The impact of financial anxiety on the American workforce has been revealed in Franklin Templeton's recent study, "Voice of the American Worker". The study highlights the challenges employees face due to the current economic climate and the importance of financial wellness in job satisfaction. Throughout the study, it exposed that this financial concern has reversed the pandemic’s “Great Resignation” to “the Great Return” and is reshaping employee benefits expectations. The study highlights that financial wellness is a critical component of job satisfaction, and employers can improve retention rates by providing their employees with the necessary financial tools and personalized solutions. To address this, employers can offer resources that enhance wellness across all dimensions - financial, physical, and mental.

As an employer with a company-sponsored retirement plan, you have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of your employees. This includes ensuring that the plan is administered in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. In recent years, there has been an increase in lawsuits filed by participants against plan sponsors alleging breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims. These lawsuits can be costly and time-consuming, so it is important that everyone take steps to protect themselves.

Here are three ways an employer with a company-sponsored retirement plan can improve their fiduciary oversight and minimize risk of litigation:

ARLINGTON, VA — AFS 401(k) Retirement Services has been named to the National Association of Plan Advisors’ list of the nation’s top defined contribution (DC) Advisor Teams with Assets under Advisement over $100 Million.

It’s finally here! After much back-and-forth, Congress passed the long-awaited SECURE 2.0 just before the close of 2022. This legislation is intended to expand access to retirement plans and increase savings, preserve Americans’ income, and simplify/clarify retirement plan rules. There are over 100 total provisions, so here is a summary of the components you should be aware of:

Reposted from 401(k) Specialist by John Sullivan, Editor-In-Chief

Understated isn’t a term generally associated with Alex Assaley, but he managed to pull it off when describing current market conditions.

“It’s been a really interesting year for investors and advisors,” Assaley, Managing Principal with AFS 401(k) Retirement Services, said from the floor of the Wealth@wor(k) conference in Las Vegas.

On August 16, 2022, the Retirement Advisor Council recognized Wiley|Wilson, as an honoree of its Financial Wellness Excellence Awards. This recognition was presented at the Retirement Advisor Council’s 2022 Annual Planning Meeting in Des Moines, IA. Connie Burnette of Wiley|Wilson accepted the award on behalf of her team and was recognized for her thoughtful leadership and dedication to providing the best possible employee financial wellness program to her organization.

Bethesda, MD — Alex Assaley and Kevin Phillips of AFS 401(k) Retirement Services recently participated as delegates to the National Association of Plan Advisors’ (NAPA) Annual DC Fly-In Forum, an exclusive gathering of the nation’s leading retirement plan advisors.

AFS 401(k) Retirement Services is thrilled to publicize that our lead adviser, Alex Assaley was named a top retirement plan advisor by PLANADVISOR.

Since 2013, this designation has been awarded to the top 100 retirement plan advisers and teams based on quantitative measures such as the most plans and assets under advisement. This year, PLANADVISER made a significant change, limiting how large a team could be for consideration—eliminating national-type firms that traditionally had met the eligibility for a “Mega Team”.

At this year’s NAPA 401(k) Summit, the nation’s largest and most prestigious conference for retirement plan advisors and industry leaders, our Managing Principal, Alex Assaley took to the stage to give his final Presidential remarks and share a special story of one of his proudest moments as a retirement plan advisor. You can watch the live presentation below or read through the video transcript.

Alex, as the 2021-2022 President of NAPA.

BETHESDA, MD — AFS 401(k) Retirement Services has been named to the National Association of Plan Advisors’ list of the nation’s top defined contribution (DC) Advisor Teams with Assets under Advisement of $100 Million.

Unlike other lists, this focuses on individual firms, or what may, in a wirehouse environment, be referred to as a team, or office, and the assets under advisement related to their defined contribution (DC) practice, specifically in a single physical location. The inaugural list was published in 2017.