The Institutional Retirement Income Council has announced thetop four retirement industry trends to watch in2016.

1. Financial wellness plans.

According to IRIC, financial wellness will be a bigone.

Employers are expected to significantly expand wellness programsthat currently focus on physical wellbeing so that they alsoinclude features focusing on financial wellbeing.

With all the financial challenges faced by employees—includingmedical expenses, credit card debt, college expenses, andretirement planning—financial wellness programs have been growingincreasingly popular, with that trend expected to continue in theyear ahead.

A 2014 Society for Human Resource Management survey reportedthat 70 percent of HR professionals predicted that baby boomerswould likely participate in a financial wellness program if theiremployer offered one.

Such programs will likely include not just ways to manage debtand better save for retirement, but alsohow to calculate a spend-down plan once in retirement and how toincorporate Social Security into one’s overall strategy.

2. Out of plan or in plan?

Next is the trend that pits out-of-plan income solutions againstin-plan solutions.

In their quest to be sure that retirement savings will provide aregular source of income throughout retirement, participants havebeen looking outside of their retirement plans to find ways totranslate a lump sum into a monthly check.

However, the Department of Labor’s expected implementation of afiduciary rule will have a major effect on out-of-plan advisors, as well asin-plan options.

The release of a Center for Retirement Research study that showed IRAs’ rate of returna poor substitute for that of defined benefit plans will, accordingto IRIC, “make it all the more difficult for advisors to recommendmoving out of a defined contribution plan to those eligible to keeptheir assets in the plan.”

As a result, it expects that participants will be more likely toleave their assets in a retirement plan rather than rolling themover.

3. In-plan retirement income solutions.

The move to keeping assets inside retirement plans, IRIC said,“should cause an increase in participant interest in investmentvehicles that provide solutions to the draw-down, rather thanaccumulation, of retirement assets.”

As a result, revisiting in-plan retirement income solutions willbecome a major focus for plan sponsors in 2016.

IRIC said that plans that have not considered this will be underpressure from participants to “consider new solutions to addressthe risks of retirement income sustainability, longevity risk,market timing risk and in-plan distribution options.”

4. In-plan distribution flexibility.

Plan sponsors will have to consider the question of whichdistribution options will be available to terminatedparticipants.

If a plan only offers two options—complete lump-sum distributionor keeping the entire balance in the plan—it’s likely that sponsorswill want to explore the possibility of offering periodicwithdrawal opportunities, so that they can encourage terminatedparticipants to keep their assets in the plan—which can providebenefits not only to the participants, but also to the plan itselfin the form of reduced administration and fee costs.