NTSA Net Staff
By NTSA Net Staff 6/2/2015
The Treasury Department took a huge step into lifetime income when it issued regulations creating qualified longevity annuity contracts to be provided by 401(a) plans, 403(b) plans, 457(b) governmental plans and IRAs. In MarketBeat, Robert J. Toth discusses what QLACs do and how they work.
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By NTSA Net Staff 6/2/2015
Suppose your competitors insist that the IRS 10% penalty will apply to a 403(b) plan participant who left her employer in the same year as her 55th birthday, but before she actually attained age 55. In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us if this is correct.
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/29/2015
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a long-awaited — and controversial — set of rules April 14 expanding the definition of a fiduciary under ERISA. The proposed rules would affect NTSA members, including those who service non-ERISA plans or work in the IRA market.We’ve just created a special...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/28/2015
Funds in 403(b)s were invested more heavily in fixed annuities than in any other kind of investment in 2014, according to the Spectrem Group, a financial analysis firm.Spectrem reports that last year, 43% of 403(b) funds were invested in fixed annuities; 33% were invested in variable annuities; and...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/28/2015
The Bipartisan Policy Center convened what at least one participant termed a “policy wonk throwdown” in the nation’s capital May 27. The subject? The Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal.The actual title of the event was “Champions, Critics and Consequences of a New Fiduciary Standard,” and it...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/28/2015
The Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal — or more specifically, its “appropriate standard of care” for brokers and dealers — was the focus of comments by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Ketchum at the 2015 FINRA Annual Conference May 27...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/26/2015
The Illinois legislature is considering a measure that would reform the public pension system in Cook County, the state’s most populous and where Chicago is located. The legislature’s action, which began before the state Supreme Court upended the 2013 pension reform law on May 8, is continuing to...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/22/2015
Another state has stepped up to try and close the coverage gap — this time by making it easier for small businesses to find a retirement plan provider through a new “retirement plan marketplace.”Washington is the latest state to take that step, as Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed into law the Washington...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/21/2015
The payroll department of a local school district wants to know if employees can make elective deferrals in their 403(b) plans after they have severed employment. In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether they can.
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/21/2015
IRS Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2015-27 updated the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). On April 2, the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2015-28, outlining even more changes — this time, concerning autoenrollment. In MarketBeat, Michael Webb examines the autoenrollment changes to EPCRS...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/19/2015
In two newsletters, the IRS surprised many in the retirement industry with the assertion that failure to properly document hardship withdrawals or home loans is a qualification failure. In MarketBeat, Ellie Lowder discusses the positions the IRS articulated in the articles and the responses to them.
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/19/2015
Is federal income tax withholding on required minimum distributions mandatory? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/18/2015
A federal district court judge in Michigan has given preliminary approval to a settlement of the Ascension Health class action litigation. Under the terms of the settlement in Overall v. Ascension Health, the nonprofit Catholic health care system remains able to avail itself of the church plan...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/18/2015
The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a brief extension of the comment period on its fiduciary reproposal — and has set a date for a public hearing.The comment period for what the DOL calls the Conflict of Interest Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has been extended by 15 days — from 75 to 90...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/13/2015
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And if the constitution prevents pension reform, make the constitution work for it. That appears to be the message of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R), whose office suggested as much as soon as the Illinois Supreme Court upended the state pension reform law....
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/12/2015
The Form 5500 is part of the bread and butter of the federal government’s information gathering concerning employers and employee benefit plans. But authority to use it is not eternal. The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) has asked the Office of Management and...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/12/2015
The effect of the Illinois Supreme Court’s May 8 ruling already extends further than the heightened fiscal challenge facing the state finances and pension plans. Standard & Poors wasted no time in putting the state of Illinois on credit watch.S&P’s current ratings for Illinois are an A- Go...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/12/2015
The Oregon Supreme Court’s ruling that it was unconstitutional to apply cuts to pension cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to those who were state employees and retirees before the 2013 law was enacted will do more than restore those funds.Due to the ruling, for those who were state employees and...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/11/2015
You have a client who began to draw Social Security at age 62. He has a part-time job and participates in a 403(b) plan. He knows he’ll lose some Social Security benefits due to how much he earns at his job. In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether pre-tax deferrals to his 403(b) plan will...
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By NTSA Net Staff 5/8/2015
On April 14, the DOL released a proposed fiduciary rule that expands the definition of who a fiduciary is and attempts to broaden the scope of its fiduciary oversight. In MarketBeat, Mike Webb makes some observations regarding the impact of the proposed rule.
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