Andrew Remo

What’s on Tap for the Next Retirement Plan Policy Bill?

By Andrew Remo 11/21/2023

It has been nearly a year since Congress passed the SECURE 2.0 Act. As the name of the bill suggests, that law was the second significant retirement savings policy bill enacted in the span of five years. A year later, while most practitioners and retirement plan sponsors are focused on the... READ MORE

Retirement Savings at Risk Through Abusive QDRO Scheme

By Andrew Remo 9/1/2023

The American Retirement Association (ARA) was recently informed of a legal scheme in Texas—a community property state—that allows younger workers to raid up to 100% of their defined contribution (DC) plan (such as a 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan) account balance without incurring the tax penalty for... READ MORE

State of the States: Assessing State Retirement Plan Coverage

By Andrew Remo 7/27/2023

July is a good time to take stock of where things stand with respect to the multitude of state laws and programs to address the retirement plan coverage gap in the private sector workforce. By the time July rolls around on the calendar all but a handful of state legislatures have completed their... READ MORE

Where We Are With the Roth Catch-Up Contribution Provision

By Andrew Remo 7/5/2023

The lack of guidance to help implement a major new retirement plan design requirement contained in the new SECURE 2.0 Act is causing increased heartburn in the retirement plan stakeholder community. Over 200 organizations recently wrote a letter to the four leaders of the tax law writing... READ MORE

Advocacy Update – What’s Next in 2023

By Andrew Remo 6/8/2023

On Wednesday, June 7, the American Retirement Association's pension guru Kelsey Mayo and I hosted a webcast to give our pension actuary members an update on our legislative advocacy efforts so far in 2023 and give a preview of what is in store for the future. Even though the second major... READ MORE

How Will a New Age of Austerity Affect Retirement Plans?

By Andrew Remo 3/27/2023

Mark Twain said, “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” So, tell me if you have seen this before. The Republican Party is ascendent after a mid-term election result that saw them gain the majority in the House of Representatives, which they consider a clear repudiation of the... READ MORE

SECURE 2.0 Needs a Starter 401(k) Plan Fix

By Andrew Remo 2/2/2023

The dust is still settling from the enactment of the SECURE 2.0 Act at the end of December. The SECURE 2.0 Act is a massive bill comprising 92 provisions in 358 pages of dense legislative text. The retirement policy portion of tax law—residing mainly in the “400s” sections of the Internal Revenue... READ MORE

Thank You, Martella!

By Andrew Remo 1/20/2022

Martella Turner-Joseph has been a leader of the Legislative Relations Committee for a total of 12 years, which includes the nine years that I have been employed at the American Retirement Association. She served as a Co-chair of the Committee for four years from 2010-2013, and then Chaired the... READ MORE

Virginia State-Run IRA Bill Heads for Senate Vote

By Andrew Remo 2/17/2021

Five years after it was first introduced, the initiative to create a state-based retirement program for the private workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia has taken a major leap forward—with a key change pushed by the American Retirement Association. On Feb. 16 the Virginia Senate Finance and... READ MORE

Senate Bill Expands Retirement Plan Access for Coronavirus Impact(s)

By Andrew Remo 3/20/2020

The CARES Act includes provisions advocated by the American Retirement Association that loosen retirement plan hardship and loan rules to free up funds for individuals impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Life (and legislation) has been coming at us fast in March, as the country and Congress... READ MORE

How Will Massachusetts' Proposed Fiduciary Rule Impact ERISA Plans?

By Andrew Remo 12/4/2019

The Bay State’s Securities Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has formally released new proposed fiduciary conduct standards for broker-dealers, agents, investment advisers and investment adviser representatives – but how does it view ERISA’s fiduciary standard? The... READ MORE

RESA Resurfaces in Senate

By Andrew Remo 4/2/2019

The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), have introduced the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA) once again. The Senate action comes as members of the House Ways & Means Committee are poised to pass its own... READ MORE

What’s Up With Open MEPs?

By Andrew Remo 3/5/2019

Of late, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about legislation that would create open multiple employer plans (MEPs). Here’s the update. Ever since the Department of Labor issued an explicit ruling in 2012 that an open MEP is not a single employee benefit pension plan but a group of single... READ MORE

The Old Line State Crosses a Fiduciary Line

By Andrew Remo 2/8/2019

Another state has moved to impose its own fiduciary standard with no ERISA exemption. The Maryland legislature aims to implement a state level fiduciary standard through a comprehensive consumer protection bill introduced this week by State Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s). The bill grants... READ MORE

RESA Resurrected in the House

By Andrew Remo 2/7/2019

The Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA) has been reintroduced in the new Congress. The bill introduced on Feb. 6 is bipartisan – sponsored by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) – as was the one introduced nearly a year ago by the same duo. The bill, which is a replica of last... READ MORE

Legislative Relations Committee RMD Proposal

By Andrew Remo 1/22/2019

The American Retirement Association’s governmental affairs staff and volunteer Legislative Relations Committee (LRC) both review legislative proposals and proactively propose legislative changes to improve the employer-provided retirement system. Over a period of years, many of ARA’s proposals have... READ MORE

Lame Duck Tax Bill Includes Retirement Measures

By Andrew Remo 11/27/2018

House Republicans have released a wide-ranging tax package – including a number of retirement savings provisions – setting the stage for negotiations on a year-end tax package as the 115th Congress comes to a close. The main components of the package (the Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief... READ MORE

SEC Rolls Out Best Interest, Fiduciary Proposal

By Andrew Remo 4/19/2018

While the Securities and Exchange Commissioners were hardly unanimous in their assessment, they voted 4-1 to release for public comment a set of proposals to “enhance the quality and transparency of investors’ relationships with investment advisers and broker-dealers while preserving access to a... READ MORE

IRS Pressed on VCP Fee Changes at Hill Hearing

By Andrew Remo 4/18/2018

Members of a House subcommittee pressed IRS representatives this week to explain their recent decision to dramatically increase the cost to small businesses of remedying retirement plan mistakes. An April 17 hearing held by the House Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital... READ MORE

RESA Rises in House

By Andrew Remo 3/16/2018

For the first time, the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA) has gotten some traction in the U.S. House of Representatives — and on a bipartisan basis. Late on March 14, Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Ron Kind (D-WI) — along with 14 other Democratic and Republican cosponsors — introduced H.R... READ MORE

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