Pentegra Retirement Services

What We’re Wishing for in 2021

While there was some good news for the retirement industry during the annus horribilis (as Latin speakers would have it) of 2020, there were more than enough misfortunes and setbacks for most of us. Nevertheless, “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier,” according to Colin Powell. So it is that we start this year by expressing a few of our greatest hopes for 2021. Passage of the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SSRA) of 2020.  Also known as “SECURE 2.0,” the bill would, amon... READ MORE Posted January 29, 2021 at 09:52 AM

Time to Get Serious About Your Retirement

The end of a year is always a good time to take stock of one’s life: Not only what we’ve accomplished over the past 12 months, and where we currently are but also what the future holds.  First, and most importantly: If you are not already enrolled in your company’s 401(k) plan, stop everything and join it immediately! Don’t continue to miss opportunities to save. And, if your company offers a matching contribution, be sure to set your contribution at least high enough to qualify for the ... READ MORE Posted January 23, 2021 at 03:04 AM

Can US Value Stocks Make a Comeback?

Over the past several years, US growth stocks have left US value stocks in the dust from a return standpoint, outperforming value stocks by wide margins. However, this has not always been the case and, recently, value stocks have begun staging a comeback. Growth stocks are generally those that are high priced relative to their book value (i.e. the value recognized on the company’s balance sheet), but are projected to have high earnings growth potential. Value stocks generally trade below thei... READ MORE Posted January 17, 2021 at 12:08 AM

2020: The Year That Was

Every year is a notable one for various reasons, but 2020 certainly will go down in the history books as one of our most momentous. The COVID-19 crisis; widespread protests over racial and social inequality; and the contentious November elections (with control of the U.S. Senate still undecided) were just a handful of the stories that made headlines this year. And there were plenty of significant developments for the retirement industry as well – many of them, of course, tied to the pandemic.... READ MORE Posted January 08, 2021 at 09:26 AM

Adding More Certainty to SECURE

There has been a flurry of recent activity surrounding the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act as we near its first anniversary. Signed into law on December 20, 2019, the SECURE Act has been the subject of various federal government-issued explanations and clarifications; the latest of those, IRS Notice 2020-68, includes guidance on the SECURE Act’s new rules regarding 401(k) plan participation by long-term, part-time (LTPT) employees as well as qualified b... READ MORE Posted January 01, 2021 at 04:23 AM

Form 5500 in 2021: What We Know Now

In a world turned upside down by COVID-19, it can be difficult for retirement plan fiduciaries to make sure that they are following the rules especially since a number of them have been altered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL) and other entities as a means of helping plan sponsors and participants navigate the pandemic. One in particular relates to Form 5500, developed jointly by the DOL, IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), designed to ensu... READ MORE Posted December 24, 2020 at 11:55 PM

DOL: Tread Carefully When It Comes to ESG Investing

Proponents of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing are probably not big fans of the recent guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) . On November 13, the DOL announced a final rule intended to provide clear regulatory guideposts for fiduciaries of private-sector retirement and other employee benefit plans in light of recent trends involving ESG investing – which, as the name indicates, revolves around measuring the sustainability and societal impact of ... READ MORE Posted December 18, 2020 at 09:39 AM

Which Types of 403(b) Plans Are Subject to ERISA?

     403(b) plans are commonly used by tax-exempt organizations to provide retirement benefits for their employees. Generally, plans that are established or maintained by private tax-exempt organizations are subject to ERISA (governmental and non-electing church plans are always exempt). However, there have always been questions about ERISA coverage for plans funded only with employee contributions. In 1979, the DOL issued the Exemption Reg. that provided a safe harbor exe... READ MORE Posted December 12, 2020 at 12:19 AM

The SSRA: What’s Not to Like

There is a lot to like about the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SSRA) of 2020. Given that there are 36 items in it, that’s saying a lot. Introduced on October 27, 2020 by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX), the SSRA contains provisions that are pro-retirement plan, pro-plan participant, and pro-plan sponsor. The bill builds on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 to further impr... READ MORE Posted December 04, 2020 at 09:49 AM

What’s Really New About Investment Outsourcing?

Much has been written in the press since the 2008 US financial crisis about a brand new market, the OCIO market: known as the outsourced Chief Investment Officer market. Several high profile investment firms take great pride in being the early pioneers of this market dating their history back to the 1980’s or early 1990s. The OCIO market can involve either a partial outsourcing to external experts of the investment management of certain specialized asset classes (such as private equity or alt... READ MORE Posted November 27, 2020 at 11:27 PM