PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0: Leveraging Opportunities Employees Want Most
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
Private Equity VS Real Estate Transactions | #5 Setting Your Rent as Part of a PE Deal
Jewish Divorce Talk: Episode 4 - Financial Talk
Rising Chapter 11 Bankruptcies in Healthcare
Physician Employment Agreements: Focus on Financial Planning
All in the Family – Introducing Family Owned Life Insurance™ (aka FOLI™)
Family Affair - Introducing Family Office Life Annuity (FOLA)
TAKE A CHANCE ON ME! PART II - Embracing the Magic of Private Placement Life Insurance and Private Placement Variable Annuities
RETURN TO FOREVER - What Game Shall We Play Today?
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Planning for Post-Retirement Medical Expenses with 401(h) Plans
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Planning for Post-Retirement Medical Expenses With 401(h) Plans
HIPPER THAN HIP
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part IV Using Post-Retirement Medical Plans to Raise AUM and Sell Life Insurance
NOWOTNY ON DEATH AND TAXES EPISODE 35 USING POST-RETIREMENT MEDICAL PLANS TO RAISE AUM
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part 3 Using Malta Pension Plans to Raise AUM and Sell More Life Insurance
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part 2 Using PPLI and PPVA Annuities to Raise Assets Under Management and Sell More Life Insurance
In 2007, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved the creation of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the FINRA arbitration forum officially came into being. ...more
The SEC charged five more registered investment advisers with violating the Investment Advisers Act’s Marketing Rule by advertising hypothetical performance on their websites without adopting appropriate policies and...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed a sweeping expansion of the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) affirmative anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of...more
Today is the anniversary of the largest Powerball lottery victory in the United States of $2.04 billion. Just over the $1.765 billion jackpot claimed last month (Oct 2023). What are some tax tips for lottery winners and...more
On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted or amended rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) that impose significant new obligations on advisers to private...more
Last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took a refreshed look at how broker-dealers are complying with anti-money laundering rules. What auditors discerned — as detailed in their July 31 risk alert — is...more
Recent Changes That Plan Providers May Not Like - On Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ed Asner was a guest star, playing an elderly man who wanted to change his will. Based on a recommendation by Larry David, Ed’s character visited the...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted a new standard called Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) that shifts the focus on protecting customers first and foremost. Although the regulation possibly puts...more
I use Twitter for both business and pleasure. It’s a great way to promote all my businesses and I have developed friendships with quite a few people who are famous and many who are not....more
I’m still amazed when I find participant-directed 401(k) plans without a financial advisor. While I understand how solo 401(k) plans don’t have an advisor because individuals think they can do it on their own, it makes no...more
FINRA Enforcement has often been accused (again, admittedly, by me, and not too infrequently) of going after the “low-hanging fruit,” that is, taking the easy case when it presents itself. Putting aside the question whether...more
If you start a retirement plan provider practice, it can be frustrating. Like I always say about things in my life, “If it wasn’t a struggle, it wasn’t any fun”. Building a retirement plan practice isn’t easy because a stash...more
I’ve written blog posts about the problems that I see when a plan provider I know gets purchased. From experience, any purchase comes along with a lot of change. The problem is most of the time, it’s not good....more
Where to sell Pooled Employer Plans? A good start is the states where employers have to offer retirement plans. 12 states and one city have enacted laws that, generally, require certain employers without their retirement...more
Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. and Great-West Capital Management, LLC (together, “Great-West”) have won a judgment that they did not violate their fiduciary duty by receiving excessive investment advisory and...more
As you know, Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) was booked for That 401(k) National Virtual Conference. As you also may know, Congressman Raskin was the Associate Dean at American University Washington College of Law when I...more
Stuff That Won’t Help A Retirement Plan Sponsor Limit Their Liability - A seat belt in a car is useless if the driver or passenger isn’t wearing it. A smoke detector is useless if the batteries are dead. Vitamin C won’t...more
As part of the EU’s strategy on climate change following the Paris Agreement of 2015, a number of EU regulations have been enacted in the past 12 months. From the fund management industry’s point of view, the two most...more
In the News. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a long-awaited rule seeking comment on its proposed approach to determine the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluation measure benchmarks, retail...more
I once referred a 401(k) plan to an advisor. He did a terrible job and there were issues regarding his ability to do the work. Making a lousy referral is even worse than doing poor work of your own because at least you had...more
I always talk about my open-door policy with financial advisors and third party advisors where I will help these plan providers out without me actively seeking their business. I kind of have that liberty because it’s my law...more
Over the past several months, we have seen a number of public agency clients struggle through the process of evaluating and selecting a retirement plan adviser based only on generic questionnaires, a few phone calls, and an...more
Our world has been turned upside down by COVID. Even with me, I had to put all my live conferences on hold for 2020 and make changes when school was cancelled. We’ve all had to make sacrifices in one form or another....more
Captain Kirk didn’t believe in the no-win situation, he learned the hard way in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. There are certain situations as a plan provider where a client relationship puts you in a no-win situation...more
In a pair of settlements announced on July 28, 2020, the SEC charged VALIC Financial Advisors (the “Firm”) with two separate sets of violations that allowed the Firm to obtain millions of dollars in fees without providing...more