Empowering CPAs: Retirement Plans & State Compliance (Hot Topics) (E2511719)

Todd Hassler is the Executive Director of RetireReady NJ. RetireReady NJ is New Jersey’s retirement solution for citizens who are not covered by an employer sponsored retirement plan.Mr. Hassler has more than twenty-six years of experience in the retirement services industry, designing, implementing and managing retirement benefit plans for some of the smallest and largest employers in the nation, and serving as a fiduciary. He also served as a Senior Investigator with the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, auditing these plans. Mr. Hassler has degrees in Accounting, Human Performance Management, and a master’s degree in Human Resource Development from Villanova University.The mission of RetireReady NJ is to create availability to an Affordable, Reliable, and Easy to Use retirement savings program for the citizens and employers of New Jersey. The introduction of this program will address an institutional inequity that inhibits access of private retirement savings plans to underserved communities consisting of approximately 46% of the citizens of New Jersey.

In this role, Mark is responsible for sales and relationship development with financial representatives and plan consultants in Delaware; southern New Jersey; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has more than 25 years' experience in financial services. Mark served as regional marketing director for two years before being promoted to regional vice president in 2008. Prior to joining John Hancock, he was with MFS Investment Management from 1996 to 2002 as regional vice president and with The Hartford from 2002 to 2004, where he last served as regional marketing director. Mark earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, and is based in Philadelphia.

Christina started with the Division in 2007 in the Customer Service Call Center. During her 8 years in the Division’s Customer Service center she gained a vast knowledge of all taxes and programs administered by the Division. She assisted not only the taxpayers of New Jersey during her time in the Customer Service center but also the practitioners and business community through the Pratitioner Hotline. Christina joined Taxation University in 2015 where she became a strong part of our employee training program and continued to assist the practitioners and business communities by providing valuable tax information through seminars and education. In April of 2020 Christina moved to the Office of Legislative Analysis to assist in navigating the legislation that impacts the Division. As of the spring of 2023 Christina is the newest addition to the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. Christina has served on various projects over the course of her career including the planning and implementation of the Division first ever New Hire Boot Camp training program in 2017, the Intergrated Tax System training plan implementation, and most recently the ANCHOR Program advertising and outreach campaign. Christina’s tax knowledge, customer service experience, and project management skill set is a strong assest to the Division of Taxation. Christina is a loving mother of three and an avid baker.