John Iekel

An employer that allows one employee to participate in its 403(b) plan must allow all employees to do so — that is, unless they fall into one of five types of employees who may be excluded. The IRS recently issued a reminder of the importance of following the Universal Availability Rule, and what... READ MORE

The Nevada State Assembly is considering legislation that would establish a new retirement plan for new public sector employees and expand all public employees’ choices regarding how their retirement plan funds are invested. The bills, AB 190 and AB 360, both are wending their way through committee... READ MORE

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Jo White confirmed March 17 that the Commission will “implement a uniform fiduciary duty for broker-dealers and investment advisors where the standard is to act in the best interest of the investor.” The statement, reported by Investment News,... READ MORE

The IRS announced on March 11 that it has updated the information package containing sample plan provisions concerning pre-approved 403(b) plans. The update is first since March 2013.The IRS has made changes to the language that concerns the following terms and topics: compensation contribution... READ MORE

Michigan’s state employee retirement plan could be paying out a sizable chunk more in benefits four years from now. According to the Lansing State Journal, approximately 30% of the 48,617 state employees will be eligible to retire by 2019, nearly twice as many as this year.According to the Michigan... READ MORE

Identical bills before both chambers of the Iowa legislature would end state taxation of pensions and other forms of retirement income — but only through 2020.HF 280 and SF 277 would remove from the Iowa income tax law two provisions that define income as including all forms of retirement income,... READ MORE

Legislation before the California Assembly would enhance information provided to participants in the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS).The bill would also require all local school districts, community college districts and county offices of education to adopt a policy on... READ MORE

The Virginia House of Delegates on Feb. 6 passed a measure that would allow school districts to establish and administer their own 403(b) plans, and also would allow voluntary and matching contributions under the Commonwealth’s DC plan to be directed to those locally adopted 403(b) plans. HB 2178,... READ MORE

There is an inverse relationship between the generosity of a local government defined benefit plan and its employees’ contributions to a supplemental retirement plan. The Center for State and Local Governmental Excellence reports in its issue brief, “Importance of Supplemental Retirement Saving... READ MORE