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A new report forecasts how the innovations brought on by the Pension Protection Act will continue to evolve, foreseeing a DC industry that takes on some of the traditional features of the DB industry.
In its 250th issue of The Cerulli Edge – U.S. Asset and Wealth Management Edition, Cerulli...
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Recently, the Wall Street Journal’s Anne Tergesen wrote a story titled, “Mixed Bag for Auto-enrollment.” Citing data presented at the recent EBRI Policy Forum,1 the article claimed that “employees who are automatically enrolled in their workplace savings plans save less than those who sign up on...
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The SEC’s proposed Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) is remarkable in its similarities to the DOL’s vacated Best Interest Contract Exemption (BICE) – or so Fred Reish thinks.
With a beginning note of caution that Reg BI applies to securities recommendations, while the BICE would have (but for the...
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President Trump has nominated Senate Banking Committee aide Elad Roisman to serve as a Republican member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).Roisman, who currently serves as Chief Counsel to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee under Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), would...
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A regional office of the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) has been threatening enforcement actions against plan sponsors who correct the late deposit of participant contributions or loan repayments without making a formal submission under the DOL’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction...
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The official hurricane season has just begun (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it starts June 1). But we’ve already had a tropical system hit the United States (Alberto) — and that serves as a reminder that it can be helpful to a service provider and plan administrator to...
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The victorious plaintiffs in litigation vacating the Labor Department's fiduciary rule would like the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to put the rule — and the financial services industry at large — out of its collective "misery."In a letter to the Clerk of Court for the U.S. Court of...
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a proposal on June 4 that it says will improve the method for delivering fund shareholder reports to investors in mutual funds, ETFs and other investment funds.The SEC also announced that it is inviting comments on improving the fund disclosures...
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In spite of continued volatility, April’s “showers” produced some May flowers for average 401(k) balances.
In May, estimates based on the actual contribution records and investment choices of several million consistent participants in the EBRI/ICI database indicated that the average 401(k) account...
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In a June 4, 2018 comment letter to the IRS, the American Retirement Association (ARA) recommended that the IRS expand its determination letter program to cover specific situations, which the ARA believes “would resolve the most critical open issues that impact the qualified status of the form of...
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Following a House subcommittee hearing, the Chairman and Ranking Member want some answers from the IRS on changes that dramatically increased the cost to small plans of correcting plan mistakes.
In a letter to Sunita Lough, Commissioner of the IRS’s Tax Exempt/Government Entities (TEGE) division,...
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The Oregon State Treasury has announced that it is delaying the implementation of a new state law that allows members of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) to exercise some choice in how their plan funds are invested.
House Bill 4159 directs the Oregon Public Employees Retirement...
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Financial readiness for retirement improved in 2017, but there still is room for improvement, say recently released studies.
In its 2017 Year in Review, Financial Finesse looks at employer financial wellness programs and their results. Among the gauges it reports on is financial readiness for...
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The evidence seems clear that having a written financial plan helps people stay on track and reach their financial goals, yet only one in four Americans has a plan, according to new research.
As for the top roadblock, Charles Schwab’s Modern Wealth Index study says it’s because they don’t think...
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You have to wonder what the Wall Street Journal has against automatic enrollment.
The latest instance of finding the cloud in this silver lining arose in a recent Journal article by Anne Tergesen, “Downside of Automatic 401(k) Savings: More Debt” (subscription required). The article, based on the...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) expects that its insurance programs will have sharply different results. In its FY 2017 PBGC Projections Report, which provides long-term financial projections for its single-employer program and multiemployer program, the PBGC anticipates that the...
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This is auto-enrollment’s day in the sun. Widely lauded as a low-cost, low-impact solution for savings rates and behaviors that could use a boost, it’s easily regarded as a panacea. But a recent blog post suggests that it may not be.In “The Dirty Little Secret of Auto-Enrollment?” a post on Cammack...
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The IRS has clarified that federal income tax withholding under Code Section 3405 and Form 1099-R reporting under Section 408 generally apply for the year a payment is made, as required by state law, from an IRA to a state unclaimed property fund.
The IRS issued Revenue Ruling (Rev. Rul.) 2018-17 ...
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Longtime ASPA Executive Director Chester Salkind passed away on May 19, 2018, while in hospice care in Durango, CO.
Salkind’s daughter Elizabeth noted in an email to several retired ASPA members that he had been in declining health over the last year, and suffered a stroke the week of May 14.
...
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TPAs serving 401(k) plans may want to remind their clients that they should review and update their “special tax notices” in the wake of changes to the plan loan offset rules under last year’s tax reform legislation.An article by Todd Castleton of Kilpatrick Townsend explains that changes to the...
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