Showing our 403(b) Insights article library.
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Jul 2020The DOL’s Proposed Fiduciary Rule: Some “Top of Mind” Thoughts
As the 123-page Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule arrived on my computer on the evening of June 29, I did not have high expectations. After all, the DOL has been at this for a decade, with no success. And the prior Fiduciary Rule - which I liked - did not survive a court challenge from the ve…
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Jul 2020The CARES Act “Run on the Bank” That Wasn’t
Remember back in March when retirement plan recordkeepers were panicking about the COVID-19 pandemic and the related stock market plunge, allegedly fielding record volumes of calls from frantic participants who not only wanted to flee equity investments, but also wanted to take out their money entir…
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Jun 2020The Retirement Problems — and Solutions — for Younger Boomers
The latest State of the Participant 2020 report from John Hancock brought some unwelcome news, echoed in other recordkeeper reports: the younger half of the Baby Boomer generation — those aged 56 to 65 — are generally unprepared for retirement. In the report, the two age cohorts spanned …
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Jun 2020It’s Time for the IRS to Eliminate the Retirement Plan Spousal Consent Requirement
The recent COVID-19 pandemic exposed a weakness in the retirement plan infrastructure when thousands of married retirement plan participants attempted to take loans and distributions from their plans and found out that, in order to do so, they had to have the written consent of their spouse and that…
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Jun 2020Replacing Mandatory Employee Contributions with Automatic Enrollment
While mandatory contributions are a necessity in defined benefit plans to ensure proper funding, I have never been a proponent of them in defined contribution plans, except when they serve as the only way to make pre-tax contributions to a qualified retirement plan (such as 414(h) pickup contributio…
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Jun 2020Forget About the CARES Act and SECURE Act: This New Regulatory Guidance Will Be the Real Game Changer!
While the CARES Act and SECURE Act have provided some meaningful changes to retirement plan law - most notably, relief from Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and provisions allowing for COVID-19 withdrawals and loans - there is nothing in either piece of legislation that is truly groundbreaking.…
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May 2020Reader Mail: More on Roth Conversions
We love reader feedback – and to our excitement, we have been receiving a lot lately! After our recent blog post on Roth Conversions, Jack Towarnicky of the American Retirement Association (check out his blog here), sent us some interesting insights and graciously allowed us to share them with you: …
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May 2020The COVID-19 Pandemic Sheds Light on Questionable Retirement Plan Features
With many optional plan features, plan sponsors have a great deal of choice when it comes to designing their retirement plan: make the right choice and the plan is attractive to participants without being too difficult to administer; make the wrong choice and it may lead to the opposite situation. …
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May 2020Is Now the Time for a Roth Conversion?
Allowed by some retirement plans, a Roth conversion permits the transfer of pre-tax dollars to Roth, with income taxes paid on the transferred amount, instead of upon the distribution of the pre-tax funds. (once certain qualifications are met, Roth balances are not taxed at all upon distribution). …
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May 2020Tips to Avoid Taking that Retirement Plan Withdrawal
In a recent Top of Mind, we discussed how accessing retirement plan funds during the COVID-19 pandemic is not the greatest idea. But how can employees avoid a withdrawal or loan when they really need the money? Here are a few tips to help individuals achieve better financial footing without raiding …
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