QPA Insights
Welcome to QPA Insights, where we’ll share knowledge and insights into ERISA 3 (38) qualified plans. Here our highly experienced team will write on topics plan sponsors and advisers alike will be interested in such as the regulatory environment, tools, plan management, and more.
Feel free to reach out to us at any time if you have questions about what you’ve read or would like to contact the author.
Participants Improving Response to Volatility
After an incredibly smooth 2017, the U.S. markets have experienced headline-grabbing volatility early in 2018. Steep market free falls give rise to concerns that participants will exit the market on a dip and fail to re-enter until after the market has recovered. In...
read moreTrending: Increasing Use of Automatic Features
We talk a lot about automatic enrollment and automatic escalation. We also love to study industry data indicating related trends, which helps when our clients ask: "How many employers use automatic enrollment?" Results from a recent Callan survey show that the answer...
read moreInvestors With the Best of Intentions to Start the New Year
When asked about their plans for future savings rates, retirement plan participants frequently have the best of intentions. That's even more likely when market performance has been strong. One late-December investor survey indicates this is case as investors looked...
read moreSenate Tax Reform Bill Seeks Different Reforms to Retirement Plans
Some Republican lawmakers had floated a proposal of drastically reducing the annual limit on pre-tax contributions to a defined contribution plan. The QPA November newsletter celebrates that the House tax reform bill does not incorporate that proposal. The House bill...
read moreWill Tax Reform Include Retirement Plan Reform?
You may have heard some unsettling rumors about dramatic changes to 401(k) and 403(b) plan savings limits. Late last month, word leaked that Republicans were considering a significant reduction in the annual cap on pre-tax savings. The proposal would have slashed the...
read moreBenchmarking
Benchmarking is part art and part science. To understand how to benchmark consistent with best practices, it helps to know why you're doing it. Please watch our short video regarding the "Why" and "How" of benchmarking. .. .. For...
read moreIRS Announces Limits for 2018
Late last week the IRS announced the 2018 cost of living adjustments to various limits impacting retirement plan and IRA saving opportunities. In general terms, plan sponsors will include slightly more compensation paid to highly paid employees, and employees will be...
read moreDo You Know If You Are a Fiduciary?
The DOL has expanded the definition of fiduciary. More individuals are now fiduciaries than ever before. There's more nationwide awareness of the "fiduciary" term and its corresponding fiduciaries. Yet it appears that many fiduciaries are not receiving the message. A...
read moreMillennials’ Preferences: Robo Advisors vs. Financial Advisors
Young people - namely millennials - love technology. They don't care any more about personal service. They'd rather interact with a screen than a person. In particular, when it comes to their finances, they'd rather work with a "robo-advisor" than a human advisor....
read moreThe Advantages of Roth 401(k) Contributions
Has your organization considered a plan amendment that would allow Roth contributions? Or, if you already permit Roth contributions, do you feel like you can easily converse with your employees who have related questions? In either case, please check out our new Roth...
read moreFeatured Blogger
Matthew J. Eickman
Matthew loves to write. He also loves to think, though he’s probably a better writer than a thinker. He does not like to be on camera or in videos. This blog will allow him to write, challenge his ability to think, and, from time to time, test him with video blog entries.
He has a unique blend of legal and practical experience that helps us to serve our clients well. On the one hand, he has more than 12 years of private legal practice experience focusing exclusively on employee benefits, including time as a partner in an employee benefits boutique where he has represented clients in front of the DOL and IRS. On the other hand, he holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations and serves as the Director of ERISA Services for Qualified Plan Advisors.
Matthew likes to stay active. He provides fiduciary training, Investment Policy Statement design, and vendor oversight to our clients. He is an active member of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section, serving as Chair of the Defined Contribution Plans Subcommittee. He also has been appointed to the IRS TE/GE Gulf States Council and is a frequent speaker on regulatory developments, fiduciary responsibilities, and retirement readiness.
Most importantly, he stays active with his family. His wife, Laura, is the founder of REbeL, Inc., a not-for-profit organization. His three young boys are mixed up in far too many sports, and they enjoy traveling, watching college football, running with Dad, and rooting for the Huskers.