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ASPPA Connect wishes its readers a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for your support! ASPPA Connect will not be appearing on Friday, Nov. 23; however, it will be back to business as usual on Monday, Nov. 26.
Most people are very familiar with the Thanksgiving proclamations George Washington and...
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In response to a federal court request, Golden State officials have elaborated on why CalSavers – the state’s state-run automatic IRA program for private sector workers – isn’t preempted by ERISA.
The comments came in a brief (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Ass’n v. Calif. Secure Choice Ret. Savings...
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California has joined neighboring Oregon in offering a functioning state-run retirement plan for private-sector employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan. The pilot for CalSavers formally launched on Nov. 19. Calpensions had announced recently that the launch was impending....
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Those served by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) single-employer program have something to smile about — the PBGC has reported that the program now shows a positive balance.
The news, contained in the PBGC’s Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report, shows progress at a much faster rate than...
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A group of Senate Democrats have introduced a bill “designed to help more working families and middle-class Americans save for retirement” – and it brings back MyRA.
The legislation – the Encouraging Americans to Save Act (EASA) – enhances retirement savings incentives by:
restructuring the...
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What’s the best solution where saving for retirement is not a priority? Meet workers where they are with the right kind of liquidity! Don’t agree? Well, what about the next best solution? You guessed it: help workers avoid the wrong kind of liquidity!
No recent headline includes more hyperbole...
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Nobody likes to be thought of as “average” – so why do people spend so much time worrying about the “average” 401(k) balance?
These averages are reported with some regularity by any number of providers (based on the records for which they have access), and sometimes by academics drawn from...
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The alarm bells have long been sounding that many retirees are in for a rude shock when they find they didn’t save enough. A recent blog argues that information is a key to improving retirement savings and softening the blow.
In “Future Shock — Do Income Estimates Affect Saving Behavior?” LIMRA...
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Twice a year, the North American Actuarial Council (NAAC) meets in person to exchange information on current activities within each organization and discuss profession-wide issues. It also encourages coordination and cooperation among the North American actuarial organizations, including:
American...
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The Senate Finance Committee on Nov. 15 in a 25-2 vote approved Gordon Hartogensis to be Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Their action sends Hartogensis’ nomination to the Senate floor for a vote by the full chamber.
Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said in...
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The IRS has announced that it has granted tax relief to certain victims of wildfires in California. The IRS action includes relief from penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Nov. 8, 2018, and before Nov. 23, 2018, which it says will be abated as long as the deposits are made...
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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Nov. 14 released advance copies of the Form 5500 Series forms to be used for 2018 reporting, as well as the related instructions.
EBSA reports that the 2018...
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What holds more than one half of the assets and funds in the world’s largest asset owners? Not a government or even a collection of them, nor a corporation — that distinction belongs to pension funds.
According to Willis Towers Watson's Thinking Ahead Institute, approximately 61% of the assets...
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The IRS released Notice 2018-74 to modify and update the safe harbor explanations that may be used to satisfy the notice requirements of Code Section 402(f). This article describes the key provisions of the notice.
Background
Section 402(f) requires the plan administrator of a qualified of a...
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The American Retirement Association’s staff and volunteer Legislative Retirement Committee (LRC) both review legislative proposals and proactively propose legislative changes to improve the employer-provided retirement system. Over a period of years, many of ARA’s proposals have appeared in...
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Mere days after publishing a request for comments on a proposed exemption, the Department of Labor has now issued an advisory opinion (AO) regarding a specific auto portability program.
The DOL advisory opinion, dated Nov. 5, 2018, outlines the particulars of a program developed by the Retirement...
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New research published by the National Tax-Deferred Savings Association (NTSA) confirms that there is a connection between the number of options – and advisors – available to employees in public education 403(b) plans and participation and contribution rates in those plans.
Those findings are...
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The 2018-2019 Treasury Priority Guidance Plan includes more than 60 regulatory projects relating to implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that the agency intends to address in the coming year.
Overall, the plan contains 239 guidance projects that will be the focus of efforts through June 30...
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With the impetus of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the IRS has provided for comment some much-anticipated new proposed regulations on hardship distributions.
Generally speaking, the changes will make it easier for participants to get, and to get more, when requesting a hardship distribution –...
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In the Fourth Quarter 2018 Washington Update, American Retirement Association Director of Technical Education Robert Kaplan provided an overview of recent executive, regulatory and legislative developments affecting retirement plans.
MEPs
Kaplan highlighted the attention President Trump’s Aug. 31...
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