire – yet only 39 percent offer flexible schedules to pre-retirees as a transition phase.

Willing to Compromise

Companies may be assuming that retirees won’t compromise in retirement. Transamerica found otherwise.

Approximately 78 percent of workers expect their job title to change if they take on a new role with fewer responsibilities, and 71 percent expect to be paid market rates for their new responsibilities even if that results in lower pay.

The main sticking point may be benefits. About 60 percent of workers shifting to part-time work expect to retain employee benefits – unusual among part-time workers.

Age Discrimination

Employers have another hurdle to consider. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) found that tax and age discrimination laws provide serious challenges to transitional retirement programs – although the GAO finds that companies who do establish these programs find them beneficial.

Decisions on transitional retirement should be based on your preferences and options, not a lack of retirement funds.

Retirement plans should involve both financial and personal aspects of your career.

Start by saving for retirement as early as possible. Take advantage of employer-based programs and fund them regularly. Set up an IRA or other savings vehicle if no 401(k) program is available.

Look for a Good Fit

Meanwhile, look for a good fit for your working retirement that meets your company’s needs. Be prepared to make reasonable compromises.

If there’s no good fit, consider what other companies might use your skills, or whether you’re better suited for consulting (with greater control but more personal responsibilities).

In any case, you’re better off with a plan. You’re more likely to find the best position in retirement if you expand your options – and possibly create your own.

Prioritize Your 401(k)

Regardless of where you plan to retire, the number one factor in ensuring that you can retire on your terms is your 401(k).

Make sure that your 401(k) is maximizing its potential with this free analysis that checks your fees, fund mix, and other factors to help you hit your retirement goals.

If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.

1 In 5 Americans with Matching 401(k) Plans Are Leaving Money on the Table

May 7, 2018 By Jeff Hoyt Leave a Comment

Matching 401(k) plans are one of the coolest types of employee benefits out there.

Who would turn down free money? Apparently, plenty of Americans are doing exactly that: 20 percent of them underfund matching 401(k) plans, according to the Motley Fool. This significant mistake effectively dismisses free money.

Approximately three-quarters of companies with 401(k) plans offer a matching program where the employer contributes an equal amount to the employee’s contribution up to a certain limit.

The employer’s matching contribution is extra money that you receive simply by contributing to your retirement account – in essence, free money.

Bypassing Free Money

If you don’t contribute to the matching limit, you are bypassing the opportunity to add this free money to your tax-deferred retirement funds.

Matching programs may offer dollar-to-dollar matches or percentage matches. According to 2015 data from the Deloitte Annual Defined Contribution Benchmarking Survey, the most common matching amount is a 50% match up to 6% of employee contributions (used by 18% of plan sponsors), followed by a 100% match up to 6% (used by 12%).

Under these programs, if you made $40,000 and contributed 6% of your salary ($2,400) to your retirement plan, your employer would contribute an extra $2,400 under a 100% match and $1,200 under a 50% match.

Unclaimed Money

Now, assume that you only contribute 3% of your $40,000 salary into your 401(k) plan. Your employer would then contribute $1,200 under a 100% match and $600 under a 50% match – and you would leave an equivalent amount on the table, unclaimed.

Failing to take full advantage of an employer-matching program applies a double hit to your retirement funds. Not only are you turning down money that you could have claimed, you are also losing out on the compounding of those funds over time.

The Motley Fool provides an example of an employee making $100,000 per year at an employer offering a 50% match in contributions up to a 5% limit. If you contribute up to the 5% limit, you will be adding $5,000 annually and your employer will kick in another $2,500. Assuming a 7% annual return on your investments, your nest egg will reach $708,000 in thirty years.

Another Scenario

Contrast that with a 3% contribution. You will be contributing $3,000 each year and your employer will be contributing $1,500. You’ve refused an extra $1,000 annually and contributed less to your own retirement.

Using the same growth assumptions as above, your nest egg will be approximately $425,000 in thirty years. That’s a potential drop of $283,000. How would your plans for retirement change with a $283,000 drop in funds?

Does your employer do automatic enrollment on a 401(k) program? Check the program rules. The default contribution level for automatic enrollment is usually different from the matching contribution limit. (Typical automatic enrollment levels are 3% of salary.)

You must request that your employer raise your contribution to the required matching limit – and if you can afford it, there’s nothing wrong with maxing out your 401(k) to the total dollar contribution limit ($18,500 for 2018 with an additional $6,000 catch-up contribution if you are over age fifty).

Okay in the Short Term

In some cases, it may be reasonable for a short time not to contribute to the matching limit of a 401(k) program. If you are paying down excessive debt, especially high-interest debt such as credit cards, the benefits may be worth missing out on an employer match – for a while. Those exceptions are few.

Take full advantage of any 401(k) matching program, at least up to the matching limit. Adjust your budget if necessary to devote the sufficient amount of your pay to the 401(k). When retirement arrives, you’ll be very glad that you did.

Regardless of where you plan to retire, the number one factor in ensuring that you can retire on your terms is your 401(k). Make sure that your 401(k) is maximizing its potential with this free analysis that checks your fees, fund mix, and other factors to help you hit your retirement goals.