Top 5 401k Lawsuits and Fiduciary Responsibility Articles
New Department of Labor regulations regarding fee transparency for 401k plans are fast approaching. Many business owners, plan sponsors and plan trustees will find themselves scrambling to be compliant as they continue to put off taking the necessary measures to protect themselves from fines and 401(k) lawsuits. The effective date for sponsors to disclose all fees and expenses to participants is January 1, 2012.
Even though the DOL is giving employees 120 days after the effective date (originally it was 60 days now it’s until April 30, 2012) to issue the first disclosures, don’t wait until the last minute to begin questioning your existing plan. Even if you’ve recently changed plans, understand that a second opinion goes a long way to making sure that the changes you incorporated have lowered your fees, reduced your fiduciary liability, have addressed conflicts of interests and prohibited transactions and are in the best interests of employees.
1. “Does Pending Appeal Decision Doom 401k Plan Sponsors” warns plan sponsors to be aware of “fee creep”, the cause for a lawsuit against fiduciaries in the Tibble vs. Edison case.
2. The NY Times article, “Revealing Excessive 401k Fees”, is bringing to light what we’ve been saying all along, hidden fees in 401k plans are ruining efforts for hard-working individuals to truly save for their retirement.
3. Again, Ron Lieber of the NY Times, addresses the importance of being conscious of what your 401k retirement plan is actually costing you and not being afraid to ask questions in the piece, “Revealing Hidden Costs of Your 401(k)“.
4. Dan Solin, in “401(k) Participants Need an Arab Spring”, tells what is necessary in a 401k plan for plan participants to receive a satisfying outcome.
5. “Failure to Act Triggers ERISA Liability”, lets plan sponsors, CFOs, business owners and plan trustees know that indecision is a decision in and of itself.
About Charles Massimo
Recognized as industry expert and guest speaker at national industry conferences, Charles Massimo is a published author and media subject expert on topics ranging from wealth/asset management to investment and financial planning for high net worth families.