According to The Society of Actuaries’ most recent “Risks and Process of Retirement Survey”, there is a significant increase in consumers’ concerns about their finances both before and after retirement.  61% of pre-retirees indicated a sense of unpreparedness to handle expenses that could exhaust their assets in retirement. 47% of retirees also fell into this...Read More

Navigating Distributions Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) Hardships and Loans Terminated Participants Mandatory Cash-Outs Under the New Tax Law 401(k) Loan Payback Period gets extended! Recharacterizations of IRAs… Can I take a mulligan? Navigating Distributions The first quarter of the calendar year typically sees an uptick in the number of retirement plan distributions and participant loans....Read More

According to a recent study from Finhabits, the states with the largest concentration of Hispanic residents had the lowest participation in retirement savings, and less than 10 percent of small business workers in the five top Hispanic metro areas of the United States have access to employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts. The lowest overall participation rates...Read More

Workers Regret Not Saving More for Retirement: American Century Investments’ fifth annual Plan Participant Study indicated that roughly 90% of retirement plan participants articulated regret about their retirement savings habits. Those who reported having a “great deal” of regret — pre-retirees in the 55-to-65 age group — rose by 5% just in the past two...Read More

A recent TIAA’s report, “New Evidence on the Demand for Advice Within Retirement Plans” analyzed the use of advice in 23 of its plans between 2009 and 2014. They found that only 13% of participants sought out advice. They reported that asking for advice increases with age, account balance and annual contribution level. They also...Read More

  Fiduciary Rule Round Up   Who is subject to the new rule?   Does the new rule only apply to investments in our retirement plan?   If this is about protection, what’s the downside?   What Plan Sponsors Need to Know   Technically Speaking   Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself Quite Yet…   Houston, We...Read More

Actuaries and Employee Benefit Consultants egps.com We hope you are having a great summer and enjoying some time off! Of course taxes don’t take the summer off, and it’s already July! If you have business owner clients who need to reduce their current year taxable income and save for retirement, now is the ideal time...Read More

Introduction Types of Retirement Plans Getting Employees to Join the Plan Increase Deferral Rates Utilizing Your Resources In Conclusion Rise of the Machines Participant Loans: Benefit or Detriment? Introduction The latest news regarding retirement plans has centered around service provider fees.  While fees are a highly important aspect of managing an employer-sponsored retirement plan, they...Read More

Introduction Uncashed Checks are Plan Assets What Should Plan Sponsors Do? Searching for Missing Participants     Required Steps     Reasonable Additional Steps What are the Options if the Participant Cannot be Found?     Return Funds to the Plan     Forfeit the Account Balance     Roll Over Assets to an IRA     Withholding 100% of the...Read More

Introduction Rollover vs. Cash Distribution Mandatory Federal Tax Withholding 10% Premature Distribution Penalty Retirement and Termination Disability Benefits Death Benefits Required Minimum Distributions Hardship Distributions IRS Special Tax Notice and Reporting Summary 2017 IRS Annual Limits A 401(k) plan permits employees to defer a portion of their salaries on a pre-tax basis with the objective...Read More