Judging by his State of the Union address, retirement issues are front and center for President Obama. Increasingly, state governments are following suit, with at least 16 of them now considering variations on the auto-IRA theme. Now it looks like we can add the U.S. Supreme Court. Just as the Fifth Third stock drop case is set for oral arguments next week, the Court has asked the Solicitor General and the DOL to submit a brief on the Tibble case. Many believe the Court’s invitation indicates an interest to hear the case.
(For our previous coverage of Tibble, click here, here and here.)
According to FRA PlanTools legal blogger Thomas Clark, the issues in Tibble revolve around whether the statute of limitations dates back to when a fund is first included in the plan lineup and if the so called Firestone administrative deference applies when fiduciaries violate the terms of their plan document, favoring the financial interests of the plan sponsor at the expense of participants.
For those who chose the retirement profession to stay out of the limelight, you may want to think about looking for another job — not only is retirement now one of the hottest issues in financial services, but as America wakes up to the realities of self-funded retirement plans, it is becoming a mainstream issue that could swing major political elections.
