Archive for Dennis

| April 18, 2013
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Obama Budget Proposes Cap on Retirement Plan Balances

obama-budget-proposes-cap-on-retirement-plan-balances

Originally posted on CUInsight.com.

Guest post written by Dennis Zuehlke, Compliance Manager, Ascensus.

Ascensus is the NAFCU Services Preferred Partner for IRA, Retirement Plan, and Health Savings Account (HSA) Solutions Software, Training, Documents and Consulting.

The Obama Administration has proposed a cap of $3 million on IRAs and retirement savings plans in order to raise $9 billion of additional revenue over the next 10 years. This is the first time that the Obama Administration has proposed a cap on the total amount of assets that can be accumulated in IRAs and retirement savings plans held by individuals. It comes on the heels of the Administration’s proposals in last year’s budget to reduce the tax incentives for making retirement plan and IRA contributions.

The Administration released details of the proposal in the Fiscal Year 2014 Revenue Proposals. Under this new proposal, contributions to tax-advantaged retirement savings plans (such as IRAs, 401(a) plans, 403(b) plans, and funded section 457(b) governmental plans) would be prohibited for individuals who have accumulated assets past a certain threshold. That threshold is the amount necessary to provide the maximum annuity permitted for a tax-qualified defined benefit plan (currently $205,000), which, for an individual age 62 in 2013, would be approximately $3.4 million.

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Category: Management & Operations | Tags: , ,
| March 28, 2013
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Individually Focused IRA Marketing

individually-focused-ira-marketing

Originally posted on CUInsight.com

Guest post written by Dennis Zuehlke, Compliance Manager, Ascensus

The April 15 tax filing and IRA contribution deadline is only one month away. Much of the marketing focus this year is on the higher IRA contribution limits. For 2013, the IRA contribution limit is $5,500, up from the previous $5,000 limit.

This is good news for baby boomers socking away money for retirement, but for young millennials just starting out, making a $5,500 IRA contribution may be out of reach, and such a marketing campaign may appear out of touch. Targeting the right message to the right audience is key. Remember, the “I” in IRA stands for individual. IRA marketing efforts focused on the individual—based on their generational demographic—will benefit both your members and your credit union.

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Category: Growth & Retention, Management & Operations, Marketing | Tags: , , , ,
| February 14, 2013
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113th Congress Faces Contentious Issues

113th-congress-faces-contentious-issues

Originally posted on CUInsight.com

Guest post by Dennis Zuehlke, Compliance Manager, Ascensus

With the photo-ops and swearing-in ceremonies over, and the presidential inauguration now a memory, the 113th Congress is hard at work facing a number of contentious, but familiar, issues, one of which is tax reform.

To avoid a U.S. default on its debt obligations, the House of Representatives approved an extension of the debt ceiling. The Senate passed the measure shortly thereafter and President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. The legislation suspends the $16.4 trillion limit on government borrowing until May 18 to give Congress time to reach a broader deficit reduction deal.

Next on the agenda, Congress and the White House must reach an agreement on nearly $85 billion in targeted spending cuts to avoid the automatic across-the-board cuts that would kick in March 1 if a deal is not reached. Agreeing on $85 billion in spending cuts will not be easy and reaching that figure means that potentially everything—including retirement savings incentives—is on the table. As Congress looks for ways to reduce the deficit, tax incentives for retirement savings are especially susceptible because they cost the Treasury more than the deduction for home mortgage interest and are second only to the exclusion of employer healthcare contributions. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the exclusion of pension contributions and earnings in defined benefit and defined contribution plans will cost the Treasury $100 billion this year alone.

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Category: Other Fun Stuff | Tags: , ,
| January 31, 2013
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Saved By the “Fiscal Cliff” Bell

saved-by-the-fiscal-cliff-bell

Originally posted on CUInsight.com

Guest post by Dennis Zuehlke, Compliance Manager, Ascensus

As most Americans were ringing in the New Year, the Senate was holding an early morning roll call vote on a bill to avoid hurtling off the “fiscal cliff” that would have resulted from the expiration of the Bush-era tax rates and spending cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The compromise bill, hammered out over the weekend by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Vice President Joe Biden, passed the Senate by a vote of 89-8. The House passed the measure by a vote of 257-167 later on New Year’s Day, pulling us back from the brink, and saving us from falling off the fiscal cliff.

President Obama then signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), making permanent the Bush-era tax rates (except for individuals with incomes above $400,000 and families above $450,000), postponing for two months the automatic across-the-board spending cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011, and extending a host of other expiring individual and business tax provisions.

As one would expect, the bill contains something for everyone, including those who are saving through retirement and education savings plans. Credit unions offering IRAs and Coverdell education savings accounts (ESAs) will benefit from three provision of the bill.

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Category: Management & Operations | Tags: , ,