Independent Actuaries Blog Category: Cash Balance
Tax Reform and Retirement Plans
We’re getting a lot of questions these days about how the proposed tax reform bills might impact retirement plans. For reference, this Forbes article provides a good summary and comparison of current law versus the House and Senate bills. Here … Continue reading
IRS Announces Retirement Plan Limits for 2018
The IRS has announced the new retirement plan limits for 2018. Some limits increased from 2017 to 2018, and some stayed flat. Highlights include: The compensation limit used to determine benefits and contributions for both defined benefit and defined contribution … Continue reading
What Does a Pension Actuary Do Anyway?
When I’m asked what I do for a living, I tell people I’m a pension actuary. I explain that I work on defined benefit pension plans for employers, calculating the employers’ contribution obligations and calculating benefits for plan participants. I … Continue reading
Tips For The Self-Employed: How To Ensure A Stable Financial Future
Self-employed people aren’t always as prepared for retirement as their corporate counterparts. They don’t have their company telling them to contribute to a retirement plan that just happens to already be set up for them. Self-employed people must take the … Continue reading
IRS Announces Pension Plan Limits for 2015
Believe it or not 2014 is quickly approaching its end and that means updated retirement plan limits. Earlier this week the IRS announced these new limits for 2015. Some limits increased from 2014 to 2015, and some stayed flat. Highlights include: … Continue reading
Expanding Possibilities for Cash Balance Plans
On September 19th the IRS issued both new proposed regulations and final regulations that update regulations originally issued in proposed form in 2010 covering Cash Balance and other hybrid pension plans. While the IRS did not address all questions left … Continue reading
Update: What does the Supreme Court’s DOMA ruling mean for qualified defined benefit plans?
On August 29, 2013, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17, which addresses some, but not all, of the questions relating to the Supreme Court decision which struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) earlier this year. … Continue reading
Bundled Service Providers, Investment Fees and 401k Account Balances
A small business owner using a bundled service provider for his/her 401(k) plan is akin to a farmer letting the fox guard the henhouse. Pete Kirtland writes that bundled service providers “don’t always pick…funds for the right reasons. They might … Continue reading
Save My 401(k)!
If you’ve listened to radio or watched TV in the last few months, you’ve heard the term “fiscal cliff” bandied about. The fiscal cliff the politicians and pundits are describing is the expiration of a number of tax cuts at the … Continue reading
IRS Announces Pension Plan Limits for 2013
2013 is around the corner, and that means updated pension plan limitations. Last week, the IRS announced the 2013 limits, many of which will increase in 2013 due to the increase in the cost of living index. Some of the … Continue reading