Every year the Internal Revenue Service releases cost of living adjustments to applicable dollar limits for retirement plans. Here is a link to a chart (pdf) that summarizes the most frequently used limits.… Continue Reading
If you’re one of the many 403(b) plan sponsors just getting started in dealing with the impact of the new 403(b) regulations on administration and compliance requirements, this post may provide you some guidance in focusing on the issues that need to be addressed by the rapidly approaching January 1, 2009 effective date. These are … 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
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
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
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
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
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
View larger image. Lost in the mass media focus on the Baby Boomers retiring is Generation X, the generation that follows. Depending on how they are defined, it’s the people born between 1965 and 1985 (age 23 to 43). I’ve written about them before, Not my generation that nobody seems to want. The "nobody" referred … Continue Reading
I’ve got that queasy feeling again in my stomach. The recent collapse of Bear Stearns gave me flashbacks to the 1990s during which we struggled with insolvency issues affecting ERISA plans. If you were around back then, you’ll remember the insurance companies that failed or were seized by insurance regulators as a result of failed … Continue Reading
Retirement plans in the U.K. and this country are a lot alike. Employers in both countries have shifted from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. Employers in both countries use a trust-based system complete with fiduciary responsibilities. And employers in both countries are understandably trying to limit their exposure to fiduciary liability. U.K. employers, … Continue Reading
This is one of those Good News/Bad News stories. The Wall Street Journal on March 27 reported that “Household Wealth Rises as Retirees Age” citing a paper posted on the Federal Reserve’s website. The Journal quotes the authors as saying that adjusted for inflation, The median’s household’s wealth declines more slowly than its remaining life … Continue Reading
Add one more trend to Boomer demographics. Recent research has revealed that Boomers continue to push the limits regarding the prevalence of divorce. While just 33% of married adults from the two preceding generations has experienced a divorce, almost half (46%) of all married Boomers have already been divorced. They will be almost certain to … Continue Reading
One of those wonderful tax benefits that a qualified retirement plan and IRA provide is the tax deferral of contributions and earnings. But nothing lasts forever including the payment of benefits (and the taxes thereon). So the tax laws require RBDs and RMDs. That’s tax talk for “required beginning date” and “required minimum distribution” respectively. … Continue Reading
It starts tonight, the 2008 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament (the play-in game between Mt. St. Mary’s and Coppin St. with the winner having the dubious honor of playing North Carolina on Friday). And a lot of money is going to be lost. No, not just by most of the bettors, but by employers whose employees will be … Continue Reading
See full-size image. “Decumulation”, in definitional terms, means the conversion of pension assets accumulated during an employee’s working life into pension income to be spent during retired life. But in practical terms, decumulation embodies a significant new risk for the record number of future retirees moving from the accumulation phase of their lives to the … Continue Reading
They’re back! They’re employees who back in the day we called "rehires", those former employees who were hired back. Now they’re called "boomerang employees". Diane Stafford, the Kansas City Star’s workplace columnist, writes about the trend for employers to re-hire former employees as reported by Management Recruiters International, an executive search and recruiting firm. In … Continue Reading
See full-size image. It didn’t get quite the attention that did the landmark Supreme Court ruling in LaRue v. DeWolff that defined contribution participants can bring fiduciary breach suits to recover individual damages. The "it" is the Department of Labor’s recent Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) No. 2008-01, and it’s long-term implication may be as profound. … Continue Reading
A few months ago, I wrote about the possibility that a class action law suit might be filed against the National Education Association (NEA). Well, now it’s happened. The law suit claims that the NEA accepted payments from the 403(b) providers to endorse those retirement plans, and that the fees and expenses charged by the … Continue Reading
