News Archive

The Rhode Island Democratic primary is being touted as more than a way to choose the party’s 2014 gubernatorial candidate — in a sense, reforming the state’s pension system is on the ballot as well. Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo, who is running for governor, implemented the reform in 2011.... READ MORE

The degree of fiduciary responsibility for non-ERISA plans, such as those sponsored by public education and religious organizations, continue to generate many questions from plan sponsors and the advisors that serve them. In this week’s MarketBeat, Mike Webb argues that this is understandable, and... READ MORE

The Federal Reserve’s 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) shows mixed results concerning 403(b) plans. The SCF finds that overall, while retirement plan participation remained relatively flat over the past three years, the median and average value of those retirement plan accounts rose “... READ MORE

Suppose an employer provides 100% vesting in its 403(b) plan. There is a 60-day wait for the employer match (100%, up to 4%), and an employee needs to work 20 hours per week to qualify for the match. The employer has no highly compensated employees. What type of plan setup could the employer... READ MORE

The U.S. District Court of the District of Minnesota in its ruling in The City of Farmington Hills Employees Retirement System v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Civil No. 10-4372 DWF/JJG (U.S. District Court of the District of Minnesota) has granted final approval of a $62.5 million settlement in a... READ MORE

There is great variation among the states regarding their ability to meet their obligations to current and future retirees from their state and local work forces. The U.S. Census Bureau in its recently released 2013 Survey of Public Pensions: State-Administered Defined Benefit Data highlights... READ MORE

With the official report not due until September, a draft report released by the Oregon legislature's Task Force on Oregon Retirement Savings offers a blueprint of a proposed new mandatory auto IRA program for the state.  According to a report in the Oregon Statesman-Journal, the proposal calls... READ MORE

What if a public safety employee rolled his distribution from a governmental defined benefit plan into a 457(b) plan and subsequently took a distribution of these dollars — would this distribution be subject to the 10% additional tax? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether it would... READ MORE

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Aug. 11 announced securities fraud charges against the state of Kansas, claiming that the state failed to disclose that the state’s pension system was significantly underfunded, and the unfunded pension liability created a repayment risk for... READ MORE