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Defined Contribution Plans
The IRS has released the updated version of Form 8950, the application for the voluntary correction program (VCP) under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) for 2019 use. It also has updated a form used for reporting qualified distributions made due to disasters that occurred...
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Some things are inexorable. Seasons. Tides. And, argues a recent blog entry, plan litigation. But as with natural phenomena whose effects can be mitigated, the analysis suggests that lessons from the litigation that has taken place can benefit 401(k) and 403(b) plan fiduciaries in 2019.
Litigation...
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The mid-terms are over and the Democrats are taking back control of the House for the first time since 2010, while the GOP slightly expanded its hold on the Senate majority. Believe it or not, while the talk outside the Beltway has largely focused on the prospects for even more gridlock, the...
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A few years back – when my kids were still “kids” – and believed in the reality of Santa Claus – we stumbled across an ingenious website.
This was a website that purported to offer a real-time assessment of one’s “naughty or nice” status.
Now, as Christmas approached, it was not uncommon for us...
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A plan sponsor who had been sued for allegedly breaching its ERISA fiduciary duties in shifting allocations in a plan’s custom target-date portfolios to “risky and high-cost” investments will have to go back to court.
Suit ‘Able’
The original lawsuit, filed in November 2015 in the U.S. District...
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Bipartisan legislation to allow plan sponsors to use e-delivery as the default distribution method for ERISA required retirement plan documents was reintroduced in the Senate in the waning days of the 115th Congress.
The Receiving Electronic Statements to Improve Retiree Earnings (RETIRE) Act (S....
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More Americans are more confident about saving for retirement as 2018 draws to a close than they were as the year began, according to a recent study. And more good news — that sentiment has grown the most among younger workers.
Glass Less Empty
The Pew Charitable Trust recently reported that in a...
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In the waning days of the 115th Congress, the bipartisan duo of Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) unveiled one of the most comprehensive pieces of retirement security legislation proposed in this congressional session.
The 121-page “Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2018,” ...
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When it comes to advice and support on how to achieve lifetime financial goals, a solid majority of respondents across all generations look to their 401(k) provider as their primary resource, new survey results show.
According to a T. Rowe Price study of current workers, 64% say they rely “a great...
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There are many challenges facing plan sponsors, and in a recent blog entry Christopher Carosa has identified the top challenges of which they are not aware.
Understanding the Extent of Legal Liability
“The eye cannot be on two balls at once,” writes Carosa, noting that most plan sponsors “stay...
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Employees increasingly are looking to their employers for help with managing their student loan debt, but there are several issues employers should consider in advance, according to industry experts.
In a new Employee Benefit Research Institute issue brief summarizing a web briefing — “Student...
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As the 401(k) commemorates its 40th anniversary, new research finds a record-setting pace for retirement plan savings.
According to the 61stAnnual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans from the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), part of the American Retirement Association (ARA), employers...
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Dec. 31 is the deadline for most retirees who must make required minimum distributions (RMDs) from 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) and other retirement plans and IRAs. The IRS has issued a reminder, which applies to many retirees born before July 1, 1948, regarding the looming deadline in IR-2018-248....
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The IRS has issued the required amendments (RA) list for qualified retirement plans for 2018. The IRS made the announcement — and said that there are no entries listing changes in qualification requirements on the 2018 RA List — in Notice 2018-91.
Section 5 of Revenue Procedure 2016-37, 2016-29 I....
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Effective 401(k) plan design features like auto-enrollment and auto-escalation have been shown to increase participation, boost deferral rates and improve investment diversification, but they can also bring unintended results, according to a new paper.
In their paper, “Best Intentions: The...
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October might have been a scary month for your 401(k) — but November was a month for giving thanks.
According to estimates from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), the average 401(k) account balance for younger (25-34), less tenured (1-4 years) workers jumped 3.2% in...
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There are a variety of factors behind retirement plan participation levels and saving rates; among them is the belief that one simply cannot afford to set much aside, if any at all. A recent blog entry suggests that budgeting — as in, helping participants or potential participants do it — can be a...
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With only about two weeks left in the legislative calendar, the House of Representatives is expected to approve a revised tax and retirement savings package as early as today. But can the legislation be enacted in its current form?
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX)...
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The IRS on Nov. 29 issued a reminder in IR-2018-236 that the hardship withdrawal regulations that it issued earlier in November contain provisions that allow 401(k) plans and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans to make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Michael and...
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Thanksgiving has been called a “uniquely American” holiday, and though that is perhaps something of an overstatement, it is unquestionably a special holiday, and one on which it seems appropriate to reflect on all for which we should be thankful. And so…
I’m thankful that participants, by and...
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