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In one of the first acts of the new Republican-controlled Congress, the House of Representatives adopted a rule change Jan. 6 that directs Congress’ legislative analysts — the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office — to incorporate the economic effects of major legislation...
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Editor's Note: This article was published in the fall 2014 issue of Plan Consultant magazine.Dr. Zhivago” had been at the local movie theater for three weeks. Driving to the theater cost 32 cents per gallon of gas, and “California Dreaming” by the Mamas and Papas played on AM radio. The miniskirt...
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Despite media attention surrounding the Millennial Generation’s relatively poor economic outcomes during the Great Recession, a new analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve finds that they have fared better on many measures than both current older adults and earlier young adults. According to...
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It was not a good year for pension funding.The estimated aggregate funding level of pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies decreased from 88% as of Dec. 31, 2013 to 79% as of Dec. 31, 2014, according to Mercer. Towers Watson examined pension plan data for the 411 Fortune 1000 companies...
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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....
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All disbursements from a retirement plan scheduled to be made at the same time are treated as a single distribution even if they are sent to multiple destinations. That new rule becomes mandatory as 2015 dawns, the IRS has reminded taxpayers in the Dec. 23 issue of its e-newsletter, Employee Plans...
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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...
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With the New Year just around the corner, many of us will be considering New Year’s resolutions. Milliman has compiled a list of 10 ideas plan sponsors can adopt in order to improve their retirement plans — and perhaps make it a bit easier on their pension professionals as well:1. Create...
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Forced plan cash-outs into individual retirement accounts (IRAs) could leave billions to be poorly invested for the long-term, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).The report was produced at the request of Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) of the Senate...
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U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez has announced the appointment of five new members to the 2015 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans — also known as the ERISA Advisory Council.The newly appointed members and the expertise they represent are: General public:...
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