“Joe The Plumber” has had his 15 minutes of fame, and then some. Our friends at Slate’s Bizbox blog for whom I regularly contribute went beyond the political rhetoric when they said Keep Helping Small Business. And here’s why the new administration should do more for “Joe The Plumber” and all the other small businesses … Continue Reading
I’ve been reminded again of that old Mac Davis song, Texas in My Rear View Mirror, in recent discussions with clients and their other advisors regarding the impact of reductions in force and layoffs on their retirement plans. My fellow Lex Blogger, Michael Moore, nicely discusses the employment law aspects of this economic fallout in his post, Managing Layoffs and Reductions … Continue Reading
See full-size image. I was certainty premature yesterday in thinking the bailout bill was going to pass when I wrote the bailout bill is like a Christmas tree – something for everyone including retirement plans. And I wasn’t alone. The stock market reacted with the largest one day drop in its history. No one knows the … Continue Reading
The bailout bill working its way through Congress now has something for everyone – including retirement plans. The legislation is being called TARP, ("Troubled Asset Relief Program"), and it’s an acronym that some retirement plans will get to know better. In addition to bailing out financial institutions, TARP also permits the Treasury to protect "the retirement security of … Continue Reading
See larger image. While I was off exploring the Canadian Rockies with my friend and certified mountain guide Peter Amann, I found out when I returned that quite a bit had happened back here in the States. Bank of America buying Merrill Lynch, the largest brokerage firm; Lehman Brothers filing bankruptcy; and AIG, the largest insurance company in … Continue Reading
See full-size image. "Same, same, but different" is a familiar saying in Thailand, and as shown on the left, the subject of a book of objects photographed in Thailand by Thomas Kalak, the photographer from Munich. It means, I understand, similar but not exactly the same. Kinda like, 403(b) plans and 401(k) plans. And that’s a good jumping off point … Continue Reading
Our fellow bloggers at Slate magazine’s BizBox blog have been following what the general business media have saying about 401(k) plans for small businesses. Their most recent post on the topic, The 401(k) Question Continued … picked up on an article in U.S. News and World Report, What Small Business Owners Need to Know About 401(k)’s, … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. The GAO investigates how the federal government spends our taxpayer dollars and has often been called the “congressional watchdog,” I blogged about the GAO just the other day in my post, Getting ready for the first wave of Baby Boomers reaching … Continue Reading
Just recently, I thought that it might be the dog days of summer as far as setting up a retirement plan is concerned. But it may be the “retirement plan season” is here after all – at least in the minds of our fellow bloggers at Slate magazine’s BizBox blog. Their post today is What Retirement … Continue Reading
See full-size image 403(b) plans are going to look a lot like 401(k) plans starting January 1, 2009 when the new final regulations become effective. (See my posts last year, If it looks like a 401(k), acts like a 401(k), and sounds like a 401(k), then it must be a 403(b) Part 1 and Part … Continue Reading
For those of us who work with business owners, we buckle up our seat belts during the last quarter of the year. Buckle them up a little tighter in December, and tighter still at actual year end. We call it the “retirement plan season”, the time when many business owners decide to set up a … Continue Reading
It didn’t have a big box office in 1986 when it was released, but the ¡Three Amigos! movie has gone on to become a comedy classic. And how could it not, Written by Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, and Randy Newman Directed by John Landis Starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short Supporting roles played by the … Continue Reading
July 31st, is of course, the due date (unless extended) for calendar year retirement plans required to file Form 5500 for the 2007 plan year. And, as in the past, there will be a number of plan sponsors who have to indicate on the 5500 thay they have outdated fidelity bonds or none at all. One … Continue Reading
That’s a question posed to me the other day in an email from one of this blog’s readers. It’s an interesting question, both from a historical standpoint and in the current political environment in which women’s issues are an important component. So here’s the answer for all to see. Let’s set the dial on the … Continue Reading
Two recent 401(k) plan terminations in our little corner of the retirement plan world does not a trend make. But it’s a sign that the economic slowdown is also affecting plan sponsors. Two clients who had not made employer contributions for some time decided that because of the relatively few employees contributing, it simply was … Continue Reading
The late Robert King Merton, the distinguished American sociologist, published an article in the December, 1936 issue of the American Sociological Review titled The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action. It’s since been popularized as The Law of Unintended Consequences. Kinda like, say, trying to drive through a flooded road in one of the storm … Continue Reading
That’s the Stock Broker, one of the many characters voiced by Wally Wingert on Family Guy, the animated television sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane and airing on Fox. If you’re not up on pop culture, the show centers on a dysfunctional family that lives in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. In the real … Continue Reading
Pardon my generation gap, but I don’t always effectively communicate the importance of saving for retirement to the Generation X employee. So the index card below is another way of "looking" at it. For us verbal folks, index cards are that old school analog method of organizing information. Jessica Hagy, however, uses the centuries-old 3-by-5 … Continue Reading
See full-size image. Both modern art and a fund prospectus can be totally incomprehensible. 401(k) participants may not be exposed to modern art, but they sure are provided mutual fund prospectuses – at least by those plan sponsors looking for 404(c) protection. Understanding modern art will have to wait for an Art Apprec course. The … Continue Reading
We finally got clarity about when 401(k) contributions must be deposited when the Department of Labor (DOL) on February 28 announced a proposed safe harbor of 7 business days. But it’s the DOL’s directive in Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) No. 2008-01 on fiduciary responsibility for collection of delinquent contributions that will have more impact on … Continue Reading
Click here for larger image. They’re called Solo 401(k), Solo(k), and Individual 401(k). But by whatever name they are called, they provide an opportunity for the self-employed or small business owner with no employees (other than their spouse) to establish 401(k) plans and to max out their deductible retirement plan. While 401(k) plans were introduced … Continue Reading
It was 1982, and many of today’s baby boomers were listening to the song, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” that was on The Clash’s album, Combat Rock. According to NME, Mick Jones, the lead guitar on the song, wrote it about singer Ellen Foley, who sang the backing vocals on Meatloaf’s Bat Out … Continue Reading
