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Participants/Clients Tools

In MarketBeat, Robert Richter writes that determining a participant’s employment status, more specifically whether there has been a severance of employment, must be made in order to apply a wide variety of rules that apply with qualified plans, Code Section 403(b) arrangements and 457(b) plans.   READ MORE
The CARES Act includes provisions advocated by the American Retirement Association that loosen retirement plan hardship and loan rules to free up funds for individuals impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Life (and legislation) has been coming at us fast in March, as the country and Congress... READ MORE
The American Retirement Association has reached out to members of Congress with proposals to help alleviate cash flow issues for small businesses with retirement plans. The ARA, whose broad membership consists of service providers and plan sponsors, strongly supports immediate defined contribution... READ MORE
The Department of Labor in 2012 issued a final rule to Improve transparency of fees and expenses to workers in 401(k)-type retirement plans. The rule says that the investment of plan assets is a fiduciary act governed by the fiduciary standards in ERISA Section 404(a)(1)(A) and (B), which require... READ MORE
There are few things more annoying in daily existence than those ubiquitous pop-up service agreement acknowledgements, writes Nevin Adams in MarketBeat. He discusses a recent Supreme Court decision in which the Court weighed in on a case involving participant disclosures. READ MORE
The DOL’s Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans has released a report addressing transfers of uncashed distribution checks that ERISA plans issue to state unclaimed property programs.   In “Voluntary Transfers of Uncashed Checks from ERISA Plans to State Unclaimed... READ MORE
ERISA sets forth the style and format that are to be used for summary plan descriptions (SPDs). All plans subject to ERISA, including ERISA-covered 403(b)s, must pay close attention to the rules for how these documents are to be prepared for participants.   § 2520.102-2 Style and format of... READ MORE
The Setting Up Every Community for Retirement (SECURE Act) Act was enacted on Dec. 20, 2019 as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019. Many of these provisions had been pending in Congress for some time, and the law brings about the biggest changes in retirement since the... READ MORE
In MarketBeat, John Iekel discusses a recent analysis that disputes the contention that many retirees will depend on only Social Security to finance their retirement. READ MORE
Voluntary enrollment in defined contribution plans offered by state and local governments is only part of the equation in boosting retirement readiness, and more steps to boost participation are needed, says a recent analysis.   In a recent blog post, “Driving Plan Participation and Engagement in... READ MORE
In Part II of the 10th Series of the NTSA WOWcasts, NTSA Past President Randy Aranowitz interviews Bruce Allen, CFP, president of Old Dominion Insurance and Investments. They discuss Allen’s business model, his approach to serving clients and relevant business trends. In Part I Randy Aranowitz and... READ MORE
The upcoming NTSA Summit will be held Jan. 26-28, 2020 at the Gaylord Rockies in Denver, CO. My primary responsibilities at AXA are to provide retirement products and services to the tax-exempt markets throughout the Northeast. I have 20+ years’ experience and over the years have witnessed the... READ MORE
The 457(b) market may not draw as much attention as its flashier DC plan cousins, yet its market includes millions of people and entails nearly $1 trillion in assets. A recent NTSA webinar offered a look at the 457(b) market’s unique features and potential. In “Understanding the $1 Trillion Dollar... READ MORE
Like their 401(k) brethren, 403(b) programs have taken steps to boost contribution and participation rates – and that’s not all they have in common. According to the 11th annual 403(b) plan survey from the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), increased contributions by both participants and... READ MORE
In Episode 3 of the WOWcast series, past NTSA President and inaugural NTSA Elite Advisor Randy Aranowitz speaks with EFS Financial Advisors President Kent Schutte and EFS Financial Advisors Senior Financial Advisor Josh Decker. In Parts I and II of Episode 3, they discuss their practice and... READ MORE
In this WOWcast, NTSA President Kris Coffey speaks with inaugural NTSA Elite Advisor Randy Aranowitz on how he got his start in the financial services industry, the worst advice he ever got, advice for new advisors, and how NTSA can help.                     READ MORE
In June 2009, the National Tax Deferred Accounts Association (NTSA) organized and sponsored the first NTSA 403(b) Compliance Resolution Summit (Summit) to address the pervasive service issues in the 403(b) marketplace. Several 403(b) product providers (vendors), third party administrators (TPAs),... READ MORE
Editor’s Note: This is an occasional feature in the NTSA Advisor. It is drawn from The Source, a book that covers technical, compliance, administrative and marketing aspects of the 403(b) and 457(b) markets. More information about The Source is available here. This is the second installment of a... READ MORE
  The 2019 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, a body that provides support and advice to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), has said that it will be reviewing transfers of uncashed checks from ERISA plans to state... READ MORE
There are many pieces to the puzzle that is retirement security. In MarketBeat, John Iekel discusses the suggestion of a benefits institute that one of them is the behavior of plan participants and that working with, and influencing, that can help put pieces in place. READ MORE

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