Viewpoints from John Hancock Retirement
As one of America’s most trusted financial brands, we believe everyone deserves the tools and guidance to achieve financial wellness and retire with confidence. We’ve made retirement plans work for nearly 50 years, and today we’re one of the largest full-service providers in the industry.
At John Hancock, we make retirement plans work.
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IRS relaxes rules for obtaining spousal consent for 2020
IRS Notice 2020-42 creates a remote notarization process for retirement plan transactions that require spousal consent. This helps solve problems related to social distancing and COVID-19.
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Unions and Taft-Hartley retirement plans show their value in tough times
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an era of constant change. Initial concern about market volatility in the early days of the pandemic in the United States gave way as concern about illness and job security took over. Since the CARES Act took effect, retirement plan participants have had access to some temporary financial relief. We took a look at our Taft-Hartley retirement plan participants to see what actions union members are taking amid the uncertainty.
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How 401(k) participants responded to the CARES Act and market volatility in April
COVID-19 has inflicted a good deal of financial damage, and many Americans are starting to look to their retirement plans for relief. Our data shows the actions they're taking and how those compare with the old normal.
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EBSA provides disaster relief for retirement plans
On April 29, the EBSA, a branch of the DOL, issued EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01, offering relief for plan sponsors and easing certain provisions for companies affected by COVID-19.
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Retirement plan professionals: don’t forget about the FFCRA
The FFCRA requires certain employers to provide paid time off for employees who meet specific COVID-19-related criteria, and it contains two provisions of which plan sponsors should be aware.
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The market moved in March, but 401(k) participants didn’t
The stock market swung up and down wildly in February and March 2020. As financial professionals, you spend a lot of time teaching investors not to react emotionally when the market goes crazy. And it looks like people have been paying attention—for now.
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The IRS has extended retirement plan deadlines—what plan sponsors need to know
Retirement plan sponsors will be relieved that the deadlines for many retirement plan actions were recently extended to July 15, 2020, by the IRS. We’ll explain some key actions affected by this extension and how they may apply to your plan.
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The top causes of personal financial stress—they're not what you expect
Whether they consider their financial situation poor or excellent, Americans are financially stressed. Retirement plan sponsors and their business partners need to understand the top causes of that stress in order to put together an education or engagement strategy that helps participants take a step closer to financial wellness and retirement readiness.
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Helping participants become better at 401(k) investing
Investment trends among defined contribution plan investors, and ideas for providing help, from John Hancock's "State of the participant 2020" study.
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Why state-mandated auto-IRAs are good for your retirement practice
California, Oregon, and Illinois are actively enrolling employees in mandated auto-IRA programs. See what it means for financial professionals.
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