How $240 billion in new COVID-19 money will be spent
The money will fund health care operations, research and development of coronavirus tests and treatments, and guarantees for emergency lending to small business.
Regulations/Legal
Please Don’t Raid Your Retirement Account
It would be smart, not paternalistic, to ease today’s financial pain without contributing to an even bigger retirement funding crisis down the road.
FYI: Legal alerts from the Wagner Law Group
This post reprints the contents of three recent alerts for employers on labor law/retirement provisions of recent federal legislation pertaining to the COVID-19 crisis, provided by attorneys at...
Can employers contribute less to their retirement plans?
In the current stressed environment, "employers must take steps to remain in business, which means reducing expenses, including their contributions to their qualified retirement plans," say Wagner Law Group...
Interpreting SEC’s new ‘principles-based’ advertising rule: Wagner Law Group
This interpretation of the SEC rule was written by attorneys Stephen Wilkes and Livia Quan Aber of the Wagner Law Group and published this week.
NAIC approves revised “best interest” rule for annuities
The revisions clarify that all recommendations by agents and insurers must be in the best interest of the consumer.
A Look Back at (and Beyond) the ‘Stretch’ IRA
Under the new SECURE Act, most non-spouses must withdraw and pay taxes on inherited IRA assets within ten years instead of "stretching" the process over (possibly) decades. What will...
New annuity ‘best interest’ rule from NAIC
The new Model would impose a best interest standard on sales and recommendations by insurance producers of annuity products, which is a higher standard than the currently applicable suitability...
The SECURE Act Set To Pass (Finally)
'This is an early Christmas present,' said Melissa Kahn, managing director of the Defined Contribution team at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), in an interview yesterday.
SECURE Act still stuck in Washington gridlock
With the impeachment hearings and the looming 2020 election taking up much of legislators' bandwidth, the SECURE Act continues to be going nowhere fast in the Senate.
Scalia will help draft new fiduciary rule (after helping kill the old one)
'Mr. Scalia first defended the brokerage and insurance industry’s right to engage in conflicts of interest that harm retirement savers. Now, he seems eager to engage in his own...
New safe harbor for electronic retirement plan disclosures
Retirement plan sponsors can now satisfy disclosure requirements by making the information available on a website, Wagner Law Firm experts explain. Photo: Marcia Wagner.
Federal judge dismisses adviser suit against ONL
The judge rejected the claim that Ohio National Life was obligated by its distribution contract with LPL to keep paying trail commissions on the sale of variable annuities to...
TD Ameritrade to sell its first indexed annuity, a Pacific Life contract
'The settlements are part of an ongoing, industry-wide investigation into immediate annuity replacement practices in the state,' regulators said.
Subscription-based planners sue SEC over Reg BI
Like eight state attorney generals, the subscription-based XY Planning Network has filed a federal lawsuit against the SEC in New York. XYPN was co-founded by celebrity adviser Michael Kitces...
Why Eight States Are Suing Over ‘Reg BI’
'Dually registered' advisers can switch hats between the broker/commission model and the adviser/AUM model as needed, to the confusion and expense of investors. Eight state attorneys general say the...
House MEP bill could fuel pension risk transfer deals
According to a CBO estimate, HR397 calls for loans and grants to insolvent or troubled multiemployer pensions totaling almost $49 billion between 2019 and 2024 and almost $68 billion...
SEC Sides with the Brokers
Although there will be no higher standard of conduct for advice on tax-deferred retirement accounts—the essence of the Obama DOL fiduciary rule—the new 'Regulation Best Interest' will apply to...
Do Fiduciary Rules Work, or Do They Backfire?
'We found that broker-dealer representatives in states with common law fiduciary duties sold cheaper and better products and sell fewer variable annuities overall,' said Manisha Padi, one of the...
Flash: House passes major retirement bill
The Secure Act (H.R. 1994), which provides for "open multiple employer plans" and reduced liability for employers who want to add annuities to their retirement plans, passed by a...
