Government Affairs

In the process of enforcing the law, the Pension and Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) needs to keep in mind that its mission is to preserve and protect defined benefit plans. That is one of the underlying themes in the first annual report of the PBGC participant and plan sponsor advocate.... READ MORE

Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) signature piece of retirement legislation, the USA Retirement Funds Act, has found a champion to carry it into the next Congress.Harkin, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions (HELP) Committee, might have been pleased to see that... READ MORE

While finalizing many of the details of the MyRA program, Treasury and the Department of Labor (DOL) may have unearthed some serious new questions.These concerns stem from an information letter from the DOL to Treasury answering two key questions about the MyRA program: whether the retirement... READ MORE

Largely overlooked in the flurry of lame duck activity by Congress is a bill that creates a new kind of savings account for those with disabilities.Congress overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation during its lame duck session that would give states the ability to create a new tax-advantaged... READ MORE

The EFAST2 2014 rollover changes will be implemented in the EFAST2 production system Jan. 1, 2015. The Department of Labor issued a reminder about that for EFAST2 third party software vendors on Dec. 16. It included the reminder with its transmission of information regarding the release of the... READ MORE

Lawmakers have crafted and approved a sweeping bipartisan solution to address the mammoth funding shortfalls of the multiemployer plan system — a solution that is likely to have a long-term impact on defined benefit pension plans for both single and multiemployer arrangements.The changes mean that... READ MORE

Legislation working its way through Congress designed to avoid a government shutdown also contains some pension plan provisions.While the driver of the pension agreement is some significant multiemployer pension reforms, the amendment also includes provisions applicable to single-employer pension... READ MORE

Rollovers can be an important way to preserve retirement savings and postpone paying taxes on distributions. But do you know which kinds of rollovers can be made to which accounts?The IRS has an updated rollover chart that can help. It’s online here. More information about rollovers, rollover... READ MORE

By a large bipartisan majority, the U.S. House of Representatives last week passed tax-extender relief legislation that includes a provision that would affect multiemployer pension plan funding.The legislation, H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, was supported by 202 Republicans and... READ MORE