John Iekel
By John Iekel 10/3/2023
The IRS has updated the information it makes available concerning its voluntary compliance program (VCP). It issued the reminders in the Sept. 29 edition of Employee Plans News.
Check Status
The IRS reminds taxpayers that they can check the status of any submissions they have made under the VCP...
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By John Iekel 9/29/2023
The priority guidance plan that the Treasury and IRS have issued for 2023-24 includes plans for action that will affect retirement benefit matters relevant to the education sector. They unveiled the plan on Sept. 29.
The 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan contains projects that will be the focus of...
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By John Iekel 9/22/2023
Where do things stand regarding retirement assets and plan participation in the United States? Two agencies give us a look.
Assets
U.S. retirement assets as of New Year’s Eve in 2022 stood at a total of $37.8 trillion, says the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in U.S. Retirement Assets: Data...
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By John Iekel 9/21/2023
The 21st century industrial revolution mass-produces information but also makes it an individual experience, John Iekel writes in MarketBeat. One of the vehicles for that information is apps—but how interested are participants different generations in that form of access?
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By John Iekel 9/21/2023
In 2023, CalSavers was beset by the summer doldrums. The CalSavers Retirement Savings Board reports that this last summer, the program grew by some measures, but remained stable or even shrank slightly by others.
Employer registrations were lower at the end of summer than they were at its start;...
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By John Iekel 9/19/2023
If you made an error with IRA contributions or discover one, there still is time to correct them. But not much time—the deadline for fixing those mistakes is Oct. 16, 2023.
Among the errors that could cause someone to seek to make an adjustment, observes Sarah Brenner, Director of Retirement...
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By John Iekel 9/12/2023
Any retirement fund invests its funds in some way to help them grow, and that includes those run by states. A look at how CalSavers handles the investment of its funds sheds some light on how one of the largest state-run retirement plans fosters growth of their funds.
Assets
CalSavers had assets...
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By John Iekel 9/8/2023
CalSavers has expanded the range of services for which it is seeking professional assistance.
On Sept. 5, CalSavers issued an RFP (request for proposals) announcing that it is seeking a contractor to provide investment consulting services. CalSavers, the state-run program that provides retirement...
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By John Iekel 9/7/2023
Think you’ve taken care of everything with your 457 plan? Maybe you have—but maybe you haven’t.
In the second of a two-part series in the Trucker Huss “The Benefit of Benefits” blog, Scott E. Galbreath discusses more common mistakes he has encountered in 457 plans that exempt organizations (EOs)...
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By John Iekel 9/6/2023
Starting a state-run program could result in private-sector employers dropping their existing retirement benefit plans, warned some soothsayers. Not so, says an industry expert.
Kim Olson, Senior Officer of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Retirement Savings Project took issue with such doom and gloom...
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By John Iekel 8/30/2023
The Maine Retirement Savings Program is getting closer to implementation. The Maine Retirement Savings Board has proposed a rule that would set the nuts and bolts of program operation.
Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed the Act To Promote Individual Retirement Savings through a Public-Private...
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By John Iekel 8/24/2023
Running any employee benefit plan entails following certain rules—and it is always possible that at some point, a mistake will be made in running a plan. An expert offers his observations regarding mistakes that tax-exempt organizations (EOs) make with their 457(b) plans.
In a recent entry in the...
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By John Iekel 8/24/2023
The IRS on Aug. 21 issued an update to the 2022-2023 priority guidance plan, which still includes plans to take action relevant to 403(b)s.
The IRS had released the initial plan on Nov. 4, 2022, setting forth guidance priorities for the 12-month period from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 (the...
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By John Iekel 8/23/2023
The typically hot inland areas of the Golden State may have been torrid this summer, but one thing at least has been cooling: CalSavers employer registrations and contribution levels.
Registrations had been steadily growing since 2019. But employer registrations dropped from May 31, 2023 to June...
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By John Iekel 8/17/2023
The first half of 2023 brought slow—but relentless—growth in assets and registrants for CalSavers, the state-run program that provides retirement plan coverage for private-sector employees whose employers do not. So reports the CalSavers Retirement Savings Board, which administers the program....
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By John Iekel 8/16/2023
They may be on almost completely opposite ends of the country, but Colorado and Maine are cooperating in offering retirement plan coverage to their citizens.
Colorado Secure Savings program and the Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT) on Aug. 11 established a partnership to provide...
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By John Iekel 8/16/2023
The club of states adopting retirement plans that provide coverage for private-sector employees whose employers do not is becoming increasingly less exclusive. A recent study takes a look at how employers are responding.
In the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) paper “How Do Firms...
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By John Iekel 8/10/2023
Teachers at a recent hearing called on the Massachusetts legislature to investigate the effects of the federal Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
The Joint Committee on Public Service July 25 held a hearing concerning Resolve S. 1656, which calls for an...
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By John Iekel 7/25/2023
Washington is discussing a bill that would provide retirement plan coverage for private-sector employees whose employers do not. No, not Washington state. And not Washington, as in the federal government. This measure is before the City Council of Washington, DC—the District of Columbia.
At-Large...
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By John Iekel 7/21/2023
By now, almost every state has at least considered legislation that would establish a state-run retirement plan, and this year alone almost half the state legislatures have considered legislation about one. A panel of key players in the plans established in some states offer an insider’s look. ...
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