The SECURE Act: Significant Changes for Retirement Plans and IRAs
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
While many provisions of SECURE 2.0 apply to various types of retirement plans, including 403(b) plans, this update will focus on those provisions of the Act that apply only to 403(b) plans....more
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released their final revisions to the Form 5500 and the Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan for the 2021 plan...more
Whether it’s a single employer plan, a multiple employer plan (MEP), a pooled employer plan (PEP), or a plan provider, they can always be a target for ERISA litigation....more
Multiple employer plans (MEPs) have become larger targets for litigation when they achieve a plan of substantial size....more
Even before COVID-19 changed everything, unions and participating employers held out hope for federal assistance for severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans, which threatened the payment of retirement benefits across...more
If I got $5 for every time an advisor or other plan provider told me they had an in with an association, I’d probably have enough to pay my mortgage. The problem. Having an in doesn’t mean that advisor or plan provider can...more
If there is one famous quote that’s landed me in trouble, it’s one from my favorite football coach Bill Parcells. Parcells was coaching the New England Patriots and he wasn’t getting along with the new owner Robert Kraft...more
I rarely talk about legislation because so many bills over the years get proposed with zero action by Congress. It took more than 4 years for Roth 401(k) plans to be a thing. However, I want to take time to talk about...more
In terms of the 401(k) plan business, I think the hype over pooled employer plans (PEP) will be the most over hype since the release of Crystal Pepsi....more
If you become big enough, you can get sued. That is the lesson I tell everyone when someone mentions to me when a large plan provider or a large plan gets sued. Jerry Schlicter’s law firms has targeted the Pentegra Defined...more
I like choice and I like the idea that there is something called Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) in 2021 because I always liked the idea of Open Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs). Another great aspect of it is the discussion and...more
If you’re a small employer with a 401(k) plan, you might save some money and provide a more professional level of administrative support by joining a Pooled Employer Plan (PEP). Unrelated employers have always been able to...more
I love Las Vegas and the last two times I was there; I didn’t gamble a nickel. I hate gambling because I hate to lose. For me, getting up in the morning is a big enough gamble. A lot of plan sponsors gamble when they...more
As everyone is gearing for the January 1, 2021 implementation of pooled employer plans (PEPs), I keep on insisting that this won’t be the game-changer that everyone hopes. I think PEPs are a great idea, it finally...more
Colorado is just another state that is offering a payroll deduction IRA program, forcing businesses to offer this program if they have five or more employees. I’m in favor of anything that offers increased retirement plan...more
The intention of multiple employer plans is that for the small plan market, their fees should be lower than single-employer plans. According to a paper by Natalya Shnitser, assistant professor at Boston College Law School, it...more
When your plan becomes big enough, you become a target. A lawsuit was filed in New Jersey Federal Court by McCaffree Financial Corp., a participating employer of the ADP TotalSource Retirement Savings Plan...more
A plan provider once asked me if I had written a full-blown article on why trustee directed 401(k) plans are better than participant-directed plans. I haven’t even if I believed in it (which I do), but it’s not going to get...more
I am a proponent of multiple employer plans (MEPs) and the new change that will allow pooled employer plans (PEPs) that will be what we called an Open MEP in 2021. As discussed in other posts, the PEP change doesn’t change...more
I always say that the retirement plan business is relationship-driven. It’s a business built on trust and it’s built on time. One of my dear friends in this business is James Holland, an advisor based in North Carolina. We...more
While I loved the fact that pooled employer plan (PEP) is an option as a multiple employer plan (MEP) under the SECURE Act, the problem is that one huge problem concerning MEPs remains and can’t be fixed by law. It’s the slow...more
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is a national service organization that represents more than 1,000 rural electric cooperatives around the United States. NRECA sponsors a 401(k) multiple employer plan...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was signed into law late last month and makes significant positive changes impacting retirement plans. Many of the provisions are effective today, so...more
Over the next year, the Department of Labor (DOL) will likely be issuing guidance in a number of areas that could impact asset managers and financial services companies. In this Bottom Line videocast, Carol McClarnon and...more
There are two parts of the SECURE Act that I believe will have the greatest impact on plan sponsors and service providers. • The first part includes the provisions on retirement income, including the safe harbor for...more