Ted Godbout

The future looks bright, as many Americans are feeling optimistic about their current and future financial situation, and many plan to take proactive steps to help meet their financial goals.  According to Fidelity Investments’ 2020 New Year Financial Resolutions Study, 82% of Americans say they... READ MORE

New research finds that a large majority of employers believe their employees are struggling financially as they wrestle with saving for retirement, paying down debt and dealing with medical costs.  MassMutual’s 2019 Workplace Financial Wellness study finds that nearly 8 in 10 employers (79%) say... READ MORE

The U.S. Senate on Dec. 19 approved the catch-all spending legislation that contains the SECURE Act, clearing the measure for President Trump’s expected signature.  The Senate voted 71-23 to approve the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 1865, as amended), following a Dec. 17 vote... READ MORE

While the SECURE Act is garnering most of the attention, it’s not the only retirement-related legislation included in the spending bill now headed to the Senate. Distributions for Qualified Disasters In addition to the SECURE Act, Congress added special disaster-related rules for the use of... READ MORE

There is little doubt that the use of auto-enrollment has helped increase participation rates. But could it also lead to lower savings rates?   Auto-Enrollment's Long-Term Effect on Retirement Saving, a new white paper from T. Rowe Price, explores that possibility, examining whether automatic... READ MORE

An influential U.S. Senator is preparing legislation that would allow tax- and penalty-free withdrawals to pay for long-term care insurance.  Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, is working on a bill that would allow individuals to withdraw funds from their 401(... READ MORE

New research overwhelmingly supports the Labor Department’s proposal to allow default electronic delivery of retirement plan documents. According to the study by the SPARK Institute, allowing retirement plan sponsors to make electronic delivery the default method for plan communications would... READ MORE

Much has been made of an alleged retirement savings crisis confronting the country, with near-daily gloom-and-doom reports. But a recent study says, “not so fast.”  In "The Over-Stated Retirement Crisis," the Empower Institute challenges the view that the 40-year-old DC system is overly deficient... READ MORE

The enforcement and benefit advisor programs of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration do not appear to be slowing down much, with robust activity in fiscal year 2019.  The enforcement program alone recovered more than $2 billion from its investigations – up from $1.6... READ MORE