Living in northern climes, and I do consider Central Pennsylvania “northern”, has convinced me that magical seasons of the year exist so that we have something to look forward to when the worst of winter has had its way with us.

As such, the longest-ever expansionary period in domestic history has come to a halt, placing the American economy in an artificially-induced coma. Save the corpus and stall the spread, seems a reasonable mantra for these strange times.

On Dec. 20, the Setting Every Community up for Retirement Enhancement, or the SECURE Act, was signed into law. Depending on how you’ve strategized your own plans for retirement, the provisions in this new law may serve to support your plan or they may entirely upend it.

Throughout the M&A process, executives are hyper-focused on company synergies and big-picture goals. As a result, one very important factor often goes overlooked – the employer’s retirement plans. There are many details to consider when acquiring a company. Understanding the seller’s retirement plan and how it will fit within the current benefit structure is vital to success.

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella and others want a state-run pension plan where employers would be required to participate and employees would be automatically enrolled unless they proactively opt out.