Technical Competence
The Nutmeg State is looking for public comments on the feasibility of a state-sponsored retirement plan for all private sector employees. Connecticut State Comptroller Kevin Lembo (D) and State Treasurer Denise Nappier (D), who co-chair the Connecticut Retirement Security Board (CSRB) created...
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Public pensions can be fair game when a city government declares bankruptcy under federal law, the federal judge overseeing Stockton, Calif.’s bankruptcy has ruled.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein on Oct. 8 ruled that the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause trumps California’s public...
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They say when you have your health, you have just about everything, and a new study seems to bear that out — and that includes being financially ready for retirement.Healthier employees feel more prepared when it comes to having a financial plan, saving enough for retirement to last a lifetime and...
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Retirement plans and health benefits are different things and serve different purposes. Nonetheless, they can intersect functionally — and retirement accounts and health savings accounts (HSAs) are a prime example, as a BenefitsPro report observed recently.Like retirement accounts, HSAs are tax-...
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State pension plans, long beleaguered and adrift in a sea of red, may have turned a corner. A report by LifeHealthPRO says that data from Bloomberg show an increase in the states’ ability to meet their pension requirements. A slight increase, but an increase nonetheless.Bloomberg found that the...
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A new white paper by the Conference of Consulting Actuaries’ Public Plans Community (CCAPPC) targeted to actuaries and retirement boards examines the development of actuarial funding policies and practices. The paper is based on more than two years of extensive and detailed funding policy...
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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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The fiscal pressure that public pension plan obligations exerts on state governments is not going away, a recently released report cautions. The Cato Institute expects that the cost of those plans will be a major driver of state budgets.Cato’s “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2014...
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If a church that sponsors a 403(b)(1) annuity and 403(b)(7) custodial account has a minister who is self-employed, can he participate in the church’s 403(b) plan? In this week’s Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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Differences in workforce composition — not costs — appear to be a primary cause for the lower rate at which small employers sponsor retirement plans, according to a new report. As a group, the characteristics of small-firm employees differ substantially from the characteristics of large-firm...
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The digital world offers public — not just private — plans revolutionary means to communicate, store and share data. But using it in a responsible and ethical manner is as important as it is challenging, as Lauren Bloom, an expert on professional ethics and risk management, pointed out in the...
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Though markets averaged a 7.45% return from 2004-2012, unfunded liability of public pension funds tripled — to just under $2 trillion — over that same period, according to a recent Moody’s report. Along with trying to recover from the recent recession, public entities are simply not providing...
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Experience, it is said, is the most difficult teacher, because she always gives the test before she gives the lesson. Every professional finds themselves at some point reflecting, “I wish I had” or “I wish I had never.” Join us for a complimentary webcast on Friday, Oct. 10 from noon to 12:50 p.m....
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If you work with a plan in, or with certain connections to, the state of Florida, you may have a compliance problem with your plan loans.An update from Bryan Cave, LLP notes that under its revenue laws, Florida imposes a document tax on loan transactions that are made, signed, executed, issued, or...
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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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Pennsylvania and neighbor to the east New Jersey, no strangers to bracing news regarding the effect of their financially strapped public pension plans, have received yet more tough assessments. And the Keystone State’s neighbor to the west, Ohio, has as well.Fitch announced on Sept. 23 that it cut...
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Americans held $6.6 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement plans on June 30, 2014, of which $941 billion was held in 403(b) plans, and another $255 billion in 457 plans. Those figures are up from $6.4 trillion, $922 billion and $248 billion, respectively, as of March 31, 2014, according to...
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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Sept. 24 announced that surviving same-sex spouses of federal annuitants, employees or former employees who died before June 26, 2013 may apply for death benefits. That’s the date of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Windsor, in which the Court...
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