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When an employee retires, that’s the end of the connection between the ex-employee and the former employer’s plan. Right? Not necessarily, say researchers at PIMCO.In “Turning Defined Contribution Assets into a Lifetime Paycheck: How to Evaluate Investment Choices for Retirees,” Stacy Schaus and...
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As the Department of Labor (DOL) moves forward with its new fiduciary standard, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are working on legislation to address concerns that the final DOL proposal will harm access to retirement savings advice.The House Committee on Education and the Workforce...
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The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Jan. 28 on “Helping Americans Prepare for Retirement: Increasing Access, Participation and Coverage in Retirement Savings Plans.” Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) noted in his opening remarks that the hearing would allow the full committee to hear more...
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The IRS on Jan. 29 issued guidance on mid-year changes to a safe harbor plan under Internal Revenue Code Sections 401(k) and 401(m). It provides that a mid-year change either to a safe harbor plan or to a plan's safe harbor notice does not violate the safe harbor rules just because it is a mid-year...
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Tomato, tomahto. Split an atom, terminate a pension plan. A recent blog post suggests they may not be as different as they seem.In “The Big Bang Theory and Pension Plan Terminations,” a recent post in Retirement Town Hall, Javier Sanabria argues that both will gradually go away if left alone — but...
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Not quite two years ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) should be opened to private sector workers. Now legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would take a step in that direction.The American Savings Act, introduced by Sen. Jeff...
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Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night — could keep the Department of Labor (DOL) from getting the updated conflict-of-interest/fiduciary regulation to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.That’s right, despite the massive snowstorm that hit the Washington, D.C. area last week,...
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In a Jan. 25 telephone interview with reporters, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said that the Department of Labor (DOL) hopes that work on the proposed fiduciary rule will be completed “in the coming months.”According to ThinkAdvisor, Perez also said that the DOL is reviewing the high number of...
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Current retirement savings policies continue to be under the wonk microscope in Washington D.C., and was the primary subject of an event at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress last week. The event featured the work of Christian Weller, a Professor of Public Policy at the University of...
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What impact do controlled groups and affiliated service groups have? And what should one take into account in considering whether to be a part of one?In “Analyzing Controlled and Affiliated Service Groups,” a webinar to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 9, attorney Kelsey Mayo will provide a brief look at...
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Pension plans should reduce surplus volatility as they work toward becoming better funded — at least, that is one school of thought. But there could be a fly in the ointment, argues Tony Gould, global head of pensions solutions and advisory at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in New York City.In a...
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The IRS has issued a proposed rule on the determination of whether the normal retirement age under a governmental pension plan under Internal Revenue Code Section 414(d) satisfies the requirements of Code Section 401(a) and whether the payment of definitely determinable benefits that begin at the...
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The point has often been made that retirement plan tax “preferences” are a deferral of taxes, not a deduction — and now the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that impact on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).The CBO’s “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2016 to 2026” acknowledges...
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A recent Supreme Court ruling may have implications for retirement plan overpayment recoveries.Now, the payments made in the case of Robert Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan, case number 14-723 (U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 20, 2016) weren’t made from a...
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Employers with pension plans seek to control costs. But what approach should they take? A recent report offers some suggestions.In “Managing Pension Costs — Some Solutions Are Time-Sensitive,” PriceWaterhouse Coopers argues that controlling costs can best be accomplished by: understanding plan...
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The IRS has updated the information it provides concerning the data analysis verification projects its Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) is pursuing.The IRS says that a review of Form 5500 Series returns showed that on some of the forms filed, the pension feature code(s) were missing,...
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Harkening back to a brief reference to benefit portability in the State of the Union address, the Obama Administration has announced its desire to extend Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) access to the private sector.These so-called “open” MEPs are single retirement plans involving two or more unrelated...
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November was a good month for those who believe that the government should take over the private retirement system.Since far too many Americans continue to lack access to a retirement plan at work, state governments have been legislating retirement policy in recent years to address this significant...
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Over the past several years, we have heard from our members that the IRS had taken issue with “412(d)(2)” plan amendments in the determination letter application review process — but an internal memorandum from the IRS contains some good news.Some plan sponsors were being told that the amendments...
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Economists and retirement policy wonks gathered at a Washington D.C. think tank Jan. 20 for a presentation and discussion about the distribution of retirement benefits.The discussion focused on new research from Peter Brady, a senior economist at the Investment Company Institute, that examined the...
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