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IRAs
“The current retirement system in the private sector works well for those to have access to it. The challenge is to expand the availability of retirement savings in the private workforce.” That was the core message of American Retirement Association Congressional Affairs Manager Andrew Remo in his...
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The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently issued a report on the results of its audit of how well the IRS identifies and addresses excess contributions to IRAs. It also made recommendations regarding how the IRS can do a better job.IRA holders can only make...
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Time draws short for required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs and employer-provided retirement plans to taxpayers who reached age 70½ in 2014. The IRS on March 19 in IR-2015-55 issued a reminder that the deadline is April 1.The April 1 deadline applies to owners of traditional...
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The IRS on March 16 in IR-2015-50 issued reminders concerning tax treatment of individual retirement account. Among them is a reminder that there still is time to contribute to an IRA for 2014 and, in many cases, qualify for a tax credit or deduction.Other reminders the IRS issued in IR-2015-50...
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The IRS on March 4 announced that it has revised publications concerning aspects of IRA administration and taxation of IRAs. The IRS intends these publications to help businesses and individuals understand how to figure depreciation as well as pension options. The publications are: Publication 4587...
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Legislative phoenixes that would codify the president’s auto IRA proposal and change the qualified plan loan rules have arisen in both chambers of Congress.Auto IRALegislation has been reintroduced in both the House and the Senate that would formally enact President Obama’s federal automatic IRA...
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Legislation that would require Maryland employers to adopt payroll deduction savings plans for their employees got a full bicameral at a Feb. 25 hearing in the Maryland General Assembly.Both the Maryland House Economic Matters Committee and the Maryland Senate Budget and Taxation Committee...
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The recent White House budget proposal sets aside $6.5 million in funding for the Department of Labor, along with waiver authority, to support state efforts to implement state-based automatic enrollment IRAs or 401(k)-type programs.Currently more than a dozen state legislatures are actively...
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In addition to proposals for a retirement savings cap, double-taxing contributions of those above the 28% tax bracket, and encouraging automatic enrollment, President Obama’s budget blueprint for fiscal year 2016 contains proposals that would change the tax treatment of IRAs and qualified...
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One of my favorite movies — and perhaps my favorite “holiday” movie — is Groundhog Day, the 1993 film starring Bill Murray as an arrogant weatherman who finds himself stuck in Punxsutawney, Penn. by a blizzard, who then discovers that he is also “stuck” reliving Feb. 2 — over and over and over. A...
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The 114th Congress has gotten off to a quick start with retirement legislation.During the week of Jan. 25, Collins-Nelson Retirement Security Act of 2015 (S. 266) was introduced in the Senate, while a companion bill, the Retirement Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 557) was introduced in the House. The...
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A year ago, President Obama touted the voluntary MyRA in his State of the Union Address — but the White House has a lot more to say about retirement this year — and it’s a lot less voluntary.According to a White House fact sheet, the administration is touting a series of retirement tax reform...
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With time running out on its deadline for providing recommendations, a task force examining alternatives for a possible state-run IRA program in the Old Line State continued to debate the issues.At the Dec. 1, 2014 meeting of the Governor’s Task Force to Ensure Retirement Security for All...
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The Illinois General Assembly has sent legislation to Gov. Pat Quinn (D) that would create the nation's first state-run automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA program for private sector employers. The Illinois Senate on Dec. 3 approved by a 30-25 margin a version of the bill passed earlier in...
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California’s state-sponsored retirement plan has taken another step forward with the issuance of an RFP for a consultant to conduct a market analysis, feasibility study and to design the program.With this request for proposal (RFP), the Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board says the...
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In the wake of the surprise election of Republican Larry Hogan to the Maryland governor’s mansion earlier this month, the task force outgoing Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) established to study retirement plan access and potentially recommend a state-run automatic enrollment IRA program had its first...
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Advisors seeking to capture IRA rollovers face a "four-part harmonization" of regulatory and other government entities -- that is, SEC, DOL, FINRA and GAO -- in the words of ERISA attorney Fred Reish. Speaking at a workshop session at the 2014 ASPPA Annual Conference Oct. 28, the Drinker Biddle...
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Is Washington obsessed with rollovers? ASPPA Executive Director and CEO Brian Graff thinks so. “There’s no one who doesn’t care about this issue. There is an obsession with the rollover issue in D.C.,” said Graff in the July 22 webinar, “Washington Update: Rollovers, Rollovers, Rollovers — it’s All...
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The IRS on July 11 announced that it is withdrawing a proposal it made in 1981 for an amendment to regulations governing IRA rollovers. The proposed amendment to Treas. Reg. § 1.408-4(b)(4)(ii) would have applied the rollover limitation on an IRA-by-IRA basis. This withdrawal affects individuals...
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Adding fuel to the fire, an attack on the IRA rollover industry by Bloomberg cites numerous examples of advisors preying on retirees rolling their 401(k) money into IRAs. One expert claims that IRAs are the “Wild West,” with limited oversight and regulation. The report focuses on one advisor who...
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