Our Blog - Surety Matters

  According to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), the push for disclosing the fees associated with 401k plans over the past ten years is benefitting both participants and plan sponsors. Important work remains to…
Read Moreabout Progress: Plan Fee Transparency

  A survey of retiree spending habits conducted by the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) finds that just one in three retirees between the ages of 62 and 75 feels that they saved “just right”…
Read Moreabout Just Right: One In Three

  Not that long ago, retirement tended to be framed around the “absence” of commitment, as employees focused on freedom from the restrictions of the 9-5 work and commute day. Studies now point to a…
Read Moreabout Mindset Shift: Retirement?

Statistically Speaking Every adult should have an estate plan that attends to both their own needs in the event of a decline, and tends organizes asset distribution upon death. However, statistically speaking, it’s even more…
Read Moreabout Statistically Speaking

  Before invalidating a will because of claims of undue influence, probate courts must decide if actual coercion led to the decisions reflected in the will. Afterall, people help each other all the time. How…
Read Moreabout Wills: Coercion or Help?

  Despite years of costly allegations over investment performance, many plan sponsors are not adequately monitoring. Lawsuits naming businesses–and their fiduciaries—-continue to underscore the importance of making decisions that benefit participants and documenting the prudent…
Read Moreabout Personally Responsible?

  When it comes to a 401k, more savings for more employees is certainly better, and small businesses certainly can and do sponsor thriving retirement plans. Nonetheless, bigger 401k plans tend to have some built…
Read Moreabout Is Bigger Better?

  In the face of long lives and a rise in the number of people experiencing cognitive decline, some attorneys point out that incorporating a “cognitive continuity clause” in revocable trust instruments can serve as…
Read Moreabout Survivor Trustee: Cognitive Continuity Clause?

  When someone dies without a will, the local probate court typically appoints an administrator to bring the affairs of the deceased to closure. Once debts are paid, the state laws of intestacy dictate the…
Read Moreabout Administrator Responsibilities and Bonds