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ASPPA Net Staff

Sponsors of 403(b) plans are increasingly embracing automatic plan designs – and the use of advisors, according to a new industry survey.According to the 2018 annual 403(b) Plan Survey from the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), the use of an investment advisor who acts as a plan fiduciary has... READ MORE
There are substantial legal challenges related to offering to 403(b) plans the type of collective trust investments that are sold to 401(k) plans. In MarketBeat, Robert J. Toth points out the legal and regulatory requirements one must meet, and discusses one plan provider’s unique way of applying... READ MORE
Edtior's Note: Nominations for the 2018 Elite Advisors have now closed. Watch the NTSA site and the 403(b) Advisor for updates and announcements regarding semifinalists and finalists. Do you know an exceptional advisor who should be recognized? If so, you can nominate that advisor to be among... READ MORE
A report concerning OregonSaves, the state-run retirement plan run by the Oregon Retirement Savings Board, provides a look at the status of the program as it approaches full implementation.Segal Macro Advisors has reported to the board that the deliverables concerning some aspects of the program’s... READ MORE
Determining how assets must be disbursed from retirement accounts after a participant’s death can be quite complex. In MarketBeat, Barbara Webb discusses how required minimum distributions (RMDs) should be handled in certain circumstances. READ MORE
Employers offering 457 plans demonstrate a great degree of positivity about the plans and about their role in helping employees prepare for retirement, according to a recent study.In its recent survey of 457 plan sponsors, American Century Investments sought information about perceptions of their... READ MORE
Republican members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce are pushing to see that the applicability date of the fiduciary regulation is fully postponed until the impact has been reassessed. A letter from the 22 members to Acting Labor Secretary Edward Hugler seeks to clarify that... READ MORE
The Senate Health, Education Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee has delayed Labor Secretary nominee R. Alexander Acosta’s confirmation hearing another week. The hearing was originally slated for March 15, but will now take place March 22 at 9:00 a.m. Citing a statement by a spokesperson for... READ MORE
Is a longevity annuity an option at any age? What exactly makes an annuity a longevity annuity? And will longevity annuities be provided for inside the 401(k) platform, or are they an option outside the 401(k)? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder answers all these questions. READ MORE
Labor force participation rates among college-educated women grew in the first decade of the 21st Century. But not among the population one would expect: That result was among 60-to-64-year-olds. A recent study looks at that finding as well as how pensions help explain it.In “Teaching, Teachers... READ MORE
The advent of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule has already been having results, and more than half a year before implementation. The latest sign of its potency: advisor interest in training about regulations.That interest is up sharply, says the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute in a... READ MORE
Ben Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But what if there was a way to avoid paying taxes on amounts in a retirement plan? In MarketBeat, Lynn Knight writes that there is a way to receive a tax-free distribution of amounts from a retirement... READ MORE
Roughly three-quarters (74%) of those surveyed said they’d feel very or extremely confident making 401(k) decisions with the help of a financial professional. Left to their own devices, only 44% would feel that same level of confidence. And yet, only 10% of participants surveyed are currently... READ MORE
A recent report by the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) highlights four myths about automatic enrollment. Myth 1: A 3% default is common, so it must be good. DCIIA notes that the default contribution rate of 3% under automatic enrollment gained popularity early on... READ MORE
Millennials appear to be a pretty cocky bunch when it comes to investing — though they are inclined to turn to advisors for help, according to a new survey.They’re confident about the market: 71% of Millennial investors predict a bull market in the next one to three years, compared with 50% of Baby... READ MORE
It didn’t happen until late in the evening, but the U.S. House of Representatives voted on June 22 on overturning President Obama’s veto of Congress’ resolution to kill the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation. The party line vote — 239-180 — fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to... READ MORE
What are the universal availability rules, and how do they work? An upcoming IRS webcast will discuss their intricacies. On May 19 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, three senior staff members from the IRS Office of Employee Plans will address these rules in “Understanding the Universal Availability Rules in a... READ MORE
You have a client who has been taking substantially equal distributions for six years, and will be age 59½ in this year. In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us what are his options are after he attains age 59½. READ MORE
It’s going to take much of the East Coast a while to dig out from the blizzard of 2016, but they will. It will be much harder, however, for Illinois to dig out from its unfunded pension liability, which the office of Illinois Auditor General William G. Holland reports has worsened further.Another $... READ MORE