Advertisement
News Archive
Loans to pay for an education: an investment in the future, but also a drag on it. Research and recent insights suggest that while loans help fund steps intended to improve one’s position, in some ways they can threaten future security by affecting retirement saving. It’s a debt whose effects...
READ MORE
Two headlines caught my eye recently—provocative “what if”-type questions.
I’m talking about “Will Retirement Income Solutions Finally Break Through in 2024?” and “Will Managed Accounts (Finally) Take Hold as QDIAs?” Both, of course, included the word “finally” in the title(s)—no doubt because the...
READ MORE
One of the optional provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act that some employers were very excited about is the provision to allow a 401(k) match based on a participant’s student loan payment rather than deferrals.
This was seen by many as a way to help young (or not so young) employees start saving for...
READ MORE
The IRS has made the 2023 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements for Defined Contribution Qualified Pre-Approved Plans available. The new list, contained in Notice 2024-3, provides updated listings of required modifications and information packages for DC plans.
The 2023...
READ MORE
Noting that “at some point, there must be some endpoint to this time-consuming and expensive cycle of litigation,” a federal judge has dismissed a 401(k) excessive fee suit.
That “expensive cycle” dates back to October 2020 when a suit (Guyes et al. v. Nestle USA Inc. et al.) was brought in the U....
READ MORE
A federal judge stands ready to approve an excessive fee settlement proposal—but not the requested attorney fees.
The settlement was struck between participant-plaintiffs Brian Reichert and Derek Deviny and Juniper Networks, Inc.—the terms announced roughly a year ago. The suit in question had...
READ MORE
There have been significant changes to the IRS Pre-Approved Defined Contribution Plan Program, and two of the IRS officials involved in the thick of it recently provided a refresher on the program rules and recent developments.
Milo Atlas of the Retirement Plan Forms and Publications Office at...
READ MORE
One provision in particular in the SECURE 2.0 Act is receiving the lion’s share of attention from retirement plan sponsors and participants. Section 110 allows student loan payments to be treated as elective deferrals for purposes of matching contributions.
Yet guidance on how it will happen is...
READ MORE
Employer plan sponsors and fiduciaries that are subject to the prohibited transaction rules as set forth in ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) will want to take note of new procedures for granting administrative transaction exemptions.
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security...
READ MORE
Washington—the state, not the city—is considering legislation that would establish a state-run retirement plan to cover those whose employers do not offer one.
If the legislation is enacted, the Evergreen State would join its Pacific Coast neighbors in providing such a plan. California was the...
READ MORE
The Treasury Department, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have announced that they will issue a joint request for information (RFI) seeking public input to help them review the effectiveness of existing...
READ MORE
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Jan. 19 announced that it has chosen the firms that will participate in its Smaller Asset Managers Program (SAMP).
SAMP is intended to reduce barriers to competition and create opportunities for smaller asset investment management firms. SAMP...
READ MORE
December’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) didn’t keep pace with inflation, but a new report says that Social Security beneficiaries could be riding an inflation rollercoaster this year, courtesy of 2023’s 8.7% COLA—alongside static income thresholds for taxation of benefits....
READ MORE
The government should limit contributions or accumulations in tax-advantaged retirement plans—or tax the earnings each year—to address Social Security’s shortfall, a trio of high-profile industry academics argue in a new paper. It’s the latest in a string of controversial ideas that 401(k)...
READ MORE
The benefits of delaying Social Security benefits are by now generally accepted. While not appropriate for everyone, waiting to age 70 (the maximum age allowed) means a 24% increase in benefits versus claiming at age 67 (full retirement age).
Add in the fact that benefits are inflation-linked and...
READ MORE
Despite long being called the “third rail” of American politics, Social Security—or more precisely its viability—has reemerged as an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign.
It came up most recently in a mini-GOP debate between former U.N. ambassador/South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Florida...
READ MORE
There was palpable excitement over the internet last month when the ASEA Google Group found out the 2024 ASEA Advanced Actuarial Symposium will be set in Kansas City, MO. It was like we were all experiencing Taylor Swift fever, but for an actuarial conference instead of Taylor Swift.
In the...
READ MORE
The IRS has issued final regulations updating the minimum present value requirements for pension plan distributions. The IRS issued the final regulations on Jan. 19.
The IRS had issued proposed regulations in 2016 that updated the minimum present value requirements for defined benefit plan...
READ MORE
On the heels of the recent IRS guidance on pension-linked emergency savings accounts (PLESAs), the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) followed suit on Jan. 17, issuing additional guidance in the form of FAQs.
Included in Section 127 of the SECURE 2.0 Act...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor (DOL) announced Jan. 18 that its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a proposed regulation on automatic portability transactions under SECURE 2.0.
The DOL said automatic portability transactions aim to help workers keep track of their retirement...
READ MORE