Our Blog - Surety Matters

  As the saying goes, perception is everything, and when it comes to employee satisfaction, there’s a widening gap between employer and employee perceptions of well being: according to new survey data,  83% of employers…
Read Moreabout Mind The Gaps

  As the retirement industry works to digest the massive SECURE 2.0 legislation, more clarity is surfacing about compliance issues and implementation timelines. Not to be lost in the sauce are a variety of optional…
Read Moreabout Optional Provisions: SECURE 2.0

  The thought of not being able to undo a decision is downright scary—and generally more so when it comes to money. So why would anyone want to place assets in an irrevocable trust? Estate…
Read Moreabout Irrevocable Trust?

  When a will is made, the creator designates a fiduciary, typically referred to as an executor, to see that it is carried out in accordance with state probate protocols. During probate, it is critical…
Read Moreabout Executors: Go Above and Beyond

  Retirement plan sponsors are not only responsible for their own actions—they are obligated to monitor the other fiduciaries of the plan. Failure to monitor can result in being named personally liable in a lawsuit,…
Read Moreabout Failure To Monitor Other Fiduciaries

  Lawsuits against 401k plan sponsors are continuing at an “unprecedented pace,” with 2022 second only to the flood 2020 brought on. Attorneys point out that despite some modest signs of courtroom optimism for plan…
Read Moreabout Making Defendants Look Dumb?

  What matters most: equal or fair? Ensuring that adult children all benefit from a share of our assets requires clear thinking—and courageous communication. While it is easy and typical to say each child gets…
Read Moreabout Divvying Up The Estate?

  Wishing. Hoping. Wanting. These words convey suggestions, but not direct orders: they are precatory, and therefore not generally useful in official estate planning documents like wills or trusts, which demand absolute clarity. Nonetheless, attorneys…
Read Moreabout Precatory Language?

  Both the original SECURE Act, passed in 2019, and SECURE 2.0 enacted at the end of 2022, brought changes to the rules for required minimum distributions (RMDs). Experts caution retirement plan sponsors to pay…
Read Moreabout Staying Current: RMDs