by Jeff Chang | Apr 28, 2020 | 401(a), 457(b) Plans, Plan Administration, Plan Qualification
By Jeff Chang As many California public agencies are forced to furlough employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, questions arise as to how furloughs are treated for retirement plan distribution rules’ purposes. Let’s begin with a bit of terminology: What is a...
by Jeff Chang | Apr 14, 2020 | 401(a), 457(b) Plans, Plan Administration, Record Keeping
By Jeff Chang Although many employers plan to make changes to their retirement plans to take advantage of employee-friendly CARES Act provisions, public agencies should not blindly adopt recommended changes without thinking about the steps involved. The last Focus on...
by Jeff Chang | Jan 13, 2020 | 401(a), 457(b) Plans, Fiduciary Duties, Investments, Record Keeping
By Jeff Chang There are several fundamental principles and concepts that governmental plan sponsors and fiduciaries need to bear in mind as they select and monitor their plan providers and the fees that these providers charge. Practically all governmental plan...
by Jeff Chang | Dec 19, 2019 | 401(a), Fiduciary Duties, Investments, Plan Administration
By Jeff Chang Many cities and special districts in California maintain one or more defined contribution retirement plans (i.e., a 457(b) or 401(a) plan) in which the participants are given investment responsibility over their respective accounts. However, many...
by Jeff Chang | Oct 7, 2019 | 457(b) Plans, Plan Administration
By Jeff Chang With very few exceptions, the rules governing governmental 457(b) plans require a “severance of employment” to occur before a distribution can be made. Recently, we came across yet another of those arcane, little-known rules that will likely...