Construction-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar recently announced its willingness to settle a lawsuit in which it was accused of charging excessive fees in four of its employee 401(k) plans. Read the full article

Despite a decline in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), major retirement plan limits remain unchanged. Read the full article

Each year, contribution limits on 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement plans are adjusted to keep up with inflation. However, because of a quirk in the rules that define how limits on 401(k) and pension plan contributions are calculated, it’s possible that 2010 limits on these plans could actually decline from current levels. Read the full article

About 50 million people own 401(k)-type retirement plans, and the percentage of workers with defined-benefit (pension) plans has been dwindling for years. One problem with 401(k) plans is that many plans don’t disclose their fees openly. That would change if Congress moves forward with a bill currently awaiting action in the House of Representatives. Read the full article

Many employer-sponsored tax-deferred retirement plans, including 401(k)s, offer a unique investment option called a “stable value” fund. If you’ve invested in such a fund, you should take a close look at what's inside – its value might not be as stable as you think. Read the full article

Hewitt Associates, the HR consulting firm, tracks 401(k) investing trends for 1.5 million employees of large (> 5,000 employee) companies. Their January 401(k) plan data show a curious fact: employees put more money into their employers' stock than into any other category. Read the full article

Just before Christmas of 2008, the president signed the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. The bill suspended 2009 Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s. Read the full article

Boston-based Fidelity Investments provides 401(k) plan management for over 17,000 employers, making it the largest plan administrator in the country. Fidelity’s annual “State of the 401(k)” report, released yesterday, provides a window into the behavior of 401(k) plan participants. Read the full article

What do FedEx, General Motors, Frontier Airlines, Eastman Kodak, Motorola, Sears and Unisys all have in common? All have announced plans to cut costs by suspending their matching contributions to employee 401(k) plans. Even Starbucks has announced that it may drop its 401(k) match in 2009. Read the full article

Back in October, some influential members of the House of Representatives held hearings to discuss overhauling the 401(k) retirement plan system. Soon thereafter, talk radio, the blogosphere, and even the generally-sober Wall Street Journal erupted with dark warnings of a plot afoot to “nationalize” or “confiscate” everyone's 401(k) plans and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration. Read the full article

This is a question that most people will face sooner or later, since labor statistics indicate that the average person entering the workforce will change jobs at least seven times. What follows is a short discussion of some of the key considerations that should be kept in mind as you evaluate this question. This summary is not personalized financial advice; remember that there will be tax and/or other financial consequences depending on what you decide to do. Read the full article

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