...Abstract The intent of the paper is to examine current trends in the most commonly defined contribution retirement plan, the 401(k) plan. It will outline the best course of action to achieve an effective plan and maximize employee participation. This paper will review current mandates regulated by government agencies and explain the importance of remaining in compliance. Finally, the paper discusses best practices for implementation, as well as the best ways to promote a 401(k) plan within your organization. Throughout the process the details of the 401(k) plan at Tampa Bay & Company, a small sized organization, will be compared to other non-governmental company 401(k) plans to highlight specific examples and draw comparisons. Overall 401(k) Trends In response to the economic downturn there has been an increasing surge of employers who are lowering benefits associated with 401(k) plans. The most common trends are employers reducing the amount of match, reducing the portion of the match, or eliminating the match altogether. Over the past couple of years several surveys have been completed by investment firms, revealing that the number of employers who have decreased company contributions is on the rise. Some surveys show as low as a 7% decrease, but the majority of surveys claim that the amount is closer to 25% of employers who decreased matches or ceased employee contributions all together. Nearly two-thirds of employers still continue to provide matching contributions...
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...| Does a 401K Benefit Affect Employee Performance? | Week 5 (Research Paper) | By: Jasmine Branch. 11/7/2014 | Executive Summary: My research paper provides an analysis of the current affects on work performance, and employee motivation with regard to employee benefits with a focus on 401(k) options. The methods of analysis include survey observations, articles read, and peer communication information received. All references can be found in the reference section as noted. Results of the information received show that employees are typically motivated by incentives given to them, those incentives do include the 401(k) option. The report finds that employees are motivated as well as feel more valued when employers extend the 401(k) option to them as well as a range of other benefits at the employers discretion. The report also thoroughly explains what motivation is and how it is manefested in the workplace to adhere to the topic as mentioned. Some limitations include studies that included 401(k) option discussions but not enough information to determine whether or not this option affected work performance. Known results are based on an overall review of the studies as they pertained to employees receiving benefits as well as how they felt after receiving those options. In business, employee satisfaction is a major factor in the success of the business. Employee satisfaction translates to customer satisfaction, which affects retention...
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...current income and the present value of future income. (d, moderate) 2. Stocks and bonds would be classified as: a. real assets b. indirect assets c. personal assets d. financial assets (d, easy) 3. Technically, investments include: a. only financial assets. b. only marketable assets. c. financial and real assets that are marketable or non-marketable. d. only financial and real assets that are marketable. (c, easy) 4. The retirement plans that guarantee retirees a set amount of money each month are known as: a. 401(k) plans b. self-directed plans c. defined-benefit plans d. defined-contribution plans (c, moderate) The Importance of Studying Investments 5. The investment professionals that arrange the sale of new securities are called: a. arbitragers b. traders c. investment bankers d. specialists (c, moderate) 6. Another name for stockbrokers is: a. specialists b. registered representatives c. security analysts d. portfolio managers (b, moderate) 7. Investment professionals whose jobs may depend on their performance relative to the market are the: a. registered representatives b. security analysts c. investment bankers ...
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...Proposed Retirement and Communication Plan HRM/324 October 28, 2013 Sharron Fletcher Proposed Retirement and Communication Plan Offering retirement benefits to employees to provide a source of income after they retire. Employees need to invest in their own retirement while working to ensure they have enough money to cover their expenses. The benefits of participating in these plans is tax-deferred earnings, and in some cases contributions are also taxed deferred. Employees can also invest in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to augment their companies plan or to develop their own plan. "Companies establish retirement or pension plans following one of three design configurations: a defined benefit plan, a defined contribution plan, or hybrid plans that combine features of traditional defined benefit and defined contribution plans" (Martocchio, pg 259, 2009). Once the company decides on a plan, they need to develop a communication plan to encourage employee participation for the proposed retirement plan. "Setting up an employee retirement plan can be a smart way to provide for one of your key assets - your people - as well as benefiting one's business"("Nationwide", 2013). Providing a quality retirement plan helps attract and retain employees, reduce the tax burden and allows the owner to invest in their own retirement. Employers take care of their employees through salary, health...
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...What is your version of the American Dream? If you’re like millions of other Americans, you’re probably living for the day your 401(k) has stored enough equity for you to enjoy a life of financial freedom. But what if everything you've been led to believe about your 401(k) retirement plan is not only untrue, but just the opposite of what you have been told? Wouldn’t you want to know immediately while there was still time to capture the American Dream? Those nearing retirement are extremely concerned, and rightly so, that a collapse of the stock market could spell possible disaster for their 401(k) and other retirement investments. The credit crunch and housing meltdown of 2007-08 are stark reminders of the dot.com debacle of 200002 that halved market values, forcing retirement for many to be postponed or scaled down in quality. Many lost their retirement, jobs, homes and lifetime savings. The information contained in this publication may well be the most important information that you have read and could affect the quality of your planned retirement for years and/or the rest of your life. In addition to learning important retirement information, you will learn the 7 S.E.C.R.E.T.S. of the Super Wealthy, how to remove your money tax-free from your company’s 401(k) plan and place it under your own control without stopping work or dropping out of your employer’s plan, and how to keep more in your estate while passing more to your family members or other designated heirs by using...
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...articles provide scenarios to achieve the organizations goals. Traditional tactics in negotiation allow personalization, rapport building; however, with poor training, experience, and meager negotiation tactics endanger the result of closing the deal. The importance for organizations to recognize a customer wants, needs, values, and concerns assist during the negotiation process. Analyzing two different articles provides the reader with different methods and strategies, which later compares, and contrasts. Electronic Negotiators The use of technology benefits both parties to close, fund, transfer, alternate proposals, contracts, or receive a commitment accordingly. Northwestern University provided several students with an interesting test, which according to Charles Craver, a writer for The Negotiator Magazine, mentions half of the students who made preliminary phone calls before e-mail negotiations succeeded with ease [ (Craver, 2007) ]. Compared to the other half who negotiated by e-mails first were constantly in disagreement. The research shows consistent evidence to those negotiating electronically, the importance of building rapport with a five-minute call and greater chances to reach an agreement. The importance of this simple technique lowers the risk and concerns of electronic negotiations....
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...With the continued decline in the number of Americans covered by employer sponsored defined benefit plans, millions of individuals whose employers don’t offer any way for them to save for retirement at work, and Social Security’s continued financial problems1, it is crucial that the Congress develops a common strategy to expand retirement savings in a manner that transcends ideological and partisan differences. In 2006, a bipartisan majority in Congress eliminated barriers to the use of automatic enrollment and similar automatic techniques in retirement savings plans with the result that millions more Americans are both saving and building retirement security. The results have been stunningly good. With automatic features, enrollment in 401(k)type accounts has grown to average over 80 percent of eligible employees. In addition, every major income, age, racial or ethnic, and gender has shown an increase in...
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...Kudler Fine Foods Delivery Service I believe that Kudler’s Fine Food has an excellent opportunity to expand its gourmet specialty food store by adding a delivery service. An upscale store should provide upscale service, which will expand Kudler’s Fine Food services enormously. Being that the number one strategic objective of Kudler’s Fine Food is to expanded its services, this will surely accomplish this objective. JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS Program Manager Job Description: The Program Manager is responsible for the overall success of the delivery section. The Program Manager will define the objectives and oversee quality control. Responsibilities: • Communicates expectations to team members • Managers company budget dedicated to the delivery section • Manages daily operational plans • Identifies resources needed, then assigns task to team • Creates plans and revises as appropriate to meet changing needs, and requirements • Determines the need for additional staff • Continually manage company expectations Qualifications: • MS/BA degree from accredited college in a related field of occupation • 10 years of related experience • Excellent verbal, written and oral communication skills Desired Requirements of Experience: • Previous experience in delivery management • Current knowledge of food and health codes • Excellent organizational skills • Excellent customer service skills • Available to work weekends and holidays • Must be able to...
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...Importance of Healthy Restaurants in University Campuses: An Annotated Bibliography Pelletier, J. E., & Laska, M. N. (2013). Campus food and beverage purchases are associated with indicators of diet quality in college students living off campus. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28(2), 80-87. This journal examines the relationship between the dietary patterns of college students and the frequency of purchasing foodstuffs and beverages from campus restaurants, fast foods and bringing packed lunch from home. This is important in the quest to ensure the health requirements and overall wellness of students is catered for. A research is conducted in one community college and one public university, both in Twin Cities, Minnesota. The target...
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...Assignment #5 – NEW AND IMPROVED REWARDS AT WORK Leslie Medlock June 15, 2012 Total Rewards - HRM 533 Dr. Judie Bucholz, Instructor Assignment #5 – New and Improved Rewards at Work 1. Determine how innovations in employee benefits can improve the overall competitive compensation strategy of the organization. The innovations in employee benefits can improve the overall competitive compensation strategy of the organization tremendously in a positive manner due to the employee benefits strategy directly contributes to the success of an organization by attracting and retaining good employees. The benefits offered by an organization are an extremely important part of the puzzle in order for an organization to retain their top talent and for the organization to be competitive in the job market and the success of the organization. In order for the success to take place an organization must present itself differently than others; the employee benefits tied into the competitive compensation strategy is a very successful differentiator to make this happen. Some examples in which an organization could implement in reference to benefits to improve the overall competitive compensation strategy: • Education Benefit – This is plan in which help an employee save money and prepare for their child (ren) education. This benefit could cover the child (ren) tuition, room and board, book and supplies. • Scholarships – Which would be paid by the organization that...
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...Ch. 4 Case Study Job Requirement Matrix for Sale Associate |Job Duty |Tasks |Relative |Relative Time |Competency or KSAO |Importance of KSAO or | | | |Importance of Job|Spent (%) | |Competency to Task | | | |Duty (%) | | |Performance (1 = low, | | | | | | |10 = high),( E = | | | | | | |essential) | | Customer Service |1. Greet customers and ascertain what |35 |50 |1. Knowledge of principles and |10 E | | |each customer wants or needs. | | |processes for providing customer | | | |2. Answer questions regarding the store | | |and personal services. | | | |and its merchandise. | | |2. Active listening skills...
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...Running head: A LITTLE RELIEF DURING RISING UNEMPLOYMENT A Little Relief During Rising Unemployment The article I found is titled “Unemployment Extension 2009 – H.R. 3548 U.S. Gov’t Extends Unemployment Benefits, Compensation for 20 Weeks.” This article was written in response to the rising unemployment rates in America. Unemployment Insurance provides income to those workers who are laid off by no fault of their own and allows them enough time to look for a job comparable to the one they had. The system is run and funded by state and federal taxes paid by employers. We’re in a recession, and recessions are associated with rising unemployment as a slowdown in the growth of consumer spending plays a huge role. The Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, a legislation which seeks to extend unemployment benefits to those who have been unemployed for extended periods of time, and have exhausted regular unemployment benefits. This act will provide an additional 14-20 weeks of additional unemployment benefits to some Americans have already exhausted theirs or will do so by year-end. These benefits continue for 14 weeks for Americans in all 50 states who face exhaustion before year-end, and by 20 weeks for those living in states where the unemployment rate is 8.5% or higher. The additional 20 weeks in those states means the maximum a person in one of those states could receive is now up to 99 weeks, or almost two years, the most in history. As of Nov 2009,...
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...Reflection Paper FP/120 January 4, 2012 Caryn Callahan Reflection Paper This paper will discuss the objectives of week four. Team B’s discussion will include the characteristics and functions of different types of insurances, the importance of wills, and explain what taxable income is, and the steps an individual needs to take to file his or her federal tax return. Insurance The function of possessing insurance is to help cover a part of what a person has lost. It consists having a pool of large amounts of people that pays a certain amount each year. The amount that an individual pays is decided using many factors from age to location of the individual. There are many forms of insurance such as auto, life, and health insurance. These insurance covers practically each person determined each person’s life insurance. Auto Insurance Auto insurance can cover a person from physical injury caused by car accidents, damages done to the car itself or injuries that could occur to another person. The amount of the insurance premium is determined by the age of the vehicle, type of vehicle, vehicles primary use, and the projected amount of miles the vehicle will drive in a given year. Auto insurance could cover from partial to a full coverage for each accident that have occurred. Home Insurance Home insurance shares many of the same type of characteristics as auto insurance. Unlike, auto insurance, home insurance is also based on the location of where an individual...
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...Present and Future Values, and Expected Returns BUS 401 Principles of Finance Instructor: February 29, 2016 Present and Future Values, and Expected Returns Critically reflect on the importance of present and future values. This week started rough for me but while reviewing the material for this week’s lesson I learned the importance of the present value (PV) and future value (FV). PV and FV are related in a sense because they both represent the financial worth of the money at a given time. For starters, present value is the current financial worth of money at that moment. In contrast used to increase a likely return profit. The future value is the financial worth of value of the items at a particular time. In contrast used to measure the expected amounts of money that a given quantity of the cash that will be worth at the available time. Furthermore, FV assists in investment decisions when determining the amount of money by calculating the financial value of the money. The time value of the money is an indication that the money available now is worth more than it would be on the forthcoming date due to the potential money making capacity. What factors must be considered when calculating present and future values? Calculating PV, the factor must include discounting because discounting reveals the time value of the investment and any liabilities occurs along the way with the investment. The use of present value in the calculation of money...
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...IMPORTANCE OF BUDGETING AND SAVING Importance of Budgeting and Saving Andrea N. Kirkwood GEN/200 22 March 2010 Mr. Otis Langford IMPORTANCE OF BUDGETING AND SAVING Importance of Budgeting and Saving Do you find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck, unable to pay your bills, struggling financially? If so, you are amongst the millions of people who suffer from these same issues everyday. One of the best ways for you to get on financial track is to establish a budget. What is a budget you ask? As defined by Merriam-Webster, a budget is “a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures” or “the amount of money that is available for, required for, or assigned to a particular purpose” (Merriam-Webster). A budget will help you realize your true income, assess your debt, see how your money is really being spent, and should help you save on some of your unnecessary spending. Budgeting is one of the most important factors when it comes to financial stability. A budget is a precise way to help you live within your means and get your finances under control. Making an individual or a family budget will assist you in your planning when it comes to saving for the education expenses of you or your children, maintaining an emergency fund, planning vacations, buying a home and numerous other unexpected events that life may throw your way. IMPORTANCE OF BUDGETING AND SAVING Creating a budget should be a very simple process. You...
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