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Today President Obama, as expected, will throw his support behind the Department of Labor’s (DOL) controversial fiduciary rule reproposal — but the details of the proposal remain elusive.Published reports indicate that the president will tout the reproposed rule at a speech today at the offices of...
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The Department of Labor’s much-anticipated fiduciary reproposal drew intense criticism Feb. 20 from SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher.Gallagher’s comments, made at the “SEC Speaks in 2015” event, were particularly harsh — not only regarding the potential impact of the DOL’s proposed extension of...
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Available through March 17, 2016 Speaker: Richard A Hochman, APM GFS; McKay Hochman Consulting, Provided by DST Access the presentation outline here!The IRS has issued opinion and advisory letters for pre-approved defined contribution plans; the restatement...
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Exceptions should not be the rule, at least not when it comes to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation reproposal, according to a new white paper from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
As part of a Feb. 20 event focusing on the “potential harmful impact of fiduciary regulation on...
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Two-thirds of American adults have experienced an event or situation that has had a negative effect on their financial plans for the long-term/retirement, including 75% of those under age 25, according to a new report.The vast majority (84%) of “Disrupted Americans” were saving for the long-term/...
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Proposals in New England neighbors Connecticut and Rhode Island would give their respective residents breaks from state taxes imposed on their pensions. Bills have been introduced in the legislatures of both states that would provide different degrees of relief: some would phase in a tax break;...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is seeking input on the implementation of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) of 2014. The MPRA, enacted Dec. 16, 2014, included provisions that amended ERISA by replacing the rules for the partition of multiemployer plans and adding rules for...
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A growing number of employers plan to act this year to curb the cost of future Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums, according to Aon Hewitt. Not all of the employers the human resources firm recently surveyed have an open plan. In fact, a majority have a plan that is either frozen or...
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Buoyed by a rising stock market, most defined contribution plan participants stayed the course, according to a new survey published by the Investment Company Institute.The trends largely reflected a continuation of patterns that have been going on since at least 2011, when the country really began...
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The ERISA public disclosure website — which houses filings by health and pension plans of private employers — is headed for the cloud. According to Federal Times, the Department of Labor (DOL) is choosing a vendor that can provide a FedRAMP-certified cloud for this purpose.The DOL’s request for...
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Individual retirement accounts comprise 30% of U.S. retirement market assets and 11% of all household financial assets, which amounted to $7.3 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2014. And just over one-third of all U.S. households — 41.5 million — had IRAs by the middle of 2014. In “The...
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Legislation just introduced in the Oregon State Senate brings the Beaver State a step closer to establishing a state-run retirement savings program.The legislation, backed by the Oregon Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland), would create an Oregon Retirement Savings Board tasked with...
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ASPPA Connect will not appear on Monday, Feb. 16, in observance of Presidents Day. A comprehensive federal holiday born of the close proximity of the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, it’s more than just a day to sleep in — it was set aside in honor of our nation’s chief...
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Floridians who take loans against their retirement plans have to pay a state tax on those distributions. But the Florida House of Representatives is considering a bill that would change that.State Rep. W. Gregory Steube (R-73) in January introduced HB 101, a measure that would exempt plan loans...
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If the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has its way, the Department of Labor has some ’splaining to do on its fiduciary regulation reproposal.In a Feb. 5 letter from Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) to Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, the committee requests that...
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The world’s pension assets grew 6% last year, and now amount to around 84% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), substantially higher than the 54% recorded in 2008.That growth means that global institutional pension fund assets in the 16 major markets have now reached a new high of $36 trillion,...
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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) on Feb. 4 updated five frequently asked questions concerning electronically filing the Form 5500 via the EFAST2 system.Following are the changes EBSA made: FAQ 4. This FAQ concerns how to submit a delinquent or...
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U.S. company-provided pension plans got mixed news from BNY Mellon Investment Strategy and Solutions Group (ISSG) concerning how they fared in January 2015. The good news: assets of a typical plan grew 1%. The bad news: despite the higher assets, funded status fell by 4.9 percentage points from the...
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The IRS cautions that entering incorrect information — or in some cases, leaving a field blank — on the Form 5500 increases the likelihood of being targeted for a compliance check.The IRS cites the following examples of these types of errors: Sponsors incorrectly entered 0 participants or left...
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A new survey finds that more than three-quarters (76%) of Baby Boomers who retired within the past five years felt “in control” of their decision to retire.But while very few new retirees who felt in control leading up to their retirement day have second-guessed themselves (98% say they are...
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