Search the News Archive

403bwise Remarks to Illinois Legislators on Proposed Single Vendor Legislation

"Illinois legislator Karina Villa ... is determined to fix a problem unique to K-12 employees: unvetted, exorbitantly priced multi-vendor 403(b) products sold by an army of sales agents with zero fiduciary duty. She has introduced legislation (co-sponsored by Robert F. Martwick) to require K-12 403(b) plan in the state be put out to bid. The bill would forbid the sale of products with loads and surrender charges.... [403bwise spoke] to Illinois legislators last week about the merits of this bill."

403bwise Creates School District 403(b)/457(b) Vendor Database and Grading System

"There are 14,344 school districts in the country. To date we have vendor data for close to 4,000 school districts. This represents close to 28% of all school districts. We are adding vendor lists daily.... We also created an A-F rating system.... Every K-12 employee should have access to both unbiased information and at least one quality, low-cost investment choice. Schools should ban sales agents from selling products on campus and marketing via teacher email in boxes."

Mapping 403(b) Failure

"For decades 403bwise and others have been trumpeting the deplorable state of the K-12 403(b). We now have interactive, visual evidence of the mess that is the K-12 403(b)."

How a Former Teacher Is Educating the World About 403(b)s

"The [403bwise website] has an abundance of educational posts, a related podcast and, most recently, a growing database of school districts' plans. Each plan gets a grade, and the investment providers in the plan also have traffic-light-style ratings. Of the roughly 13,500 school districts in the U.S., 403bwise has ratings for more than a third, with data covering over half of the country's teachers[.]"

Latest District 403(b) Plan Grade Data

"There are approximately 13,500 public school distircts in the country. [The 403bwise District Plan Rating Project now has] data for 34% of all public school districts. Because [the] database has information on the majority of large districts, [it now covers] more than half of all teachers in the country.... 50% of all teachers can now see how good or bad their plan is, and if they have any quality 403(b) vendors available."

Presenting the 403(b) Honor Roll; Many Large School Systems Missing

"[T]here are currently 116 districts in [the 403bwise] database of more than 3,300 school districts who have earned an 'A' rating. More than half of these are in Wisconsin.... California, Texas and Florida have ZERO A-rated plans."

Tennessee Throws Teachers to the Wolves

"The recently passed so-called Fairness in Benefits Act compels school districts to allow private companies to 'educate' employees about their 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) products. Tellingly, the law only applies to teachers and state workers participating in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS)."

Equitable Responds to Teacher Presentation on TDF Fees

"[This letter] was sent to an educator by an Equitable employee. Keep in mind that Equitable is a company that was fined $50 million by the SEC for misrepresenting fees. The educator's crime? They did a presentation for colleagues in which they compared someone in a low-cost target date fund (charging 0.08%; hello Fidelity and Vanguard) with someone in an Equitable Equi-vest Series 201 Target 2055 Allocation investment charging 2.3%."

403(b) Plans and Income Taxes

"This post describes tax-related retirement plan decisions and tax impacts during working years, financial gap years (age 59½ to required minimum distribution (RMD) age), and after RMDs begin. Since RMDs are taxed as ordinary income, strategies to mitigate their tax impact are also described as well as related topics such as portfolio rebalancing, rollovers, and account withdrawal methods (e.g., Rule of 55 and the 72(t) rule). Also included is a summary of research about RMDs, which are often used as a de facto retirement savings income withdrawal strategy by older adults, and the impact of asset allocation on the volatility of RMDs. It concludes with three 'need to know' facts, and six take-away action steps."

The Social Security Fairness Act

"This post describes dozens of implications for those affected personally by the Social Security Fairness Act and [the] WEP and GPO repeal. Some financial implications may also be useful for anyone who experiences any sustainable monthly income infusion.... The post concludes with a summary of research about the role of Social Security in retirement investment decisions, three 'need to know' facts, and six take-away action steps."