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Retirement Income
The point has often been made that retirement plan tax “preferences” are a deferral of taxes, not a deduction — and now the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that impact on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).The CBO’s “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2016 to 2026” acknowledges...
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Harkening back to a brief reference to benefit portability in the State of the Union address, the Obama Administration has announced its desire to extend Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) access to the private sector.These so-called “open” MEPs are single retirement plans involving two or more unrelated...
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November was a good month for those who believe that the government should take over the private retirement system.Since far too many Americans continue to lack access to a retirement plan at work, state governments have been legislating retirement policy in recent years to address this significant...
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Economists and retirement policy wonks gathered at a Washington D.C. think tank Jan. 20 for a presentation and discussion about the distribution of retirement benefits.The discussion focused on new research from Peter Brady, a senior economist at the Investment Company Institute, that examined the...
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Small businesses in the Garden State will soon be able to use a virtual marketplace to choose a private retirement plan. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has signed into law a measure establishing that marketplace.The New Jersey Small Business Retirement Marketplace Act is intended to create a...
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Ex-presidents will share in the experience of pension caps if the U.S. House of Representatives has its way. The House passed a bill Jan. 11 that would place a limit on pension payments to former presidents, and the Senate now is considering it.Under the 1958 Former Presidents Act, former...
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Are we approaching a tipping point in the effort to foster active interest in financial wellness — and in the process, improving prospects for financial readiness for retirement? A new report indicates that such may be the case.As the new century — not so new now — dawned, employers’ focus was...
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Boeing, a major U.S. employer with more than 160,000 employees, has reached a tentative, six-year agreement with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace that would freeze defined benefit plan accruals for its employees who belong to that union. The agreement is set to go into...
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The Garden State will have a new state-run retirement plan for private sector workers — though not the one that might have been expected.The state Assembly voted after 1:00 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12 to cooperate with Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) conditional veto of a bill creating a state-run retirement...
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The IRS has updated, for 2016, “Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498: Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, Etc., and IRA Contribution Information.”The instructions outline the following as changes that affect 2016 reporting....
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A convicted killer won’t be able to shield his retirement assets from a $124 million jury judgment in a case brought by the estate of the wife he killed. A Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas judge ruled Jan. 5 that the estate of Ellen Gregory, whom Rafael Robb killed in 2006, will be able to...
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The Nutmeg State has taken another step toward the creation of a state-run retirement program for private sector workers with the release of a lengthy report detailing the potential elements of such a program.In 2014, Connecticut enacted legislation creating the Connecticut Retirement Security...
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The advent of a new year traditionally is a time to take of stock of where one has been and what lies ahead. Accordingly, Transamerica recently issued “Prescience 2019: Expert Opinions on the Future of Retirement Plans,” a report containing the results of its survey of experts from a wide range of...
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The IRS has issued an updated version of Publication 575, “Pension and Annuity Income,” for use in preparing 2015 returns. It made changes to the exception to the tax on early distributions from a governmental plan for qualified public safety employees and to the rules regarding rollovers to SIMPLE...
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It is something of a tradition this time of year to look back, to reminiscence about past events and lessons learned, and sometimes to look ahead. Here are some insights that should help lay the groundwork for a productive and prosperous 2016.Things Everyone Who Works With/For Retirement Plans...
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Last year proved to be a volatile one for pension funding, but how did the nation’s largest corporate pension plans fare compared with the year before?A new analysis by Towers Watson of pension plan data for the 413 Fortune 1000 companies that sponsor defined benefit plans and have a December...
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The New Jersey Senate Budget Committee has approved a bill creating a mandatory retirement program for private-sector workers without employer-sponsored plans in the Garden State.The Secure Choice Savings Act (S2831) would require companies with at least 25 employees that don’t already offer...
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It is common knowledge that many people can do more to save for their retirement. And much has been written and said concerning paying off the heavy load of student loan debt many people carry. These may seem to be mutually exclusive goals and functions, but Beth Braverman argues in Forbes that...
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Education on spousal beneficiary rules on divorced and deceased participants can come through seminars, enrollment meetings and articles in newspapers or pension/IRA periodicals. But they can be found in PPA plan documents as well.In “A Key Beneficiary Provision in PPA Plan Documents,” an article...
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The departing year was a challenging one for many defined benefit plans, so some suggestions regarding what they can do in the year soon to come likely will be welcome. Mercer is happy to oblige, recently outlining key investment issues they can focus on in 2016.Mercer’s suggestions include the...
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