The longest bull market in U.S. history came to an abrupt end after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, causing a sharp increase in volatility and leaving investors wondering what, if anything, they could do. A managed account service, delivering personalized service, can help avoid this type of second-guessing.
Read More
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed on March 27, includes several provisions intended to loosen restrictions on and reduce the tax consequences of distributions and loans from retirement plans.
Read More
Each year, 401(k) plans must pass certain tests to ensure that plan contributions stay within permissible limits. When you receive your plan’s testing results for the 2019 plan year from Newport, your report will show a pass or fail score for each test or limit. If your plan failed one or more tests, you can easily change the score by taking corrective actions such as refunding contributions to higher paid employees or making additional contributions for lower paid employees.
Read More
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has created great economic uncertainties for companies and their employees. This article provides timely information to assist non-qualified plan sponsors in answering the most common questions they may be receiving.
Read More
Many of our clients face challenges attracting, motivating, and retaining top executives. To alleviate those challenges, most public companies have some kind of “equity-based” long-term incentive program (LTIP) in place for top executives. LTIPs reward executives for their contributions to value creation as measured by increases in share price.
Read More
With persistent low interest rates over the last decade, bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) owners have seen the impact on their cash value yields. While many focus on these bottom line yields, the potential for improving yields through death benefit optimization is often overlooked.
Read More
On December 20, 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 was enacted. The SECURE Act is the most sweeping retirement legislation since the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and many of its provisions are designed to make retirement plans more accessible to employees and less cumbersome for employers.
Read More
Assessing plan design is not only important when establishing a plan, but as part of ongoing annual reviews. Taking time to evaluate the plan sponsor’s goals each year can help pinpoint plan features that are no longer aligned with your clients current needs.
Read More
In an environment where defined benefit pension plans are seeing rising costs from declining interest rates, rising participant longevity/mortality, and rising Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums, most pension plan sponsors are looking for ways to manage, or eliminate, their defined benefit liabilities and their annual pension expense.
Read More
Every 401(k) plan is subject to certain year-end testing requirements (even plans that have adopted a safe harbor design feature). As the sponsor of your company’s 401(k) plan, you must ensure that plan contributions have not exceeded the annual limits set by federal tax law and are not discriminatory against lower paid workers.
Read More