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Regulatory Compliance
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) guidance to permit bankruptcy trustees to use its Abandoned Plans Program has moved off of the OMB dashboard and is back with the department, signaling the review is complete on the long-awaited release.
A summary description of the proposal explains that the...
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On April 23, the Department of Labor (DOL) released its final Retirement Security Rule—also called the Fiduciary Rule—that it said will “protect the millions of workers who are saving for retirement diligently and rely on advice from trusted professionals on how to invest their savings.”
This...
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For the IRS, fiscal year (FY) 2023 “was a transitional year,” largely due to funding provided under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and application of technology, according to Commissioner of Internal Revenue Danny Werfel. His made his remarks in the agency’s most recent data book, an annual...
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Spring cleaning is well underway. But that need not be limited to closets, kitchens, and garages—it can serve retirement plans and their administrators too. And one such prime function is addressing missing participants.
Missing participants—former employees whose benefits remain in the plan but...
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Momentum is increasing in Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
In March, Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) called on the House Ways and Means Committee to hold a markup on their bipartisan bill, H.R. 82, the...
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The Green Mountain State and the Centennial State are going to partner in establishing VT Saves, the state-run program that will provide retirement plan coverage for private-sector employees in Vermont whose employers do not.
On June 1, 2023, Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed into law a measure creating...
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The IRS on April 16 issued guidance on certain specified required minimum distributions (RMDs) for 2024. It adds that the final regulations it plans to issue related to RMDs will apply for purposes of determining RMDs for calendar years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2025.
The guidance is...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) on April 15 released a proposed information collection request (ICR) to help implement a forthcoming lost-and-found database to assist individuals with locating missing retirement accounts, but the operation appears to have hit a slight bump in the road.
Section 303...
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Collective investment trusts (CITs) are a greater focus of attention and activity in the wake of SECURE 2.0, as a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report highlights.
In “Pensions and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Investment Issues,” the CRS provides an overview of pension...
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The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of the Retirement Security Rule, and it is expected to be released by the Department of Labor (DOL) by the end of the month, according to reliable sources.
The OMB concluded its review and removed the rule from its...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on April 8 that Central States is returning approximately $127 million in excess funds it received through the PBGC’s Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program.
The Central States pension plan, at the...
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“Democracy is messy, and it’s hard. It’s never easy.”
American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff quoted Robert Kennedy to describe the current political environment and its potential effect on retirement plan savers and advisors.
Graff, who kicked off the opening keynote general session at...
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The digital edition of the Spring 2024 issue of Plan Consultant, ASPPA’s members-only magazine, has been posted online!
More than a quarter of the 90-odd SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 provisions are effective this year. Most are optional, but still…In this issue’s cover story, an expert panel—Shannon...
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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released a final amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14—also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager (QPAM) Exemption.
The QPAM exemption permits various parties related to employee benefit...
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The American Retirement Association (ARA) and sustainable markets advocacy organization Ceres have filed an amicus brief in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It supports the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule “that ensures retirement plan fiduciaries, including 401(k) sponsors, can consider...
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The American Retirement Association (ARA) submitted a comment letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) on March 31, 2024, related to the proposed regulation to implement a prohibited transaction exemption for certain auto-portability transactions.
More specifically, the DOL had requested comments...
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) on March 29 announced that it is slashing the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries from 100% to 10% or $10, whichever is greater.
The change went into effect on March 25, 2024. But it applies to new overpayments, not those...
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The Treasury Department, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have announced that they are extending the period during which they will accept comments on the effectiveness of existing reporting and disclosure...
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Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a two-part series on a recent report by the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. Part I is here.
Recordkeeping has long been moving from paper-based to electronic. The Advisory Council on Employee...
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As the Department of Labor works in court to defend its rule allowing the use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors by fiduciaries when selecting plan investments, legislation to restrict the use of ESG has been reintroduced in Congress, albeit with modifications.
Rep. Greg...
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