PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Helping Employers Address the Gender Gap in Retirement Savings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Millennials, Boomers and Retirement Planning
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
2022 Resolutions: What Healthcare Practices Need To Tackle In the New Year
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2020 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cybersecurity Considerations for Retirement Plan Sponsors
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Employee Benefits Considerations When Conducting Furloughs and Layoffs
Under recently finalized federal regulations (commonly referred to as the “Fiduciary Rule”) that were scheduled to become effective on September 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor intended to expand the fiduciary...more
Following previous failed attempts to expand the fiduciary liability of financial services providers, the DOL released a new rule that broadens the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The new rule is expected to face...more
Cryptocurrencies and digital assets—such as bitcoin, ether and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—have become some of the hottest investment products in recent years. The growing interest has inevitably led to retirement plan...more
If there is one situation that I see consistently with plan providers landing in trouble, a good chunk of the time is when they put their needs ahead of the needs of their clients. The needs of the client should always come...more
Benjamin Franklin once said “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” While that is always prudent advice, the Department of Labor (DOL) believes it’s best to grant an extension to investment advisors and...more
We still have a retirement crisis in this country as people don’t have enough retirement savings and so many people don’t have access to a retirement plan at work. The Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives...more
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 6) - On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more
On June 15, SEC Chairman Clayton issued a statement partially entitled: “Need for Increased Care when Recommending 401(k)/IRA Rollovers and Withdrawals . . .”. As that title suggests, the Chairman’s statement covers areas...more
On April 7, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced that, after the initial June 30, 2020 compliance date to file Form CRS, the OCIE will conduct...more
One of the most forgotten parts of a 401(k) plan is the automatic rollover and who the automatic rollover provider is. I was going through a Department of Labor audit on a terminated plan and they asked me how the automatic...more
The beauty of the retirement plan business is that it isn't static, it's constantly changing. One of the reasons that it constantly changes is changes in the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, and regulations. The SECURE Act is...more
Hot Topics For 401(k) Plan Providers. Stuff you should be aware of. The beauty of the retirement plan business is that it's constantly changing, the bad part of it is that it's constantly changing. As a plan provider,...more
The Bottom Line For Retirement Plan Providers. More plan assets for your clients is a good thing for many reasons. When I had the idea of starting a National ERISA practice 10 years ago, I knew I would have a tough time...more
Transition Period Extension - In an August 9th court filing, the DOL announced it will extend the transition period for three prohibited transaction exemptions relating to the fiduciary investment advice rule (the...more
As you probably heard, Morgan Stanley will be moving to a level compensation approach for its 401(k) advisors. So this means it will do away with commission payments and finder’s fees (for recommending record-keeping...more
The future of the fiduciary rule—originally set to be implemented this upcoming April—remains uncertain after the White House directed the United States Department of Labor (DOL) to reevaluate, defer implementation and...more
In 2016, regulatory developments introduced fundamental changes in the legal standards that govern the relationship of broker-dealers with their customers. Although the changes are not applicable until April 10, 2017, most in...more
A "Crystal Ball" On Life After The New ERISA Fiduciary Rule. We can see the future if we look closely enough. The Department of Labor's (DOL) new fiduciary rule that is going to go in effect in April 2017 is going...more
On April 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its final rule defining who is a fiduciary in connection with investment advice that is provided to benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income...more
The Struggles Of Being A Retirement Plan Provider And How To Manage It. What you have to deal with. Any good retirement plan financial advisor will tell you that relationships in the retirement plan business mean...more
On April 6, 2016, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its final conflict of interest regulations, which significantly expand who is considered a fiduciary when dealing with a retirement account. The new regulations,...more
Editor's Overview - This month we feature three key developments. First, we review the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 136 S. Ct. 936, 947 (2016) wherein the Supreme Court held that a...more
On April 6, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a widely anticipated final regulation that redefines who is a “fiduciary” of certain employee benefit and other plans for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income...more
Ima Knowitall, owner of All My Business Ideas (AMBI), just read the Wall Street Journal article on new Department of Labor (DOL) regulations and called her financial advisor, Phillip Coffers. Mindful of last fall’s Tilting...more
On April 8, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) released the much anticipated final regulation to broaden the scope of fiduciary status under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal...more