Description: Defined benefit plans have been disappearing from the private sector retirement program landscape. 401k Plans that have taken their place are not designed to provide retiree lifetime income. Individuals seldom work for a single employer and thus have many retirement accounts spread about. This commentary discusses an alternative approach to providing retirement income a voluntary basis in a vehicle that is decoupled from employers.

Description: This article summarizes the progression over the last three decades as to how contributions have been invested under qualified 401k and other defined conribution plans. It also discusses the current trend of investing in a single life style portfolio selected from a choice of three to five options and the benefits of this type of option.

Description: The SECURE Act of 2019 requires an annual disclosure to participants in defined contribution plans. The intention is to help participants understand the relationship between their account balances and the estimated retirement income—that might be provided from those balances. But the disclosure requirements lack the features needed to provide meaningful information to many participants, which can be misleading if not well understood. Consequently, this provides an opportunity for actuaries to work with retirement plan sponsors to improve the disclosures.