John Iekel

Implementation of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule has been delayed, and the rule may not have the teeth it originally did. But it would be a mistake to assume that means a complete demise for a new fiduciary standard for advisors. That depends in part on what the Securities and Exchange... READ MORE

Missouri is the latest state whose legislature has before it a measure that would establish a state-run program for employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan. State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, who also serves as Minority Whip in the Missouri House of Representatives, introduced... READ MORE

OregonSaves, the state-sponsored retirement plan for private-sector workers, is now open to any employer of any size in Oregon. A recent update on OregonSaves from the Oregon Retirement Savings Board (ORSB), the body that runs the program, included that announcement. OregonSaves originally had been... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has released the Premium Filing Instructions to be used for 2018 plan years. The new instructions, which now include a section alerting practitioners to the most common premium filing mistakes and expanded examples in the section about determining... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)’s Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate, Constance Donovan, has sent the report on the activities of her office in 2017 to Congress. The report highlights its activities concerning participant claims, multiemployer plans, plan sponsor issues and... READ MORE

The official launch of Washington State’s Small Business Retirement Marketplace “is drawing near,” Washington State Department of Commerce Marketplace Director Carolyn McKinnon has announced. The state Department of Commerce operates the program.The Department of Commerce has reported in a press... READ MORE

U.S. retirement assets grew in the third quarter of 2017, according to a recent report, reaching $27.2 trillion by Sept. 30. So broad was the growth, in fact, that virtually every kind of retirement plan/asset category showed improvement from the second quarter. According to the Investment Company... READ MORE

The IRS has updated the Mortality Improvement Rates and Static Mortality Tables for Defined Benefit Pension Plans for 2019. The updated rates and tables are contained in Notice 2018-02.On Oct. 5, 2017, the Treasury Department and the IRS had amended Treas. Reg. §1.430(h)(3)-1 to revise the... READ MORE

Remember the Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare, in which the slow but steady tortoise beats the faster but impetuous hare? A recent analysis argues Aesop was on to something regarding retirement planning, as well.In “When it Comes to Retirement Saving, Consistency Pays,” a piece... READ MORE