That’s Jack Webb who played Sergeant Joe Friday of the LAPD, arguably the most popular police character in television history in the 1951-1959 series Dragnet. (The 1987 movie spoof of Dragnet in which Dan Aykroyd played the Joe Friday character didn’t do the original justice). Friday’s catch phrase used in his investigations, "Just the facts, ma’am," remains indelibly etched in … Continue Reading
I’ve written several articles about 401(k) loans in the past pointing out the negatives, and at one point I asked the question, Are 401(k) accounts piggy banks? Well, excuse me for being so retro, because now through the combination of modern technology and consumer marketing comes the 401(k) Debit Card. An article in TheStreet.com by … Continue Reading
The other day I wrote about the duty of a fiduciary to monitor service providers in the context of 401(k) plan sponsors not being concerned about the consolidation service of providers. We also hear a lot about the duty of a fiduciary to not just select service providers prudently, but to also monitor them. And … Continue Reading
See full-size image No, this isn’t a post about the The Clash. It’s about the on-going consolidation in the retirement plan industry of 401(k) providers. According to the Spectrem Group, a consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets, more than two dozen 401(k) providers have either sold or outsourced the recordkeeping portion of … Continue Reading
The Iowa caucus voting results are in, and so is the American Dialect Society’s 18th annual words of the year vote (PDF), and "subprime" won by a large margin. The vote, of course, reflects the preoccupation of the press and public for the past year with a deepening mortgage crisis. The American Dialect Society (ADS) … Continue Reading
Baseball fans and particularly Cub fans will recognize this picture of Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, “Mr. Cub”. Banks became well known for his catch phrase of, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame… Let’s play two!” In retirement plan terms, it’s the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) telling business owners that two retirement … Continue Reading
According to a recent survey (PDF) by Country Insurance & Financial Services, more people resolved to lose weight and exercise more (24%) or to spend more time with friends and family (23%) than plan to focus on improving money matters in 2008 (17%). Respondents also said that they’ll make better financial choices next year, although … Continue Reading
It’s the New Year, and it’s prediction time. So what’s ahead for employers in 2008? Paul Secunda in his post in The Workplace Prof Blog, 2008 Workplace Trends, points us to Diane Stafford’s predictions in the on-line edition of the Kansas City Star. Paul comments that These all sound right to me, and I would … Continue Reading
"Taxman" The producer of this video, WildCard Productions, calls it "a tribute to the greatest band’s greatest album". It is, of course, the Revolver album released in 1966, often cited as one of the greatest albums in rock music history, The song on the video, “Taxman”, was written and performed by George Harrison. Harrison performs the … Continue Reading
See full size image. It’s that time of the year again. Yes, that time when tax advisers like Joe Kristen who writes the Tax Update Blog for Roth & Co., P.C., ask self-employed business people, Is A Qualified Plan a Good Move by Year End?. So let’s assume that for personal financial and tax reasons … Continue Reading
What’s 1% worth? In terms of an increased retirement benefit – a lot of money! Paul Secunda over at the Workplace Prof Blog provides us with an Illustration of How 401(k) Management Fees Add Up, and shows us the effect on earnings of even one percentage point difference in annual fees on a 401(k) balance of $20,000 invested … Continue Reading
See full size image That’s the question that retirement plan sponsors are asking their advisors. So exactly what is next for 401(k) plans? Last month I wrote that the 401(k) arms race is over, the proliferation of features that 401(k) providers have been doing over the last 25 years to stay competitive. Now, says the … Continue Reading
Click to make bigger. Inertia, in classical physics, is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as: “a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.” In 401(k) plans, inertia can be defined as many eligible employees never signing up … Continue Reading
Tight credit and a slumping housing market that has reduced the use of home equity as a loan source is causing people to look in other directions to borrow money. And for those who are participants in 401(k) plans, there may be a loan provision in their plan to utilize. But there is a downside … Continue Reading
A new and unpopular Michigan 6% service tax on business died on Saturday less than 17 hours after it had taken effect. The tax officially became law at 12:01 a..m. Saturday, but later in the day the Michigan legislature approved a bill repealing and replacing the tax which Governor Jennifer Granholm later signed that same … Continue Reading
The retirement plan tax laws have never been better, automatic enrollment makes it easy for employees to contribute to a 401(k) plan, and the new Qualified Default Investment Arrangement (QDIA) gives participants access to professional investment managers. But first, there’s gotta be a retirement plan. And sadly, few small business owners consider it their responsibility … Continue Reading
It seems like there is always an ERISA deadline. Here’s one coming up on December 1. It’s the due date for a calendar year plan to distribute a safe harbor notice for 2008. If the notice is timely provided and other conditions met (discussed below), a 401(k) plan is treated as satisfying the discrimination testing. … Continue Reading
Vanguard and Fidelity were named the number one and number two "stars" in a recent survey by Cogent Research, a Cambridge, Massachusetts strategic marketing research firm. Cogent’s survey, Investor Brandscape, measured customer loyalty, ownership, revenue and equity of brand among 38 fund companies to determine the strengths of the fund companies. Interesting research from a … Continue Reading
That’s a question many business owners ask as part of the tax planning process. That is, business owners who are also employees of their corporations. And the answer as to what “reasonable compensation” – as determined by the IRS on audit – is based on the facts and circumstance based on IRS guidelines. And what’s “reasonable” … Continue Reading
I recently wrote about the Alliance Bernstein 2006 research that indicated that plan sponsors want to "keep it simple". What that translates to when plan sponsors are shopping for service providers is the ability to provide administrative services on-line. New research by Spectrem Group confirms that automated plan administration functions, such as electronic payroll submission, … Continue Reading
With much of the attention focused on the major provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), there is a tax benefit available to low to moderate-income taxpayers that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s the Saver’s Credit slated to expire after 2006 which the PPA made permanent., and it provides an added bonus to the increasing number of employees that … Continue Reading
That’s the expression that AllianceBernstein, the global asset management firm, uses to describe what 401(k) plan are all about now. Since the beginning of 401(k) plans over 25 years ago, 401(k) providers have escalated the number of plan features to stay competitive with other providers. We’ve seen the evolution of such features as: Daily … Continue Reading
It was a big media event a few weeks ago when the "first" Baby Boomer, a retired school teacher from New Jersey, born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, applied for Social Security benefits. But working beyond the traditional age 65 will be the reality even for affluent Baby Boomers according to a … Continue Reading
