Ted Godbout
By Ted Godbout 10/23/2018
The Department of Labor has released proposed rules that would expand access to multiple employer retirement plans for small employers and self-employed workers, while also maintaining fiduciary oversight.
Modeled after the Association Health Plans (AHPs) concept, the proposed rules issued Oct. 22...
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By Ted Godbout 10/19/2018
The federal government’s updated unified regulatory agenda has shed light on the status of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s and Department of Labor’s efforts on investment advice and the now-vacated fiduciary rule.
The SEC’s updated regulatory agenda confirms that the agency has set a...
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By Ted Godbout 10/15/2018
A program letter from the heads of the IRS’s Tax Exempt & Government Entities (TE/GE) division provides an update on the compliance, data, process and casework strategies the division plans to focus on in the coming year.
Not surprisingly, implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will...
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By Ted Godbout 10/15/2018
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 67 million Americans will increase 2.8% in 2019, the Social Security Administration announced Oct. 11.
The 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to beneficiaries in January. For SSI...
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By Ted Godbout 10/15/2018
Health savings accounts (HSAs) are a high-value option with triple tax benefits that help employees prepare for health care costs in retirement, but many employees continue to miss out on the benefits, according to a new study.
Willis Towers Watson’s 2018 Health Accounts Employee Attitudes Survey...
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By Ted Godbout 12/14/2017
Bipartisan legislation that would allow for electronic delivery of pension and retirement plan information was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Dec 11.Introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), along with 26 cosponsors, the “Receiving Electronic Statements to...
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By Ted Godbout 11/20/2017
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again seems to be the motto used in a new class action lawsuit filed against New York University alleging breach of fiduciary duties for excessive plan fees in the school’s retirement plans.This new, 129-page filing (Sacerdote v. NYU Langone Hosps., S.D.N.Y...
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By Ted Godbout 11/3/2017
House Republican leaders on Nov. 2 released their much-anticipated tax reform plan that left 401(k)s and IRAs alone, but contained a number of proposals to modify various pension and retirement savings provisions.
The first wave of documents released by the House Ways and Means Committee included...
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By Ted Godbout 9/25/2017
Congress has released draft legislation consistent with recent recommendations by the American Retirement Association to expand access by victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria to their 401(k) and similar plans without incurring IRS penalties and taxes. The draft legislation, currently named...
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By Ted Godbout 9/15/2017
Millennials are taking steps to save early for retirement, but they also have higher expectations that employers should be offering access to a retirement savings plan and socially responsive investments, according to new survey results.The Capital Group’s Wisdom of Experience survey found that...
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By Ted Godbout 9/8/2017
In a recent LIMRA study, the top two reasons retirement investors gave for selecting another company to manage their IRAs were relationships and recommendations.The LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute explains that relationships are cited most by those who have an existing relationship with a chosen...
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By Ted Godbout 9/5/2017
The House and Senate returned Sept. 5 from a month-long break facing an extremely busy legislative calendar.The legislative agenda was already packed full, with the need to approve funding legislation for fiscal year 2018 (which begins Oct. 1), increase the debt limit, determine whether to revisit...
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By Ted Godbout 8/29/2017
That’s the average amount a 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need to cover medical expenses (in today’s dollars) throughout retirement, according to the latest retiree health care cost estimate from Fidelity Benefits Consulting. Fidelity notes that while the 2017 estimate of $275,000 is...
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By Ted Godbout 8/28/2017
Health savings accounts are projected to exceed $60 billion in assets among nearly 30 million accounts by the end of 2019, according to Devenir’s 14th semi-annual HSA survey of the top 100 providers in the market and follow-up research. The report confirms that the HSA market is undergoing...
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By Ted Godbout 8/21/2017
The Pew Charitable Trusts recently published a report reviewing the findings of a survey to gauge employer reactions to leading state retirement policy ideas where they found strong support among small and mid-size businesses for automatic IRA programs, multiple employer plans (MEPs) and online...
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By Ted Godbout 8/15/2017
Compliance with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule has reduced access to brokerage advice services and choice, cost billions, and disrupted retirement savers, according to a new study. The study, commissioned by long-time opponent and fiduciary rule litigant SIFMA and conducted by Deloitte...
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By Ted Godbout 7/27/2017
As more states look to establish retirement savings plans for private sector workers, a new report by LIMRA’s Secure Retirement Institute finds that 55% of DC plan sponsors indicate they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to stop offering their DC plan in favor of having their employees enroll...
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By Ted Godbout 7/14/2017
Witnesses at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing July 13 largely offered their support for legislation to repeal the current DOL fiduciary rule and direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to take the lead in regulating the standards of care for investment advice.Of the five...
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By Ted Godbout 6/9/2017
The House of Representatives approved broad-based financial overhaul legislation on June 8 that seeks to repeal major provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as the Department of Labor’s now-effective fiduciary rule.Congressional Republicans have taken aim at repealing the Dodd-Frank Act since it...
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