John Iekel
By John Iekel 7/1/2021
Any profession must bring in new members in order to thrive, and the retirement industry is no different. A panel of young industry professionals shared their experience and their ideas on how to attract their peers to become part of the effort to help employees prepare for a secure retirement and...
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By John Iekel 7/1/2021
The 403(b) has an importance beyond what most imagine, panelists in a June 29 session of the 2021 NTSA Summit reminded attendees.
“To know where we are is to know where we have been,” said Bob Architect, who from 1975 to 2009 served as senior tax law specialist with the Employee Plans Division of...
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By John Iekel 6/29/2021
The education sector of the retirement plan market is in a period of marked transformation, and an expert panel in a June 28 session of the 2021 NTSA Summit offered their insights on these trends and what they mean.
David Lewis, Executive Director of the Association of School Business Officials (...
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By John Iekel 6/29/2021
There is plenty of activity on Capitol Hill, but it comes amid a climate that creates challenges for the retirement industry, noted American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff in a June 29 general session of the NTSA Summit.
The environment now is very different, remarked Graff. There is a...
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By John Iekel 6/24/2021
The IRS on June 24 announced that it is extending for a year temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for participant elections that must be witnessed by a plan representative or a notary public. The relief comes in Notice 2021-40 and is in response to the continuing COVID-19...
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By John Iekel 6/23/2021
The Department of Labor (DOL) on June 23 announced that it is reopening the comment period for amendments to class exemptions from prohibited transaction rules set forth in ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. The proposed amendments, which were originally proposed in 2013, are relevant to certain...
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By John Iekel 6/22/2021
Rollovers from defined contribution plans to IRAs increased by more than 12.6% in 2020, according to a recently released study.
The Secure Retirement Institute estimates that rollovers from DC plans to IRAs totaled approximately $623 billion in 2020, up from the $565 billion transferred in 2019...
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By John Iekel 6/21/2021
In a recent webinar, an industry expert offered some insights on cybersecurity in light of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) recent guidance on cybersecurity.
Speaker Mark Strosahl, Business Information Security Officer at Principal Financial, set the table by noting that Infosecurity Magazine has...
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By John Iekel 6/18/2021
The Pine Tree State is poised to become the latest state to offer a state-run retirement plan to provide coverage to those whose employers do not offer a plan.
The Maine House of Representatives and Senate both passed LD 1622, An Act To Promote Individual Retirement Savings through a Public-...
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By John Iekel 6/17/2021
In a recent Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) webcast, industry experts offered ways to approach employees concerning HSAs and strategies that can help in improving how effective they are in helping them meet their current and future needs.
Panelists in the June 10 webinar “HSA Thought...
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By John Iekel 6/15/2021
Not long ago at all, virtual meetings were an option but not the rule. But throw in a pandemic, and suddenly they are a staple. So what are the fundamentals of making them worthwhile?
“Having effective virtual meetings is now more important than ever before,” writes Edward Dressel in the...
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By John Iekel 6/10/2021
In a recent webinar, Kelsey Mayo, ASEA Director of Regulatory Policy and Partner at Poyner & Spruill LLP, took a look at the basics about plan freezes and terminations in the context of current circumstances and regulations. The discussion included terminating a DC plan.
A DC plan can be...
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By John Iekel 6/10/2021
CalSavers, the retirement plan the state of California provides for employees whose employers do not provide one, grew like gardens in many areas in April and May. The growth in some respects was a bit more robust than that in March.
The CalSavers Retirement Savings Board reports that the number...
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By John Iekel 6/8/2021
The next deadline for registration with CalSavers, the state-run retirement plan for employees whose employers don’t offer one, is coming soon. Employers with 51-100 employers that do not offer a plan have until June 30 to register.
CalSavers was launched on July 1, 2019. Employers in California...
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By John Iekel 6/2/2021
The Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SSRA)—a.k.a. SECURE 2.0—is wending its way through Capitol Hill. The measure contains a wide range of provisions that would affect retirement saving, plans and participants. A recent Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) webinar zeroed in on some key...
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By John Iekel 6/2/2021
A measure that would expand the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program, the state-run retirement plan for workers whose employers do not offer one, awaits the signature of Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D).
Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) introduced H.B. 0117 in the House of Representatives on Jan. 13, 2021...
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By John Iekel 6/1/2021
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series about the guidance the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued on April 14 concerning cybersecurity. The first is here; the second is here; the third is here.
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security...
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By John Iekel 5/27/2021
Benchmarking investment fees is an important function. In fact, it’s more than that—it’s critical to fulfilling fiduciary duty. But “essential” does not translate to “easy,” and there are some common pitfalls in performing that function.
In the CAPTRUST blog entry “Understanding and Evaluating...
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By John Iekel 5/27/2021
Traditional approaches to finance and investment have had their day, said experts in a recent PSCA webinar, arguing that behavioral finance has changed the equation.
In “Investment Menu Design that Improves Retirement Readiness,” Matthew Gnabasik, Connie Mulligan and Neal Smith suggest that new...
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By John Iekel 5/26/2021
The IRS has issued an updated version of Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). The new version is to be used in preparing 2020 returns.
There are many new features for 2020 reporting.
Coronavirus-Related Distributions. Recent legislation contains...
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