Technical Competence
Legislators in the Bay State have been busy developing legislation that could affect the private employer sponsored retirement system should the bills become state law.In the current legislative session, two bills have been offered that attempt to regulate 401(k) plans — apparently overlooking the...
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The IRS recently updated the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), a means to correct plan defects. In this week’s MarketBeat, Michael Webb examines the changes made to EPCRS and discusses their specific impact (or lack thereof) on 403(b)/457(b) plan sponsors.
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The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently issued a report on the results of its audit of how well the IRS identifies and addresses excess contributions to IRAs. It also made recommendations regarding how the IRS can do a better job.IRA holders can only make...
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An employer that allows one employee to participate in its 403(b) plan must allow all employees to do so — that is, unless they fall into one of five types of employees who may be excluded. The IRS recently issued a reminder of the importance of following the Universal Availability Rule, and what...
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Can an employer transfer 403(b) transfer assets (including active loans) for active and terminated participants to a 401(k) without terminating the 403(b)? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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Suppose a client exchanged a 403(b)(7) custodial account into a 403(b)(1) annuity where the receiving provider applied pre-59½ withdrawal restrictions to the entire account value. Was that provider correct in that application, or should there be no restrictions? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie...
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Total U.S. retirement plan assets were $24.7 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2014, with defined contribution assets registering the strongest percentage growth, according to a new report.While total retirement plan assets were up 1.7% from the $24.2 trillion mark at Sept. 30, 2014, according to the...
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Plan documents continue to demand advisors’ attention as we wait for the IRS to approve prototype and volume submitter plans sometime next year. In this week’s MarketBeat, Robert Toth discusses two particularly important plan document issues that advisors can help their 403(b) plan sponsors...
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State pension plans are likely to continue affecting state budgets and funding, says Standard & Poors. In a study published March 24 on RatingsDirect, S&P indicated that the strains state pension plans face and cause are not likely to end any time soon.Among the factors upon which S&P...
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The ubiquitous coverage devoted to the big boys — 401(k)s and pension plans, as well as little brother 403(b)s — has occupied so prominent a place in the discussion of retirement plans that 457s garner much less attention. And yet, according to a recent report by the National Association of...
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We may be getting a better understanding of when an employer-sponsored plan is considered to be a governmental plan if the employer is a charter school, based on Notice 2015-07. In this week’s MarketBeat, Linda Segal Blinn explains what this guidance means and the impact it could have.
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A church client wonders if it needs to establish a 403(b)(9) retirement income account so the church board can designate post-retirement housing allowances as tax-free distributions. In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us if it does.
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State revenues collectively exceeded expenditures in 2013 — the most recent year for which complete data is available — but that didn’t translate to widespread public pension health. In 30 states, public pensions still were underfunded despite the overall fiscal surplus.The U.S. Census Bureau in...
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The Nevada State Assembly is considering legislation that would establish a new retirement plan for new public sector employees and expand all public employees’ choices regarding how their retirement plan funds are invested. The bills, AB 190 and AB 360, both are wending their way through committee...
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Oregon has joined the states that are weighing the establishment of a state retirement plan to cover private-sector employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan. Following a now-familiar formula, Senate Bill 615 and House Bill 2960 would establish the Oregon Retirement Savings Plan and...
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It’s not just public-sector retirement plan coverage that is generating attention in the Garden State — so is coverage in the private sector. The state Assembly and Senate, still in the midst of the debate over the state’s insolvent retirement plan, now are considering the New Jersey Secure Choice...
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A measure that would reform the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), which serves the retirement funds of more than 3,000 California government employers, may be on the 2016 ballot in the Golden State.Former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who led the 10th largest U.S. city from...
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Time draws short for required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs and employer-provided retirement plans to taxpayers who reached age 70½ in 2014. The IRS on March 19 in IR-2015-55 issued a reminder that the deadline is April 1. The April 1 deadline applies to owners of traditional...
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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Jo White confirmed March 17 that the Commission will “implement a uniform fiduciary duty for broker-dealers and investment advisors where the standard is to act in the best interest of the investor.” The statement, reported by Investment News,...
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If a portion of a minister’s normal wage is declared to be a housing allowance, must it be excluded from plan compensation for purposes of federal tax law? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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