Here the intent is to make it possible for a plan/IRA to apply the QDIA safe harbor to involuntary rollovers. But how will this impact plan participants?
Tag "Ron Surz"
This has been the most challenging of best practices. It has evolved over the years from “you can’t do that” to “you need to do that.” What does it take to make it better? Has the technology environment changed in such a way as to address long-standing obstacles.
Laffer postulated that tax receipts might be increased by reductions in the tax rate because such reductions would bring people out of the underground economy and also reduce the usage of tax shelters. This advice was implemented in President Ronald Reagan’s “Reaganomics,” and it worked to increase tax revenues.
For all the good intentions, however, what will happen when the rubber finally meets the road? Will the new DOL Fiduciary Rule really level the playing field?
Plan sponsors need to think about it in these terms: Does it make sense to have a pork-belly ETF on a 401k investment menu? How about orange futures?
This broader definition of fiduciary may impose a potential hardship on a segment of the retirement industry that has been trying hard to gain a foothold in plan infrastructure.
The antiseptic compliance regime spelled out by the DOL and ERISA has to date defined fiduciary services. Perhaps, if we’re going to consider what is “beyond” that sterile definition, we might want to go back to the future. In a sense, rediscovering where “fiduciary” initially came from might suggest where it is headed.
Back then, at least, we knew who wore the white hats and who whore the black hats. Today, thanks to muddled and often conflicting regulations for multiple agencies, everyone is wearing fifty shades of gray.
So what if a few very high net savers end up with bigger retirement plans? Good for them. The point is to make it easier for more people to save more.
I 💖 Fiduciary
All kidding aside, Valentine’s Day is more than cards, candy, and Cupid. It’s about renewing a vow to treat each other with the highest fiduciary standard.