Benefit management

Advisers should help clients ensure that separation benefits are fair, timely and backed by company support.

The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped a clash over Houston’s practice of providing benefits to the same-sex spouses of city employees, leaving intact a Texas Supreme Court decision that calls the city’s policy into question.

There are several provisions in the upper chamber’s text that alter existing tax treatment, and experts predict those elements will win out in final law.

Platforms have progressed from providing education to offering true decision support and guidance for workers.

Advisers should help clients ensure that separation benefits are fair, timely and backed by company support.

Industry experts say the resulting rise in costs is likely to shift to employers and other stable health insurance consumers.

Though the tax legislation is mostly praised for leaving 401(k)s unscathed, new pass-through deduction could impact whether some small businesses offer the benefit.

GOP plan includes a repeal of Obamacare’s mandate that most Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty.

How an acquisition is structured, as a stock sale or an asset sale, could affect the continuation of employee perks.