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News Archive
The shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans is not new. It may be less common in the public sector, but it is not unknown among public employers. A recent study looks at what that has meant for the Alaska education sector.
The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS...
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When you see a headline that confirms your sense of the world, you’re naturally predisposed to embrace, remember (and these days “share”) it as a validation of what you already perceive reality to be.
Indeed, as human beings, we’re drawn to perspectives, surveys, and studies that validate our...
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By now, everyone is well aware that SECURE 2.0 was signed into law on Dec. 29, 2022. One of the provisions in SECURE 2.0 is Section 604, a fundraiser provision that allows plan participants to elect to have any fully vested employer contributions funded to a defined contribution plan made as Roth...
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At the recent PSCA national conference, ARA CEO Brian Graff and EBSA Assistant Secretary Lisa M. Gomez discussed a wide range of topics, including the many misunderstandings about cyber liability insurance (which could be a huge fiduciary failure) and the ESG rule.
This session follows Graff...
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The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) sent a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) on May 30 urging it to “effectively and expeditiously” implement SECURE 2.0. It also urged the DOL to prioritize six provisions related to the committee’s mission.
More specifically...
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Acting with a sense of urgency to avoid a first-ever federal debt default, the U.S. Senate late June 1 approved legislation to suspend the federal debt limit until 2025, clearing the measure for presidential signature, expected today.
The Senate vote on the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R....
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A surprising finding in a comprehensive report from earlier this year: there is no gender gap between men and women in access to employer-based retirement plans, and participation rates are also consistent between the genders.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for savings, with women...
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With U.S. employers adding one million jobs to the economy in the first quarter of 2023, Americans appear to be refocusing on investing in their future, according to Fidelity’s latest retirement trends analysis.
Among other things, the firm reports in its Q1 2023 Retirement Analysis that 401(k)...
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Legislation is before the New York state Senate that would allow certain employees of the city of New York to be automatically enrolled in the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.
The state Assembly has passed the legislation; a third committee of the state Senate is now...
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Evan Greebel, pharma bro Martin Shkreli’s lawyer and co-conspirator, lost his bid to protect his 401(k) from garnishment to pay restitution to his victims.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, effectively ending Greebel’s quest to keep his retirement plan free from a $10.4 million judgment...
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Amid threats of the economy crashing and 401(k)s plummeting, the House of Representatives late May 31 approved legislation to suspend the federal debt limit until 2025.
Facing a June 5 deadline to avoid a first-ever federal default if Congress does not act, the House approved the Fiscal...
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Racing against a looming June 5 deadline, negotiators for President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked late into the night on May 26 in order to announce an agreement in principle on the morning of May 27 to raise the debt ceiling.
The news came just over one week before the earliest...
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The odds increased of Nevada becoming the next state to provide retirement plan coverage to private-sector employees whose employers do not, when the state Senate on May 29 voted in favor of legislation that would do just that.
SB305 was introduced on March 16, 2023.
ARA Support
The American...
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There is pressure from state legislatures for action concerning the windfall elimination provision (WEP) and the government pension offset (GPO). Both are benefit formulas that reduce Social Security benefits for workers and their eligible family members if the worker receives (or is entitled to) a...
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Retirement Clearinghouse, a Charlotte, NC-based firm, which helps to automatically move participant’s retirement account balances from a former employer to their new employer, has notified individuals in various states of a data breach.
As many as 10,509 individuals may have had their personal...
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We won’t be bringing you an ASPPA Connect newsletter on Monday, May 29, as our offices will be closed due to the observance of Memorial Day; it will return on Wednesday, May 31. In the meantime, we would like to share some presidential quotes related to the holiday.
“Each of the patriots whom we...
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An excessive fee suit has moved past a motion to dismiss—apparently because of a slight shift in its arguments about recordkeeping services.
This suit was filed by participant-plaintiff Michael Mazza, a former participant (and senior director of marketing) in the $879 million, 10,205 participant...
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While there’s much debate over the pros and cons of auto-features and whether participants need a nudge, the results of a new study suggest that plan sponsors can, in fact, boost “default escalators” in 401(k) plans without decreasing participation.
The results arise from a new field study...
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The IRS has issued guidance on the expansion of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) under Section 305 of SECURE 2.0.
The guidance is contained in Notice 2023-43, which provides interim guidance in advance of an update to Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2021-30.
The issues the...
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The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on May 24 passed HB 577, a bill that would create the Keystone Saves Program, which would be an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA retirement savings program.
The measure passed in a 106-95 vote. All 101 Democrats in the state House voted for it,...
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