Firms offering 3(21), 3(38) and 3(16) services promise to help employers that sponsor retirement plans minimize their exposure but debate has raged over which is the best approach.

Retirement advisors can use the tool to see how well plan sponsor clients understand their responsibilities, and make suggestions to lessen risk.

Stuck financially between a rock and a hard place, many fear the approach of retirement. Either they lack the money to leave the workplace or know that, if they leave, the money will run out and theyll be back.

They are far less optimistic about having enough money to last through retirement, their viewpoint colored by concerns over inflation and economic stagnation.

Although 85 percent of firms reported having a strategic plan, only 17 percent said that their plan was key to their recent growth.

While more employers are adding them to retirement options, only 11 percent of workers who have access to one actually take advantage of it.

About 80 percent say they arent sure whether their advisor was acting in a fiduciary capacity a big red flag for administrators, who may otherwise find themselves on the hook for something they thought their advisors would be liable for.

The reason? That hefty tumble in stocks on the last day of the month.