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The House Ways & Means Committee has unveiled bipartisan retirement security legislation that it plans to consider April 2.
According to committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), the committee will convene a markup that day to consider several bills, including the Setting Every Community Up for...
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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed legislation establishing a state-run retirement savings plan for private-sector employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan.
Murphy signed the bill establishing the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program into law on March 28. The state...
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It’s not exactly news that staying on the job past one's normal retirement age is a growing phenomenon. Of course, that has a direct effect on the employees who decide to prolong their tenure, but it has implications for employers and plans as well. Among them is how to handle pension payments in...
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Earlier this month, we told you about a proposed new tax that could have a dramatic impact on retirement savings.
To help bring attention to this critical issue, American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff has authored an article that has just appeared in The Hill, a popular news source for...
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To outsource or not to outsource: That is the question. Okay, that’s not what the Bard of Avon wrote. But it is the focus of a recent blog entry that outlines the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing decisions about how a retirement plan’s funds are to be invested.
“The responsibility for a...
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What’s in a fund name? More – and less – than you might imagine.
According to a new paper by academics at Kansas State, Saint Louis University and Seton Hall, along with a researcher at the Ipsos Behavioral Science Center, when a participant searches through her plan’s menu of investment options...
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While today’s employees feel confident in their finances, the reality of their situations is not aligned with this confidence, a new report shows.
According to MetLife’s 17th annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, nearly two out of three people say they are confident in their finances, but...
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The House Ways & Means Committee will consider legislation on April 2 to expand retirement savings opportunities and reform the IRS’s administration and operating procedures, according to multiple press reports.
The outline for the legislation – the “Chairman’s mark” – could be released as...
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Sometimes whether news is good or bad depends on one’s perspective. Case in point: the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has updated its 2015 report on retirement security and savings in households headed by people approaching retirement age. The updated report contains fodder for optimists...
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Ultimately, a retirement plan exists to support the account holders and their dependents and beneficiaries. So distributions are of key importance — but that doesn’t mean that handling them is always smooth. A recent blog entry offers some ideas on how to handle difficult situations concerning that...
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A federal appeals court has affirmed summary judgment in a class action suit involving 270,000 plan participants across more than 13,000 plans.
The suit was filed in 2015 by plaintiff John Teets, a participant in the Farmers’ Rice Cooperative 401(k) Savings Plan, which had contracted with Great-...
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New survey results show that workers are highly concerned about their financial security, particularly in retirement, and they are counting on both Congress and their employers to provide solutions.
Conducted on behalf of Prudential by Morning Consult, the sixth “American Workers Survey” finds...
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Testifying at a March 27 Capitol Hill hearing on behalf of the American Retirement Association, ASPPA member Martella A. Turner-Joseph encouraged members of Congress to enact comprehensive legislation to expand American workers’ access to workplace retirement plans.
Turner-Joseph, an enrolled...
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The IRS on March 26 updated its Operational Compliance List for compliance in 2019. The list is intended to help plan sponsors and practitioners achieve operational compliance by identifying changes in qualification requirements effective during a calendar year.
The Operational Compliance List...
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Why is it important to know if a controlled group or affiliated group exists? Why is it important to know when certain children celebrate their 21st birthday?
Those questions and more will be covered in detail at the ASPPA Eastern Regional Conference to be held May 9-10 at the Doubletree Center...
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The IRS has updated the Mortality Improvement Rates and Static Mortality Tables for Defined Benefit Pension Plans for 2020. The updated rates and tables are contained in Notice 2019-26, released on March 22.
Notice 2019-26 specifies updated mortality improvement rates and static mortality tables...
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The Pacific Rim, a place where it’s a bit less unusual than others for new land to explode into existence, is adding to the state-sponsored retirement plans earthquake. Add Hawaii and Washington to the states whose legislatures have or are considering legislation that would create state-sponsored...
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The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has updated its report on the Social Security retirement age. The report provides a discussion of some current trends concerning and affecting that threshold and how the Social Security retirement age may relate to addressing the challenges facing the Social...
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Summary plan descriptions (SPDs) are not optional — at least not for plans to which ERISA applies. And that includes retirement plans. A recent blog entry discusses SPD requirements and how they relate to retirement plans, participants and beneficiaries.
In “Summary Plan Descriptions: You Gotta...
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There are plenty of good reasons to save, but we all know that it can be tough to start. In that spirit, here are four things that those who aren’t (yet) saving for retirement should know.
It’s never too late to start saving for retirement.
Perhaps you think there’s no point at some point – maybe...
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