A Manager'S Guide To Strategic Retirement Plan Management

"Daniel Cassidy has written a detailed, comprehensive guide for managers to understand and succeed at the ongoing process of managing a company retirement plan. If motivating your employees is important to you as a manager, this book is an essential key to your success."
--Josh Gordon, author of Presentations That Change Minds and Selling 2.0

Written by renowned retirement benefits planning specialist Daniel Cassidy, A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management focuses on current best practices regarding company-sponsored retirement plans within the United States.

Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this valuable guide will aid managers in applying strategic thinking to their retirement plan management activities--whether it be a 401(k) plan, investing in company stock, or a traditional defined benefit plan. It will also help you to view retirement plans in a holistic manner--ever more necessary given the unpredictable economy and recent troubles with companies such as Enron and WorldCom.

Covering everything from administrative issues to financial and legal responsibilities, A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management will allow you to make the best decisions possible while managing this ongoing process and help you find solutions that best fit your organization's specific needs.

DANIEL CASSIDY, FSA, is President of Argus Consulting Ltd (www.arguscl.com) and has more than fifteen years of experience in the consulting field. He partners with plan sponsors to maximize the overall effectiveness of their retirement plans through plan design, asset deployment, outsourcing, financial forecasting, and M&A due diligence. He is also on the faculty at Boston College's Center for Retirement Research and has published articles in Employment Relations Today, Handbook of Business Strategy, Employee Benefit Plan Review, and Employee Benefit News, among others. A renowned specialist in retirement benefits planning, he has spoken widely at both industry conferences and professional society meetings.

Acknowledgments.

1: Introduction.

2: The Basics of Retirement Plans.

3: Administration.

4: Fiduciary Duty.

5: Financial.

6: Human Resources.

7: How to Hire the Right Consultants.

8: General Trends.

9: Where to Go for Help?

Appendix A: Company ABC—Request for Proposal: 401(k) Savings Plan.

Appendix B: Sample Traditional Request for Proposal.

Appendix C: Sample Defined Contribution Plan Investment Policy Statement.

Appendix D: 401(k) Plan Investment Performance Review.

Appendix E: Replacement Ratio Study: A Measurement Tool for Retirement Planning.

Appendix F: Selecting a Default Fund for a Defined Contribution Plan.

Appendix G: Argus Consulting Ltd NGO Retirement Plan Survey—2005 Results.

Appendix H: Lessons from Behavioral Finance and the Autopilot 401(k) Plan.

Index.