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Articles Archives - Ask Tom Clark

Learning Management Systems Are Coming of Age

Online education is flourishing worldwide. The growth and popularity of online universities like the University of Phoenix have drawn mainline universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn State and many others into the fold. Team-Treehouse, an independent firm providing technology education, has more than 50,000 current students learning to code.… Read More

EPCRS: Whats in it for the Plan Sponsor

Mistakes happen and in the case of 401(k) plans, even a “foot fault” in plan operation can be disastrous, resulting in the loss of the plans tax-favored status
followed by substantial fees including taxes, interest, and penalties. ankfully, the IRS recognizes this and created the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).… Read More

Strengthening Retirement Security

President Trump issued an Executive Order on August 31, 2018, directing the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Treasury (Treasury) to ease
the barriers employers face in o ering retirement plans and increase employee access to retirement bene t programs. e Executive Order addressed the following three areas of concern.… Read More

Updating Your Service Agreements to Address Cybersecurity Issues

As part of my regular practice counseling retirement industry service providers, I
will sit down with my clients and ask
them about their “worry list” — or, to put it another way, what is keeping them up at night. More
and more, cybersecurity issues are at the top of that list. And rightly so. It seems a week cannot go by without a cybersecurity breach making the news, and increasingly,
breaches are happening in the retirement industry. Consequently, the scope of your rm’s needed attention to cybersecurity issues is immense.… Read More

The Pendulum Swings Again

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2018–01, which provides guidance to its national and regional o ces relating to how plan duciaries can take environmental, social, or governance (ESG) considerations into account when making plan investments. Perhaps, not surprisingly, the DOL’s current view on these issues is considerably narrower than those expressed by the prior Administration.… Read More