That’s how many people fill out their brackets for March Madness. Jennifer Taglione writes about these and other shortcuts used to pick the winner of the NCAA basketball championship in her post, Bracketology 101: Common Bracket Methodologies, on the Bleacher Report blog. That type of decision-making may be o.k. for picking (or trying to pick) … Continue Reading
2009 was a challenging year for employers and employees. From our vintage point, we are seeing more employers than in recent years finding it necessary to return excess 401(k) contributions to Highly Compensated Employees by the March 15 deadline or provide a supplemental 100% vested contribution called a Qualified Non-Elective Contribution, a/k/a “QNEC”. Unfortunately, passing 401(k) … Continue Reading
No disrespect intended to the attorneys for beginning this post with a cartoon from the creative mind of Terry Hart, a/k/a, Hartboy. Rather, it’s intended as an excellent visual metaphor for my takeaway from the recent article written by our friend (and attorney) Andy Williams on his Benefits Law Group of Chicago website. Andy writes … Continue Reading
Our friends at Employee Benefit News Legal Alert published one of those "must read" articles. Attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer writes Tough Times Are No Excuse for ERISA Shortcuts. Ms. Stamer correctly points out that irrespective of the business hardships that plan sponsors are facing, the Department of Labor (DOL) will aggressively pursue enforcement if they … Continue Reading
That was the title of a blog post I wrote exactly one year ago today when Brightscope, Inc., an independent data analytics company launched their 401k ratings disclosure website. It featured the BrightScope Rating™, a quantitative 401(k) plan rating developed by BrightScope, Inc. in partnership with some of the country’s top independent fiduciaries, finance professors, and … Continue Reading
That’s the title of a press release I received this week from Cogent Research, a market research and strategic consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts about the results of their 2010 Investor Brandscape™ report. According to Cogent, Fidelity Investments has forfeited its position as both the number one distributor and mutual fund provider to key rivals … Continue Reading
That’s the poster from the not so good 1979 movie, The Shape of Things To Come. You kinda get the picture from the tagline Beyond the earth… Beyond the moon… Beyond your wildest imagination! The movie was an adaptation of the 1933 science fiction novel, The Shape of Things To Come, by H.G. Wells which … Continue Reading
It’s that season of the year. No, not the obvious holiday season, but the award show season. And I’ve got my own called, The Retirement Plan Year in Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The reference is, of course, to Sergio Leone’s classic 1966 movie, considered the greatest of the Italian … Continue Reading
Welcome to Adam Pozek and his new blog, Pozek On Pension to the cadre of retirement plan bloggers. He is Vice President, Consulting Services for Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group. In the few posts Adam has published so far, he provides context for what’s happening with retirement plans with a point of view. And here’s one that … Continue Reading
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), an independent non-partisan research organization, in their annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) has been asking workers how confident they are in having enough money for a comfortable retirement since 1993. And in today’s economy, it should be no surprise that EBRI reported The 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey: Economy Drives … Continue Reading
Most annual retirement plan limits are indexed to inflation; and because of the decline in the Cost of Living Index in 2009, many of the limits remained unchanged for 2010. Following are the key retirement plan limits for 2010 as announced by the Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) and 403(b) Deferrals: $16,500. Catch-Up Limit (Age 50 … Continue Reading
If you missed that 2000 stoner comedy Dude, Where’s My Car?, you had several chances recently to catch it on cable. But if you’re still not aware of this movie that was a modest box-office success but has managed to develop a cult following, let me raise your pop culture awareness. Two potheads played by … Continue Reading
Common Craft has just released their new video, Saving for Retirement In Plan English. They are superbly talented producers of videos for training and education, whose product they say is "explanation". The video can be licensed for use by any organization that has the goal of increasing awareness and adoption of a retirement savings … Continue Reading
In a recent series of three Revenue Notices and four Notices the Treasury Department issued Retirement Savings & Initiatives to help Americans save for the future. The new Initiatives: Expand automatic enrollment in 401(k) and other retirement savings plans Create easier ways to save tax refunds Allow unused leave to be converted to 401(k) savings … Continue Reading
Gimme Shelter is, of course, one of the classic songs by The Rolling Stones, and it first appeared as the opening track on the band’s 1969 album Let It Bleed. The song was written in the context of the cultural turmoil of the 1960s, e.g., the Vietnam War, and the lyrics speak of seeking shelter … Continue Reading
That’s Chicago’s own Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson pictured in a scene from Lost In Translation, the 2003 movie in which they co-starred. I’ll skip the movie review and just describe it as writer/director Sofia Coppola’s story about Murray and Johansson playing two people out of sorts with Japan, the country they find themselves visiting. … Continue Reading
Form 5500 isn’t just transforming disclosures as our friend and fellow blogger, Bob Toth, explained in his post 2009 Form 5500 Schedules A and C Will Create New Fiduciary Burdens For Plan Sponsors. The reporting road will be also be different, and there will be red flags along the way. Here’s why.… Continue Reading
Bankruptcy cases increased approximately 35% for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2009 , according to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of cases went from 967,831 to 1,306,305. These statistics call attention to one of the often overlooked aspects of a retirement plan – protection from bankruptcy. It’s … Continue Reading
The picture above is the cover of Jim Collins’ bestseller, Good To Great. The book, says Mr. Collins, shows that Greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance; but largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline. He’s talking about corporate management, of course. But why not think about 401(k) plans in those same terms. … Continue Reading
Each week Nevin E. Adams, JD, PLANADVISER Editor-in-Chief writes a column called IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), and he’s always a good read. He’s just published a two-part series that’s an excellent, common sense approach for fiduciaries that’s definitely worth keeping handy. It’s called “To Do” List: 10 Things You’re (Probably) Doing Wrong—or Not Doing … Continue Reading
What’s an eligible rollover distribution and what’s not can be as complicated and confusing matter as the maze pictured above. Here’s a recent and handy discussion of the rules and a chart that may be helpful to find your way through it. It’s published by McKay Hochman which you can find here.… Continue Reading
I was flipping – or rather, clicking – through my album collection yesterday, and landed on The Well’s On Fire, Procul Harum’s 2003 studio album. If you’re not a child of the ’60s or are too young, they’re the 1960s British rock group best known for their 1967 hit single, A Whiter Shade of Pale, … Continue Reading
The economy doesn’t seem to be improving, and hardship distributions from 401(k) plans continue to be taken. A few months ago I posted, Hard Times Mean More 401(k) Hardship Distributions. I’m revisiting this matter again to point you to how to make hardship distributions correctly as discussed in the IRS’ Summer 2009 Edition of Retirement … Continue Reading
That’s Les Stroud pictured above whose TV show, Survivorman, is one of my favorites. One of my other favorites is Bear Gyylls show, Man Versus Wild. Both are survival experts who go toe-to-toe with some of the harshest environments on the planet and come through alive. So if you’ll grant me some editorial license, Les’s picture is the visual metaphor I’m … Continue Reading
