Description: An interview with Michelle Richter-Gordon which provides a look at how DC participants feel about their financial security in retirement and suggests how retirement professionals can improve the financial security of retirees during the decumulation phase.

Description: This article provides a basic introduction to the taxation of qualified annuities held in qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The article has been updated for the SECURE Act and the SECURE 2.0 Act. The article describes the basic types of employer-based plans, provides of overview of the taxation of contributions and benefits when annuities are held in connection with plans and IRAs, explains the required minimum distribution rules, and offers a brief introduction to recent legislation impacting qualified annuities.

Description: Actuaries can be well suited to provide consulting to both DB and DC plans. We focus on DC design and the important nondiscrimination test requirements that need to be at the core of a plan design project. Plan design for DC plans seems easy, but should not be looked at any less seriously than DB plan design. The key steps are the same as DB plan design. We review key concepts that plan design actuaries want to know.

Description: The SECURE Act of 2019 requires an annual disclosure to participants in defined contribution plans. The intention is to help participants understand the relationship between their account balances and the estimated retirement income—that might be provided from those balances. But the disclosure requirements lack the features needed to provide meaningful information to many participants, which can be misleading if not well understood. Consequently, this provides an opportunity for actuaries to work with retirement plan sponsors to improve the disclosures.