Despite predictions by some that 2021 would begin with an explosion of Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) as a result of the passage of the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement), that does not seem to be the case, so far. Certainly there…
Now that we seem to be emerging from the COVID-19 crisis – emphasis on “seem” – it is time for the retirement savings industry to begin the long process of assessing where things stand. According to a new consumer survey, things are standing a little…
The April 14 release of cybersecurity guidance for retirement plan sponsors and fiduciaries by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is both momentous, and long overdue. That this is the first time that the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued such guidance speaks…
Not long ago, I wrote a blog entitled, “The SSRA: What’s Not to Like?” Now that it is wending its way through the Congressional approval process, my answer remains the same: There is very little not to like. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SSRA)…
Question: “When is it time to rethink your strategy?” Answer: “Always!” Self-evident? Perhaps, but a recent PwC study entitled “Retirement in America: Time to Rethink and Retool” provides some intriguing insights into where our industry stands now, and what it can do to improve the…
Momentum for government-facilitated automatic Individual Retirement Account (auto-IRA) savings programs appears to be growing – and, in our opinion, that is a very good thing. The programs are aimed at private sector workers without access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan to instead have access to…
Introduced on June 7 by U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), the pair of bills are designed to encourage more Americans to save for their retirement, and maintain greater control over those savings. The Keeping Your Retirement Act would raise the required minimum distributions (RMD) age…
A number of bills are under consideration by the 117th U.S. Congress that could have intriguing consequences for the retirement industry. The caveat, of course, is whether any of those bills will even come to a vote, much less pass, given the fierce partisan battles…
Implicit in planning for retirement is looking ahead. But thanks to the SECURE Act and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), it can pay to look to the past as well. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 allows an employer…
This is a potentially exciting time for our industry, as several bills wending their respective ways through Congress may have far-ranging impacts on how people save for retirement – and how the government can help them. Of course, partisanship and the ever-present trouble with prioritizing…
A package that included H.R. 1187, the Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by just one vote, 215-214, on June 16. The bill, whose future in the Senate remains unclear at this time, would require publicly…
“Everybody makes mistakes – that’s why the invented erasers,” goes the old saying. And while the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may not enjoy an image of being cheerfully understanding of errors, it recently made some significant alterations to its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS)…