403b Plans
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,...
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It’s not unusual for questions to arise about options for the beneficiaries of 403(b) accounts, including non-spouse beneficiaries’ ability to “stretch” the distributions from the deceased’s account over the beneficiary’s lifetime. In this week’s MarketBeat, Ellie Lowder reviews the basics of...
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There are rules for how to handle inherited IRAs and 403(b)s, but that doesn’t mean questions don’t still arise about that. In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder answers further questions regarding inherited IRAs and 403(b)s and the regulations that are the basis for how they are treated.
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There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding the use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBAs) in 401(k)s. But what about 403(b)s? In this week’s MarketBeat, Diane D. Capone takes a look at ETFs and SDBAs and the challenges they present to the 403(b) plan...
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How does California Insurance Code Section 770.3 apply to 403b investments through payroll deduction at school districts? Also, does California require a third party administrator (TPA) to be licensed, and is there an associated registry? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder gives us the answers...
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IRS Notice 2014-54 helped eliminate tax consequences on after-tax conversions from a 403(b) plan to Roth accounts. In this week’s MarketBeat, Kimberly Flett points out that there are some positive implications as well as some limitations to such contributions.
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Offering one employee benefit affects how another is offered, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is an example. In this week’s MarketBeat, Kevin Lurie discusses how that affects employers — something retirement plan administrators need to understand.
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You have a client that is a 501(c)(3) that is trying to find a way to reward its executive director and the associate executive director, who are receiving limited employer contributions to its 403(b) plan because of the federal nondiscrimination rules. In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells...
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You have a client that has an annuity contract and has requested that it be cashed in due to a qualifying hardship. In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether the assets of the entire contract can be distributed.
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According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, there are 6,400 charter schools in 42 states, with 2.5 million students. Many NTSA members do include charter schools in their target market. In this week’s MarketBeat, Ellie Lowder discusses some unusual situations that may arise in...
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More than two and a half years after the city of Stockton, Calif. declared insolvency, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein on Oct. 30 confirmed the city’s proposal for exiting Chapter 9 bankruptcy.The city says it saved $2 billion through agreements with creditors, employee...
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IRS Notice 2014-54 clarifies the rules affecting rollover distributions consisting of both pretax and after-tax funds to more than one eligible retirement plan. It says all amounts scheduled to be disbursed at the same time are considered a single distribution, even if the participant directs the...
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Your retired client placed her name on a school district’s substitute teacher list. The district’s third party administrator declined the application for a required minimum distribution (RMD), stating that she is coded as an employee on the list. But she has not worked in the district this year. If...
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A statistic for 403(b) sponsors to ponder: An IRS official says that when the agency audits 403(b) plans, it discovers issues 80% of the time. And the IRS is hiring still more staff to audit 403(b) and 457(b) plans. In this week’s MarketBeat, Linda Segal Blinn discusses the five issues the IRS most...
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Can a school that is affiliated with a church use a 401(k) plan, and be a non-electing church? Or is that option only available with a 403(b)? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder discusses whether it is possible and how ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code apply in such a circumstance.
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ERISA plans are using auto enrollment more frequently to increase participation. ERISA supersedes state statutes, but what about when ERISA does not apply? In this week’s MarketBeat, Ellie Lowder discusses whether auto enrollment is for non-ERISA plans too.
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A plan participant who works for a school district has been contributing to an annuity. He starts working for another, and would like to use the same annuity for that district’s contributions. You are an approved vendor for both plans and can easily switch the annuity from one district to the other...
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Once a participant has defaulted on a plan loan, can they qualify for an additional loan? What if the defaulted loan has been deemed a distribution and any applicable taxes and penalties have been paid? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder fills us in on whether this is possible.
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While there is room for improvement in 403(b) participation rates, those rates are not as doom-and-gloom as those who market alternatives to 403(b) plan sponsors would like you to believe. In this week’s MarketBeat, Michael Webb explains why it’s a mistake to compare participation rates in 401(k)s...
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Suppose you’re trying to research the attrition rate that TPAs have experienced as a result of fees that are passed on to participants. In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether there is a benchmark rate prevalent in the industry.
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