On August 31, 2018, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Labor (DOL) and Treasury Department to take action to “promote retirement security for America’s workers” by, among other things, expanding access to Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs). Specifically, within 180 days of the issuance of the Executive Order, DOL must “consider…whether to … Continue Reading
The tax reform bill is done. President Trump signed the bill on December 22, meeting his deadline for completion by Christmas. While there is much to be said about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”), the update on the retirement plan provisions is relatively unexciting. Recall that when the tax reform process started, … Continue Reading
Now that the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed their own versions of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a tug-of-war on a compromise that both bodies can pass is in full force. Congress is following the normal legislative process by setting up a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences between … Continue Reading
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Tax Cut and Jobs Act” (H.R. 1) last Thursday without, unsurprisingly, any Democratic support. The retirement plan provisions in the bill haven’t changed. No eleventh-hour revenue-grabbing effort to convert all 401(k) plan contributions to Roth contributions or to place substantial limits on pre-tax plan contributions. But there are … Continue Reading
Just as they appeared to survive round one of the House tax reform bill released last week, retirement savings programs, such as 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts, seem to emerge relatively unscathed from the Senate’s tax reform deliberations. Nonetheless, the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal does include a few changes to these programs.… Continue Reading
For the last few weeks, U.S. tax reform deliberations put 401(k) retirement plans on a roller coaster ride. Rumors abounded, including, for example, whether legislators would impose new contribution caps, or eliminate pre-tax contributions altogether. Legislators often have targeted the tax-advantaged status of retirement savings plans as a revenue raiser to pay for federal programs … Continue Reading
While the scope of the Republican Party’s victories in the U.S. mid-term elections may have been surprising (at least to some), a leadership shake-up in the congressional committees with jurisdiction over the country’s public and private, employer-based retirement system was a foregone conclusion. As further described in our 2014-mid-term Congressional elections analysis a number of key Congressional … Continue Reading
It looks like both Motorola and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) will be transferring significant portions of their defined benefit pension plans liability to Prudential Insurance. Both buyouts were announced this week – and are expected to be completed in December. The Motorola plan buyout will be the third largest in the United States (following the 2012 … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor’s revised proposed rule for defining a fiduciary has been delayed … again. Most recently expected in August, the Labor Department is now predicting January 2015. And, the rule has a new name: The Conflict of Interest Rule for Investment Advice. As a refresher, the proposed rule would broaden the definition … Continue Reading
