John Iekel
By John Iekel 11/26/2014
Two of the states beset by the most intractable state pension problems have hit roadblocks in their efforts to address those issues. A circuit court judge has declared the law enacted in Illinois to reform its underwater pension system unconstitutional, and new reports and accounting procedures...
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By John Iekel 11/25/2014
The IRS announced on Nov. 21 that modified listings of required modifications (LRMs) for 403(b) plans will be available soon. It says it will make them available in time for the April 30, 2015 deadline for 403(b) plan sponsors to submit pre-approved plans under the IRS’ 403(b) pre-approved plan...
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By John Iekel 11/21/2014
The University of California (UC) Board of Regents on Nov. 19 debated whether it will raise tuition by up to 5% in each of the next five years. One of the reasons, reports the Sacramento Bee, is to address $7.2 billion in unfunded university pension plan liabilities. The pension fund already is a...
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By John Iekel 11/20/2014
Atlanta, Ga. and Jacksonville, Fla. are both in the southeast, both face fiscal pressures over their public pension systems like many other cities, and both have been taken to court over their attempts to ameliorate that stress. But the similarities end there — the courts took different tacks in...
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By John Iekel 11/13/2014
As industry consolidation continues apace, the universe of 401(k) plan providers for employers is shrinking. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that competition among the providers is correspondingly reduced. Workforce Online reports that the remaining providers are offering more services as a...
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By John Iekel 11/13/2014
Major cities in disparate corners of America provide a fresh — and stark — illustration of how widespread public pension funding shortfalls are. Pittsburgh, Pa. and Phoenix, Ariz., locations that could not be much more opposite geographically, are among those grappling with this troublesome matter...
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By John Iekel 11/10/2014
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a recent report has highlighted one of the ways public- and private-sector deferred benefit plans differ — valuation. “Pension Plan Valuation: Views on Using Multiple Measures to Offer a More Complete Financial Picture” outlines and discusses these...
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By John Iekel 11/6/2014
We hear a lot about how well Americans are saving — or not — for their retirement. Legg Mason Global Asset Management has unveiled EZ IRA, a payroll deduction IRA program intended to provide a way to build that savings rate.“Hopefully — and I truly believe this — this is just the beginning....
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By John Iekel 10/31/2014
Plan sponsors of 403(b)s offered by institutions of higher learning are changing them in a variety of ways, Cammack Retirement Group reports. Cammack’s “Higher Education Retirement Plan Survey” identified the following changes by plan sponsors of these 403(b)s: More than 90% offer target date...
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By John Iekel 10/23/2014
The IRS and Social Security Administration have issued their cost-of-living adjustments relevant to retirement benefits for 2015. IRS Limits The IRS on Oct. 23 announced COLAs affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2015. Some of the limits...
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By John Iekel 10/22/2014
Discussion over public pensions is going on all over the United States. But two of them in Texas — involving city firemen — cast the matter in a different light. Houston and Fort Worth and their firefighter organizations are at odds over the pensions those cities provide their current and future...
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By John Iekel 10/22/2014
Education funding has figured prominently in the Michigan gubernatorial race, says fiscal analyst James Hohman, but not for the reason one may expect. In a piece in the Port Huron Times Herald, Hohman, who is assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, argues that...
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By John Iekel 10/21/2014
How do you build a successful practice? In the inaugural 403(b) Advisor Web Forum on Oct. 10, NTSA Executive Director Chris DeGrassi asked advisors Bruce Smith, Richard Dobson and Jerald Wozniak — all of whom are 2014 NTSA Elite Advisors — for their insights on aspects of how best to go about...
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By John Iekel 10/17/2014
Public pensions can be fair game when a city government declares bankruptcy under federal law, the federal judge overseeing Stockton, Calif.’s bankruptcy has ruled.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein on Oct. 8 ruled that the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause trumps California’s public...
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By John Iekel 10/17/2014
Retirement plans and health benefits are different things and serve different purposes. Nonetheless, they can intersect functionally — and retirement accounts and health savings accounts (HSAs) are a prime example, as a BenefitsPro report observed recently.Like retirement accounts, HSAs are tax-...
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By John Iekel 10/14/2014
State pension plans, long beleaguered and adrift in a sea of red, may have turned a corner. A report by LifeHealthPRO says that data from Bloomberg show an increase in the states’ ability to meet their pension requirements. A slight increase, but an increase nonetheless.Bloomberg found that the...
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By John Iekel 10/13/2014
A new white paper by the Conference of Consulting Actuaries’ Public Plans Community (CCAPPC) targeted to actuaries and retirement boards examines the development of actuarial funding policies and practices. The paper is based on more than two years of extensive and detailed funding policy...
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By John Iekel 10/8/2014
The fiscal pressure that public pension plan obligations exerts on state governments is not going away, a recently released report cautions. The Cato Institute expects that the cost of those plans will be a major driver of state budgets.Cato’s “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2014...
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By John Iekel 10/6/2014
The digital world offers public — not just private — plans revolutionary means to communicate, store and share data. But using it in a responsible and ethical manner is as important as it is challenging, as Lauren Bloom, an expert on professional ethics and risk management, pointed out in the...
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By John Iekel 9/29/2014
Pennsylvania and neighbor to the east New Jersey, no strangers to bracing news regarding the effect of their financially strapped public pension plans, have received yet more tough assessments. And the Keystone State’s neighbor to the west, Ohio, has as well.Fitch announced on Sept. 23 that it cut...
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