Managing Your Practice
For sponsors of large ERISA plans — including most ERISA 403(b) plans — with calendar year plans, it’s Form 5500 time. In MarketBeat, Michael Webb seeks to help make the 2014 5500 filing process easier for plan sponsors and those who work with them.
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Take note, 403(b) annuity arrangements, defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans with calendar year plans: 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 2014....
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At the start of her keynote speech opening the second day of the 2015 NTSA 403(b) Summit, business management speaker Shari Harley stood off to the side of the ballroom, and asked if it was easier for the audience to hear and see her there, or across the room on the stage where everyone was...
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Suppose you have a client who will not have a full 15 years of service until the end of the current year; however, he wants to utilize the 15 years of service increased limit. Must he wait until the following year to do so? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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A new resource offering best practices for 403(b) non-ERISA plans is now available. Automatic Enrollment Guide: Best Practices for 403(b) Non-ERISA Plans, a comprehensive resource prepared by NTSA provides information relevant to all stages of providing this means of enrolling 403(b) participants....
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The earnings that public pension plans have realized, and their holdings, have changed little since the fourth quarter of 2014. That according to the U.S. Census Bureau in its quarterly survey of public pensions during the first quarter of 2015, which it released on June 25. The survey provides...
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Do you have participants who separated from service after 2007 and who have a deferred vested benefit under a 403(b) plan you sponsor? If so, do you have to report them on the Form 9855-SSA? The IRS says you do not. It explains that a plan sponsor is not required to report a separated...
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Questions can arise concerning the definition of severance of employment, which can be an important issue to determine regarding whether pre-59½ 403(b) or pre-70½ 457(b) participants are eligible to make withdrawals from their accounts. In MarketBeat, Ellie Lowder digs deep into the issues that...
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The National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA) has announced the winners of its prestigious NTSA Elite Advisor Award. It made the announcement at a June 29 session of its 2015 403(b) Summit in Nashville, Tenn. Established in 2014, the NTSA Elite Advisor Award recognizes the contributions of...
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Don’t underestimate the importance of a face-to-face relationship with a client.In a June NTSA 18 podcast, Jill Snyder, a registered representative with National Information Services and a 2014 NTSA Elite Advisor, emphasized how critical that is to advisors and the clients with whom they work.“The...
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The funded status of many public pension plans has improved, according to a recent report. But mitigating that good news is another study that suggests that lengthening lifespans will be a longer-term challenge for those plans. The Center for State and Local Government conducted the research and...
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The Code Section 403(b) regulations allow employers to terminate their 403(b) plans. In MarketBeat, Linda Segal Blinn argues that the devil may be in the details, and offers questions and answers to help employers that intend to terminate their 403(b) plans.
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If a participant is requesting a loan from their retirement plan for the maximum amount available, should vendor fees be taken into account from a TPA perspective? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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Like many other states, the Bay State faces budget challenges. But among the ways it has sought to ameliorate that, as well as cut the cost of paying pension benefits, is a novel approach — encouraging early retirement of certain state employees.Specifically, the program was open to employees age...
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A new report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirms that in the years to come the U.S Treasury will receive “significant” tax revenues from retirement plan withdrawals.In fact, the CBO’s extended baseline projects that revenues as a share of GDP are projected to climb by about 0.3...
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To err is human. The IRS is not divine, but it does at least help 403(b) plan administrators and sponsors correct errors — and to that end has updated its 403(b) Plan Fix-It Guide. But the guide does more than provide a way to fix mistakes after the fact; it also includes information intended to...
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What is an employer’s responsibility under the 403(b) regulations it changes from a multi-vendor 403(b) platform to a single vendor? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us about what an employer must do when such transfers take place.
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In its current form, the Labor Department’s fiduciary reproposal would “lock out” American small businesses from retirement plans, a new report says.The paper notes that small business owners, through SEP and SIMPLE-type IRA plans, provide roughly $472 billion in retirement savings for more than 9...
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It’s so interesting to me that almost every year there are changes to the laws and rules that affect our profession. And it’s a relief to me that NTSA is always there as a resource, allowing my company (and yours) to grow and get better at what we do, regardless of those changes. I still remember...
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The Department of Labor intends to finalize its re-proposed rule defining a fiduciary in May of next year, Groom Law Group Chairman Steve Saxon said on June 8. Saxon made his remarks at the SPARK Institute’s annual conference in Washington, D.C.That timing is fueled by political considerations....
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