John Sullivan

Retirement plan professionals are getting increasingly creative in how they observe 401(k) Week, culminating in Friday’s National 401(k) Day. Take Qualified Plan Advisors, the high-profile Kansas City-based firm. Its Nebraska Practice Leader, Charles (Chuck) Smith, is an elite runner with many... READ MORE

UPDATED: Find the IRS Announcement HERE On Aug. 25, the IRS contacted the American Retirement Association (ARA) to clarify issues regarding erroneous notices sent regarding supposed late filing of 2022 Form 8955-SSA.  The IRS confirmed that the issue was a programming glitch, which it fixed on... READ MORE

Compounding the problem of low financial literacy is “low longevity literacy,” or a lack of understanding of how long people tend to live in retirement. According to new research from the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) at the George Washington University... READ MORE

Recent research from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) sought to answer two critical questions on which retirement policy is often based—how do the amount and compositions of spendable income for individuals change from middle to old age? “There are constant proposals to overhaul Social... READ MORE

We know waiting to claim Social Security benefits pays—to the tune of an extra 8% per year for every year after full retirement age, or 32% in total. It’s one of the best deals in finance, and certainly better than much of what's found in the annuity space, yet only 10% of non-retired Americans... READ MORE

Is it ESG for me but not for thee?  Republicans heavily criticized environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing policies in recent months, arguing it does little more than serve a woke agenda at the expense of investment returns.  For instance, they say divestment from fossil fuels... READ MORE

House and Senate Democrats quietly reintroduced bills on July 27 to require spousal consent for 401(k) distributions. H.R.5060 and S.2627 would “amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide for greater spousal protection under defined contribution plans, and for other... READ MORE

Fifty retirement-related organizations sent a letter to the Treasury Department and specifically the IRS on July 19 requesting “transition relief” for Section 603 under the SECURE 2.0 Act. The signers—representing advocacy organizations (including the American Retirement Association), large... READ MORE

The biggest surprise of Missy Matrangola’s tenure as 2023 President of the American Retirement Association’s Board of Directors?   “The variety that comes with it—we talk about legislation, conferences, budget, etc.,” she said. “And also, the fact that being the president of the American... READ MORE