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
Until they say otherwise, the Department of Labor (DOL) doesn’t want to see crypto in 401(k) plans. I think the door for Bitcoin in 401(k) plans opens a little bit because the ETFs will probably smooth over the volatility of...more
Despite my concerns about allowing crypto options in 401(k) plans, that issue will be back for us. As Bitcoin is at $37,000 and rising, there is expected approval of Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds....more
Thanks to litigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission will likely approve a few Bitcoin-centric exchange-traded funds. That begs the question, will those ETFs be allowed as investments within 401(k) plans?...more
While technology makes it easier for bad actors to steal the retirement assets of plan participants, it’s far easier to steal from 401(k) plans with crypto investments. 401(k) plans that have Bitcoin investments would have a...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published guidance earlier this year warning fiduciaries who administer retirement plans to “exercise extreme care” when considering whether to include cryptocurrency as a plan investment...more
I keep on saying that timing is everything and with Bitcoin falling about 60% off its high, this isn’t the time for adding it to 401(k) plans. In May, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) introduced a bill that would allow Bitcoin and...more
In the 1970s, the Phillie Phanatic was born. While Mr. Met was the first mascot in baseball history, the Phanatic was a bigger hit. Soon everyone wanted one and The New York Yankees hired the people to design the mascot,...more
The problem with offering participants direction of investments is participants themselves. As a whole, they make poor investment decisions and exhibit poor timing. So that is just another reason why Bitcoin and 401(k) plans...more
The Department of Labor criticized Fidelity Investments’ plan to allow investors to put bitcoin in their 401(k) accounts....more
Late last month, Fidelity Investments created a minor firestorm when it announced that it would allow retirement plan sponsors to offer bitcoin as an investment option for participants. In reaction to this move, the...more
On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Compliance Assistance Release (the “Release”) addressing its views on the availability of cryptocurrencies on 401(k) investment platforms. This guidance comes...more
Fidelity Investments recently announced that it will offer its 401(k) plan clients the opportunity to offer bitcoin as a 401(k) plan investment option later this year. While this may sound intriguing to some plan fiduciaries...more
Crypto seems to be everywhere these days. Just last week Fidelity Investments launched a bitcoin option for its 401(k) plans. The nation’s largest plan administrator is providing the 23,000 companies it manages retirement...more
A major U.S. fintech firm recently announced the launch of a “crypto payouts” pilot that will allow a select group of creators to receive cryptocurrency payments through a major social media platform. According to a press...more
New GDP figures in yesterday showed slight, inflation-adjusted contraction of the U.S. economy (just .4%), but the decline “masked evidence of a recovery that economists said remained fundamentally strong.” Especially...more
Investments in Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming more and more mainstream. Driven by outrageous returns, and presenting outrageous volatility and risk, both traditional institutional and individual...more
Cryptocurrency investing has experienced a tidal wave of popularity since the fabled genesis of Bitcoin in 2009. This growth has been fueled by “extreme” investment returns (despite “extreme” volatility) and innovative means...more
A few weeks back, I offered my two cents on Bitcoin (and other crypto-currency) and why I thought they would be lousy investments in a 401(k) plan....more
Over the 30 years of investing, I have seen nothing like my investment in bitcoin and other digital currencies. There have been swings of more than 10% a day and I’m up over 100% since first starting investing this summer....more
Credit Card Company To Integrate USDC Payments, 401(k) Advisor Integrates Bitcoin - A major U.S. credit card company has announced plans to link its global payments network of over 60 million merchants to a cryptocurrency...more
In the News. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to create a new category of “seasoned” qualified mortgages; the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of...more
Ratings Agency Moody’s Corp. has agreed to pay roughly $864 million to resolve federal and state claims that it gave juiced ratings to risky MBS in the run-up to the financial crisis. Half of the total will end up in DOJ...more
IN THE SPOTLIGHT - - California Passes Life and Annuity Electronic Transactions Law LIFE INSURANCE - - Under a Spotlight, "Shadow Insurance" Lawsuit Fails Scrutiny - NAIC Evaluates Insurer’s Use of Variable...more