Checklists. Doctors use them. Engineers use them, Pilots use them. A checklist is a tool to manage complicated jobs. Atul Gawande, MD, author of best seller, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, puts it this way: Checklists not only offer the possibility of verification but also instill a kind of discipline of higher … Continue Reading
I’m a big NBA fan, and I love those time traveling Kia commercials featuring Blake Griffin, the All Star forward of the Los Angeles Clippers.He’s in his Kia Optima and says, "Kia, take me back to 1992." There he meets himself and learns valuable life lessons. I can also imagine time traveling. Not with a … Continue Reading
As planning opportunities continue to emerge from the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), the increase in federal income tax rates and capital gains tax rates may make qualified plans more attractive to higher wage earners. According to a PwC HRS Insights report, there is more likelihood the compensation may be subject to tax … Continue Reading
Each year the Internal Revenue Service announces the cost-of-living adjustments applicable to qualified retirement plans for the following year. Unlike 2001 in which most limits did not change from the prior year, most limits increased: Following are the key retirement plan limits announced yesterday by the IRS: The 401(k) and 403(b) limit for employee contributions … Continue Reading
For a business owner choosing a retirement plan, it’s kinda like those compare and contrast essay questions on college exams. Except this time, it’s real life and a lot more complicated than the venn diagram pictured above. Fortunately, our friend Denise Appleby at her Appleby Retirement Dictionary has provided a handy and comprehensive chart comparing … 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
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
Whether your preference is Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or now Daniel Craig, the James Bond character has been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date. The Bond movies started in 1962 with Dr. No. For us ERISA people, our Bond originated … Continue Reading
Every once in a while I’ll start to wander off into “Pensionspeak” when I’m talking to a client. And when I do, I’ll catch myself by remembering what one of our important business partners once told me when I started to get too technical. Or even technical at all depending on the audience. He told … Continue Reading
Remember that kids’ game, Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral? You had to guess into what category the object fell. Well, today in business, there is a similar question. Independent contractor or employee? But it’s not a game. The misclassification of a worker can have serious financial consequences. Penalties and interest involving payroll taxes can pile up … Continue Reading
The Tribune bankrupcy notwithstanding, ESOPs are doing very well in this country. Behind the headlines are the vast majority of sucessful ESOPs sponsored by closely-hald companies. You can follow what’s happening with ESOPs through two new blogs that have just come on-line. Employee Ownership Notes sponsored by The National Center for Employee Ownership Employee Ownership Blog sponsored by The Employee Ownership Foundation Hat Tip to Marc … Continue Reading
Over at Slate’s BizBox blog, a special promotion by Open from American Express, I posted an article that discusses one of the things it takes for business owners to be able to make retirement plan contributions. Check out Be A Park-Down-The-Street-Businessperson.… Continue Reading
A Risk Management Tool for Fiduciaries in A New Retirement Plan Environment Updated for the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PDF) Introduction My last post was a year-end ERISA fidelity bond reminder. ERISA does not require liability protection; the only mandatory insurance is an ERISA Fidelity bond to protect the plan assets from losses due to misuse or … Continue Reading
See full-size image. Exit strategies for business owners – particularly the baby boomers – is a matter to which they are giving increased attention. And so are their attorneys. Yesterday I participated in a continuing education program sponsored by the Financial Insitution Committee of the Chicago Bar Association for its members on this topic. Our particular focus was ESOP … Continue Reading
It’s a global economy, of course, and most of us – irrespective of size – are doing business outside the U.S. In our case, we have non-U.S. company clients with employees here. So I’m always interested what benefits non-U.S. companies are providing their employees in the home country. I’ve posted before that employee ownership is … Continue Reading
Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock announced last Thursday a new state program to encourage the formation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) in the state. The new program, called Indiana’s ESOP Initiative (ICI), will invest up to $50 million in state money in Indiana banks that specifically lower their interest rates in loans made to … 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
Back in the day – before ERISA – retirement plans had ‘bad boy” clauses. These were plan provisions under which a participant would forfeit his vested account balance if the participant was a “bad boy” for such actions as violating a non-compete clause or committing a criminal act. But ERISA did away with “bad boy” … 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
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
