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HR Outsourcing News Roundup: Retirement Benefits Edition
No CommentsMost people could be saving more for retirement — and some haven’t even started. Saving is important and if your company can help employees do that, it’s a great benefit. Retirement benefits are a significant retention tool and can bring employees peace of mind.
This week’s HR Outsourcing News Roundup brings you articles and blog posts with advice and information on offering retirement benefits for your employees.
More Companies Offer Financial Wellness Programs. USA Today: “For one, companies that offer this sort of benefit could save $3 for each dollar they spend, according to a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report. What’s more, financial wellness programs can reduce absenteeism, as well as disability and workers’ compensation costs. That’s because poor financial management causes stress, which sets the stage for medical problems, the CFPB said in its report. And if all that wasn’t reason enough, good financial wellness programs reduce borrowing from retirement savings and help participants achieve stability, the report said.”
These 10 Companies Know the ROI of Awesome Employee Benefits. MarketWatch: “Judges noted top trends among this year’s winners: They Make Saving for Retirement Easier. Eighty percent of 10 Best companies automatically enroll eligible employees in their 401(k) plans, and half of those plans have auto-escalation features to encourage their workforce to increase their contributions as they get more established in their careers and closer to retirement.”
A Sneaky Way to Save More for Retirement. CNBC: “Health savings accounts and health reimbursement accounts, usually meant to cover short-term out-of-pocket health-care expenses, are getting more popular as companies shift health-care costs to their employees. Last year U.S. adults kept $23.8 billion across 11.8 million HSAs and HRAs, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute—a 2,725 percent increase from 2006. Yet for long-term retirement savings, HSAs as a stealth individual retirement account are still under the radar. ‘Most people don’t know to ask about them,’ said Ed Slott, a certified public accountant and founder of IRAHelp.com. ‘They don’t get that much attention.’”
The Retirement Crisis is Real. The Huffington Post: “The retirement crisis is anything but imaginary. In a recent working paper, we find that only 44 percent of workers in the United States have access to a retirement plan at work. Except for workers with defined benefit plans, most middle class U.S. workers will not have adequate retirement income — 55 percent of near-retirees will only have Social Security income at age 65.”
Employers — Review Your Controlled Group to Assure ACA and Retirement Plan Compliance. The National Law Review: “An employer that sponsors a qualified retirement plan, such as a Code Section 401(k) plan, also needs to be fully aware of its controlled group structure. For retirement plan sponsors, controlled group status affects many aspects of plan administration and compliance, including (but not limited to) eligibility, compensation limits, service crediting, nondiscrimination testing, minimum participation requirements, and filing requirements. In a worst-case scenario, the failure to account for an employer’s controlled group in the operation of a retirement plan could result in plan disqualification.”
If you have questions about offering or amending retirement benefits for your organization, contact us. We’re here to help.
HR Solutions is a human resources outsourcing firm based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We eliminate human resources headaches for businesses with 10 to 1,000 employees by handling their payroll, employee benefits, regulatory compliance and other staffing needs. Contact us to learn how we can streamline your company’s human resources function to save money and reduce risk.
