Service Providers
Working for the American worker’s retirement is extremely rewarding and non-stop. February has brought a lot of opportunities to educate in many different directions. From working on Capitol Hill in D.C. to testifying in Washington state, to meeting with individual state legislators in numerous...
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Wowcasts, a series of enlightening discussions with members from both NTSA and ARA, offering an insider's perspective on the intricacies of practice management, are back.
You can access Wowcast 2.0, as well as the rich repository of knowledge contained in the approximately 50 episodes of Wowcast 1...
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Being a 403(b) advisor is both rewarding and challenging.
Helping a teacher prepare for retirement is gratifying, but many other aspects of the work are a struggle. Battling client apathy toward retirement planning, deciphering the complexities of retirement plans, and dispelling client...
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Greetings fellow NTSA members, and Happy New Year! I wanted to send this note to welcome everyone to 2024 and get started on our new initiatives for this calendar year.
I am Toni Whaley, your NTSA President for 2024. It is my privilege and pleasure to serve and continue to move the needle forward...
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Plan professionals may find it useful to know that plan sponsors continue to make participants’ retirement security a priority, and are boosting their work to enhance it.
JP Morgan, in its fifth Defined Contribution Plan Sponsor Survey, which provides the results of an online survey of 788...
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It’s a big year for the implementation of certain SECURE 2.0 provisions. While many of the items are optional, it represents an excellent opportunity to explain what they mean and their potential impact.
“There are two that are the big standouts,” Kevin Gaston said when asked about the provisions...
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Tech Talk addresses how the deadline for the timely adoption of an amendment for a pre-approved plan that is a governmental plan is determined.
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In our comment letter submitted to the Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 2, 2024, the American Retirement Association (ARA) expressed support for—yet specific issues with— the department’s proposed definition of “fiduciary investment advice” and amendments to PTE 2020-02.
The rulemaking package,...
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As we transition from 2023 to 2024, it is easy to look ahead and plan and prepare for the future, especially with things like an amazing NTSA Summit in sunny San Diego in February, as well as navigating the implementation of SECURE 2.0, more retirement legislation on the horizon, the ins and outs...
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Participation rates in 403(b) plans increased and hit a record high in 2022 while participation rates in 401(k) plans dropped, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s (PSCA) 2023 403(b) survey.
The PSCA is part of the American Retirement Association.
The survey, sponsored by HUB...
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Is IBM on to something?
Big Blue recently announced that they would end the company’s 401(k) match effective January 1, 2024, replacing it with a Retirement Benefit Account (RBA). It will replace the match with a fixed employer contribution of 5% of compensation plus a one-time 1% pay increase....
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In prepared testimony to the Department of Labor's (DOL) leadership and staff, American Retirement Association (ARA) CEO Brian Graff highlighted “the significant regulatory gap” regarding plan-level advice on Dec. 12.
Graff’s comments—made in support of the DOL’s latest attempt to modernize the...
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The IRS on Dec. 8 announced that there will be no changes to the Required Amendments (RA) List for individually designed plans qualified under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 401(a) and 403(b) for 2023. The IRS made the announcement in Notice 2023-79.
The RA List establishes the end of the...
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In MarketBeat, Allison Wielobob writes that the proposed fiduciary rule would change who an ERISA fiduciary is and the conditions under which those fiduciaries may conduct business with retirement investors.
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Happy Birthday, ERISA!
It’s been 50 years since the Congress passed landmark legislation that protected the savings of American workers and—arguably—created an entire industry. It’s now time for the golden anniversary.
The American Retirement Association announced that it and eight associations...
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November was a very quiet month. It started with a family vacation and ended with a wonderful week of thanksgiving. I am personally thankful for all of you who do so much for the educators across this great nation. Thank you for putting in the time and effort to ensure that educators have the best...
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The IRS has prepared the draft instructions for the Form 5329 for reporting additional taxes on qualified plans, including Roth and traditional IRAs and other tax-favored accounts from 2023.
Employers, plan administrators and retirement plan professionals may find it worthwhile to remind plan...
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Another university 403(b) plan has won yet another victory in staving off an excessive fee suit by the Schlichter law firm.
The most recent case[1] involved Cornell University, which had already successfully fended off most of the claims in 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District...
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Providing retirement benefits is a dynamic function, and in an age of accelerating technological transformation that requires reinvention of products and services. In MarketBeat, John Iekel writes about an expert panel whose members shared some of their experiences in that vein.
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It’s been a couple of fast-moving days for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposal to amend the definition of investment advice fiduciary, as the House GOP has stepped up efforts to block the DOL from implementing its proposal, while the department has now denied a request to extend the comment...
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