Tax Overhaul Passes Congressional Committee, President Trump Signs Into Law Tax overhaul legislation officially became law on Friday, December 22, 2017, with President Donald Trump’s signature. Northwestern Mutual’s Government Relations team, with strong industry leadership by CEO John Schlifske, spent the fall weighing in on these sweeping tax changes, defending policyowner interests and working to ensure the company was treated fairly under this new […] Read More »
Major Tax Reform and NM: U.S. House Proposal On Nov. 1, Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives released a major tax reform proposal, with the intent of beginning debate on it during the week of Nov. 6. The bill contains a number of provisions of interest to Northwestern Mutual. Of note, no new taxes on life insurance products, annuities or retirement […] Read More »
Speaker Paul Ryan And Chairman Kevin Brady Produce A Tax Blueprint To Make America Great Again Forbes (7/16/16) – Speaker Ryan’s hand-picked chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), managed to achieve the impossible as head of Ryan’s House task force on tax reform. Recent well-intended efforts at tax reform left many pessimistic. Nothing of the magnitude of the last big prosperity-with-equity tax reform, in 1986, […] Read More »
Weak Planning Can Doom Golden Years, Study Finds Insurance News Net (7/22/16) – Millions of Americans expect to live longer but aren’t really prepared to finance their own longevity, according to a new report. The solutions they look to — relying on Social Security and working past the age of 70 as a Plan B — are at best dubious. The misalignment between […] Read More »
NY Times: Commentary: A New Threat to Your Retirement New York Times (11/19/15) – New York Times editorial page writer Teresa Tritch supports the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule. She opposes what she calls an “aggressive threat” to the rule — legislation being crafted by a bipartisan foursome in the House that would pre-empt the rule before it even emerges from the Labor […] Read More »
House Members Poised to Introduce Bill to Replace DOL Fiduciary Rule InvestmentNews (11/05/15) Schoeff, Mark – A bipartisan group of House members is working on a bill that would offer an alternative to a pending Department of Labor (DOL) proposal to raise investment advice standards for retirement accounts. The lawmakers released what they called “legislative principles” Thursday that will be reflected in the measure. The principles […] Read More »
90 Democrats Sign Letter Critical Of Fiduciary Rule Insurance News Net (09/22/15) Hilton, John – Momentum seems to be building among House Democrats to raise questions regarding the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed fiduciary rule. A letter circulated last week asks the DOL to make what the Democrats call “improvements” to the rule. Originally signed by nine House Democrats, that number has since […] Read More »
Proposed Fiduciary Standard Could Make Waves in Retirement Advisory Industry Milwaukee Business News (09/21/15) Dill, Molly – A regulation proposed by the Department of Labor could have a major impact on the retirement advisory industry. The proposed regulation, which would require that brokers and advisors disclose to retirement account clients whether they receive a commission for recommending certain products, has received both praise and pushback […] Read More »
WSJ: Obama Targets Financial Advisors Wall Street Journal Opinion (8\16\2015)- Labor’s new fiduciary rule will limit advice for middle-class savers. The Obama Administration may have only 17 months to go, but that’s still enough time to do plenty of economic damage. Witness Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who is rushing through a new regulation for financial advisers that isn’t needed, that […] Read More »
DOL Open to Changing Fiduciary Proposal Insurance News Net (06/30/15) Tuohy, Cyril The Department of Labor is open to changes to its proposed expansion of the fiduciary standard that would cover all retirement funds, according to a DOL administrator speaking on Monday at a conference in Washington, D.C. The rule is in a comment period until July 21, to be followed […] Read More »