The federal government’s response to widespread personal tragedy has nearly always involved adjusting the rules to retirement plans. So many of these rule changes come at benefit professionals with great speed and little guidance, yet we need to make them work. This is because the work we do is critically important to people’s lives, though we rarely see it because of the focus on making the damnable rule changes somehow fit into our already overburdened processes and systems.  This impact also shows up when the tragedy is personal and not just societal.  So I invite you to reflect,  during this holiday season of celebration, on the actual, real, individual impact  of what we do. Beyond the administrators, the lawyers, the actuaries, the accountants, the writers, and the consultants is buried very real meaning.
Continue Reading The Hidden Importance of Plan Administration in Time of Tragedy

There is a growing public policy concern regarding the ability of workers in the gig economy to access the ability to accrue retirement savings,. Though IRA’s and SEPs are, of course, available, they are nowhere near as effective as worksite retirement plans. Troy Tisue’s testimony at the Senate HELP Committee’s hearing on retirement plans for the gig economy addresses how Open Meps® may help address this issue. In addition to his written testimony, Troy also discussed at the hearing on how there are ways in which aggregation programs-which are currently available- can be used to address this need.
Continue Reading Senate Testimony on Open MEPS in the Gig Economy

There are three kinds of 403(b) church plans: the plans of “steeple church”; those of the “Qualified Church Controlled Organizations” (or ”QCCO”, of which the K-12 parochial schools of a church are the best example); and of the “Non-Qualified Church Controlled Organization” (or “Non-QCCO”, of which church hospitals and universities are among the most common

One of the more intractable issues with which ERISA 403(b) plans sponsors must deal with every year arises from the “policy loans” issued by insurance carriers under the 403(b) annuity contracts held under the plans. There is simply no good way to report these loans on the Form 5500, and the newly proposed Form 5500 changes do not address this ongoing issue.
Continue Reading 403(b) Policy Loan’s Continued Form 5500 Reporting Problem

A more effective alternative at providing scale than the MEP platform, and one which really is made possible by technology, is what the DOL describes in its MEP IB as the “Prototype Approach,” versions of which are apparently being considered by several states. It provides those small plans the buying power and access to expertise which are at the heart of MEPs, doing so without that platform’s inherent difficulties.

Continue Reading MEPS Aren’t What They Are Seem; Alternative More Efficient at Achieving Scale

The QLAC seems to be in the 403(b) “sweet spot”, considering that 403(b) annuities were originally designed to provide lifetime income in the first place. However, as with all things 403(b), however, there are a few unusual twists when trying to put a QLAC in a 403(b) arrangement. Here are a few of the things to consider
Continue Reading The 403(b) QLAC

In Lifetime Income, ERISA’s statute of limitations may serve to provide the basis for a workable standard when dealing with the long term financial risk posed to fiduciary by insurer insolvency following the purchase of an annuity.
Continue Reading Lifetime Income: Using the Statute Of Limitations to Minimize Insurer Insolvency Risk

Chuck Thulin, a fine ERISA attorney from Seattle, WA, chaired the DOL practitioner panel at the latest (and very successful) annual meeting of the 5 regional TE/GE Councils, in Baltimore.  When I commented that we’d  “been there, done that” when discussing some obscure rule,  he told me of reading of the Russian language version of

There is a serious, and important, debate occurring whether, and to what extent, should there be MEP reform following the DOL’s restrictive advisory opinion on the matter in 2012.  There appears to be bi-partisan support for the changes proposed in Senator Hatch’s SAFE Act, which makes wholesale changes to  the current MEP rules, and will