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CalSavers, the state-run retirement plan for private-sector employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan, is set to launch a pilot on Nov. 19, Calpensions has announced.
The pilot is expected to start with about 20 diverse employers and grow to 50 or more. The first contributions to...
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Would you like a big payment now, or smaller payments at regular intervals for many years? When that question was posed by researchers in the context of retirement benefits, a majority chose slow and steady.
In a recent study of employees with at least $100,000 in assets nearing retirement and...
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Several of the most infamous stock market declines in history have happened in October – which turned out to be a bit of a fright for the average 401(k) balance.
Snapping a long winning streak, estimates from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) note that the average 401(k)...
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At a recent event in Washington, SEC Commissioner Kara Stein provided her take on retirement readiness in the United States and what she thinks can be done to improve it.
In a conversation with the Brookings Institution,Stein painted a sobering picture. “Although everyone’s ideal retirement might...
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A new report notes that while longevity is increasing, the number of years Americans spend in retirement has not changed much over the last generation because they’re also working longer.
In “The Aging Economy: Improving with Age,” BMO Wealth Management notes that the Department of Health and...
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Halloween is the time of year when one’s thoughts turn to trick-or-treat, ghosts and goblins, and things that go bump in the night. But what are the things that keep – or should keep – plan fiduciaries up at night?
Well, there are the things like…
Getting Sued
The headlines are (still) full of...
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Did you hear the one about loan defaults adding up to $2.5 trillion in potential retirement savings shortfalls over the next 10 years? How about the “$210 Billion Risk in Your 401(k)”?
Those reports were based on an “analysis” by Deloitte that claims to find that “…more than $2 trillion in...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued the present values of its maximum guarantees for 2019.
The values apply to benefits with annuity starting dates in 2019. The values for the 2019 table were developed using the Internal Revenue Code Section 417(e) segment rates for August...
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Employers have always been competing to hire the best. And employers use various tools to attract and retain them. One of the most important, argue recent blogs, is the 401(k).
“Offering a high-quality 401(k) plan is an essential tool to add to your HR toolbox,” writes Roger Lee in “How 401(k)s...
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The Oregon State Treasury has announced that OregonSaves, the state-run auto-IRA program for private-sector workers in Oregon, has been expanded to allow individual Oregonians, such as self-employed or gig economy workers, to join the program.
Certain individuals can choose from a simple menu of...
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The IRS has announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2019. The 2019 limits are contained in Notice 2018-83, released Nov. 1.
The limits for 2019 are as follows:
The limitation under Code Section 402(g)(1)...
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The law firm of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton LLP is back in court – challenging a district court’s decision on awarding fees in an excessive fee case.
The firm is looking to collect $964,212 in fees to consultants and expert witnesses in the case of Tibble v. Edison – a case that over the...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued new materials for use by a variety of practitioners: the guarantee limits for single-employer plans for 2019, and a reference tool for use when advising small plans about possible reportable events.
Guarantee Limits
The guarantee limits...
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At first blush, many in the industry assumed that the Department of Labor’s proposed rules expanding access to multiple employer retirement plans would include allowing for open MEPs by unrelated employers. The idea hasn’t gone away, but it’s not included in the current DOL proposal.
Issued in...
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The Department of Labor announced Oct. 29 that it has published employee benefit plan compliance guidance and relief for victims of recent Hurricanes Florence and Michael.
The relief includes easing of enforcement concerning the rules governing plan loans and distributions, as well as relief...
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Just because you can doesn’t mean you should — a premise at the heart of an Oct. 24 session at the 2018 ASPPA Annual Conference that argued for caution in plan design changes, including student loan assistance programs.
Plan designs can cause difficulties for administrators, employers and third...
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While workers are now more secure in their retirement preparations than before the Great Recession, they still face a number of shortcomings, says a new report.
The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies report, “A Retirement Security Retrospective: 2007 Versus 2017” illustrates the resilience...
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The 1,100-plus attendees at this year’s ASPPA Annual Conference, held Oct. 21-25 at National Harbor, MD, were treated to four days of beautiful Washington, DC fall weather – weather that tempted them away from the jam-packed program agenda, networking opportunities and camaraderie that have been...
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Compliance can be a challenge for any employee benefit plan. But throw in additional factors and it can be even more complex. In an Oct. 24 session at ASPPA’s Annual Conference, Susan Diehl, President of PenServ Plan Services, Inc., looked at just such complications: status as church, governmental...
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While some studies show that health savings accounts continue to struggle to gain traction, a new analysis finds encouraging signs for future financial wellness for individuals the longer they have and contribute to an HSA.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s updated analysis, “Health...
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