John Iekel
By John Iekel 8/4/2014
If you receive a request for a loan from a participant who finished paying off a previous loan from his 403(b) four months ago, can you permit a $50,000 loan from the account since he has no outstanding loans in any plans of the employer? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder addresses what can be done in...
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By John Iekel 8/4/2014
NTSA has established the Task Force on Retirement Savings Plans, a new committee designed to help lead and guide the discussion and development of policy regarding the automatic enrollment of employees in non-ERISA retirement savings plans. Among the functions the new task force will perform is to...
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By John Iekel 8/4/2014
The SEC adopted new rules affecting the $2.6 trillion money market industry late in July. The purpose of the rules is to alert investors about the risk of investments that were thought to be guaranteed, and they impose floating net asset value like other mutual funds rather than a fixed $1 value....
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By John Iekel 7/29/2014
A plan sponsor has many investment options it can make available to plan participants. Should the plan offer funds that are invested in stable value or mid cap growth funds? Emerging markets? Real estate investment funds? Target date funds? But there is something else a plan sponsor can keep in...
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By John Iekel 7/28/2014
Defined benefit plans’ decline and a proportional rise of future retirees’ need for expert help in establishing and managing retirement accounts spelled growth for the financial services industry. But the market may be saturated — there are many advisors, but the universe of clients is flat or...
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By John Iekel 7/28/2014
Is the Form 5500 worth filling out and filing in the first place? Not everyone is convinced, reports Benefitspro. But file they must, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has come to the rescue, offering suggestions in its recent report, “Private Pensions:Targeted Revisions Could Improve...
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By John Iekel 7/25/2014
Suppose you have a client who is a pastor and receives total income of $87,000, $42,000 of which has been designated as housing allowance. Can the church contribute $52,000 for him in 2014? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether it can — and if it can’t, how much it can contribute beyond the...
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By John Iekel 7/24/2014
Is Washington obsessed with rollovers? ASPPA Executive Director and CEO Brian Graff thinks so. “There’s no one who doesn’t care about this issue. There is an obsession with the rollover issue in DC,” said Graff in the July 22 webinar, “Washington Update: Rollovers, Rollovers, Rollovers — it’s All...
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By John Iekel 7/22/2014
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) Board members are required to receive 24 hours of financial training every two years under a law just enacted. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on July 18 signed into law AB1163, a measure Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) introduced to enhance...
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By John Iekel 7/22/2014
Suppose a 62 year-old who is drawing a reduced Social Security benefit understands that he can earn up to $15,480 before beginning to lose Social Security benefits. He calculates that he will be about $3,000 above the $15,480 from substitute teaching income; can he contribute the $3,000 to his 403(...
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By John Iekel 7/22/2014
The IRS and the Department of Labor are actively encouraging lifetime income and enhancing retirement security. The most recent part of that effort is a final regulation the IRS released that permits longevity annuities in retirement plans and IRAs. But will this guidance actually change...
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By John Iekel 7/18/2014
Seventeen states have, or are, considering measures that would allow employers to automatically enroll employees in IRAs. While these measures concern private-sector employers, their consideration reflects state governments’ interest in measures that address retirement plan participation in some...
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By John Iekel 7/18/2014
Detroit may well be the poster child for municipal pension irresponsibility (though if there were an award for that, it would be extremely competitive). But give credit where it’s due: the Motor City has also been a model for how to dig out of the public pension hole. Kevyn Orr, the city’s...
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By John Iekel 7/15/2014
On July 9, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) signed into law a measure that makes it illegal to transfer or assign public pension benefits. The Show-Me State is the first to enact such legislation. The new law arose, at least in part, in response to the practice of third parties providing a cash...
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By John Iekel 7/14/2014
The IRS on July 11 announced that it is withdrawing a proposal it made in 1981 for an amendment to regulations governing IRA rollovers. The proposed amendment to Treas. Reg. § 1.408-4(b)(4)(ii) would have applied the rollover limitation on an IRA-by-IRA basis. This withdrawal affects individuals...
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By John Iekel 7/11/2014
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 401k platform, or are they an option outside the 401k? In Tech Talk, Mike Webb sheds light on details concerning longevity annuities and when they...
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By John Iekel 7/11/2014
When the IRS writes its essay about how it spent its summer vacation, it will report about how it rolled out a new compliance initiative project focusing on whether non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements are operating in accordance with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A. So says Linda...
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By John Iekel 7/11/2014
Defined benefit plans, DC plans and 403(b) annuity arrangements, take note: July 31 is right around the corner. That’s the day by which most plans must file the dreaded and onerous Form 5500. The clock is ticking on filing the form that reports on 2013. The form must be filed by the end of the...
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By John Iekel 7/8/2014
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has announced that its ERISA Advisory Council will be examining issues and considerations related to facilitating lifetime retirement plan participation. In explaining its rationale for doing so, it cites the recent movement of...
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By John Iekel 7/7/2014
An agent working with a public school superintendent to include retirement benefits in his individual contract reviews the wording the district plans to use. She sees that they have given the superintendent a choice of medical insurance OR an employer contribution to the 403(b) plan. In Tech Talk,...
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