Headlines about "Ret plans - admin"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
Massachusetts Eyes Lump-Sum Pension Swaps
"State investigators have contacted the firms seeking information on whether the companies do business in Massachusetts and how the lump-sum offers are marketed. Massachusetts is concerned that the amounts offered are significantly less than the value of the future income.... The state also wants to know if the deals are structured as securities." (Investment News; free registration required)

Product Providers Must Adapt to Changing Advisor Needs
"Asset managers and other financial product providers got a warning [at the recent IRI Marketing Forum]: The needs of financial advisors and their clients are changing, and it's the providers that need to adapt." (Financial Planning)

Does Automatic Enrollment Actually Increase Participant Savings?
"Are there those who once might have filled out an enrollment form and opted for a higher rate of deferral (say to the full level of match) that now take the 'easy' way and allow themselves to be automatically enrolled at the lower rate adopted for most automatic enrollment plans? Absolutely. However, as the EBRI data show -- and, for anyone paying attention, have shown for years now -- the folks most likely to be disadvantaged by that lack of action are higher-income workers." (Nevin Adams via EBRI)

Proposed Bill Aims to Protect ESOP Appraisers
"H.R. 2041 [would] modify the definition of fiduciary under [ERISA] to make clear appraisers of [ESOPs] are not ERISA fiduciaries.... This bill is a response to the [DOL's] proposed ... regulation mandating all private ESOP company appraisers be ERISA fiduciaries.... Leaders at the DOL say a new proposal will be issued sometime in 2013. It is expected DOL will not alter the proposed regulation's mandate[.]" (The ESOP Association)

Seventh Circuit Addresses Whether Financial Service Provider Is ERISA Fiduciary
"The DOL argued that AUL exercised its contractual right by not exercising it every time it invested plan assets in a fund that was more expensive than another fund that it could have chosen. The court rejected this 'non-exercise' theory of exercise as unworkable and unprecedented. Instead it found that an omission was insufficient to satisfy the requirement that the individual exercise authority or control over plan assets." (Alston & Bird, via Employee Benefit News)

Senate Bill Would Accelerate Required Minimum Distributions to Most Beneficiaries
"The Student Loan Affordability Act would require the retirement savings accounts to be distributed within five years of the death of the account holder, unless the beneficiary is within ten years of the account holder's age, an individual with special needs or disabled, a minor, or the account holder's spouse. This provision saves taxpayers approximately $4.6 billion over ten years." (Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, U.S. Senate)

[Opinion] How Much Income Will Your 401(k) Provide?
"The [DOL] is developing rules that would require workers to get estimated income illustrations from their defined contribution pension plans so they can understand more thoroughly how long their retirement savings might last. The department is asking for input from retirement planning specialists, employers, workers and others as it looks for ways to educate people and help them save more effectively for retirement.... With each passing decade, workers increasingly are asked to shoulder the responsibility for their retirement as the share of employers offering traditional pension plans shrinks." (AARP)

The Retirement Exchange: A New Plan, or a Twist on the Multiple Employer Plan?
"In the exchange, the document that governs the plan is in the name of each individual employer, not the overarching plan sponsor as is the case with MEPs ... A rogue employer with a 'defective' plan is segregated from the rest of the plans ... A toxic plan infecting others 'does not exist in the exchange.'" (InsuranceNewsNet.com)

Multiemployer Plan Withdrawal Liability Can Be Trap for the Unwary
"The [Seventh Circuit recently held] that a bright-line 'categorical' rule applies when a property owner in common control with a withdrawing employer leases property to that employer: the leasing activity is categorically a trade or business within the meaning of Section 4001(b)(1). The court justified its categorical rule because it is unlikely that leasing to a commonly-controlled withdrawing employer would ever be a truly passive investment. It is more likely that the goal is to split up the withdrawing employer's assets. Categorically labeling this activity a trade or business prevents businesses from shirking ERISA obligations by fractionalizing operations into separate entities." (McGuireWoods LLP)

[Official Guidance] IRS Statement on Court Ruling Prohibiting Testing of Tax Return Preparers
"In accordance with this order, tax return preparers covered by this program are not required to complete competency testing or secure continuing education. The ruling does not affect the regulatory practice requirements for CPAs, attorneys, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents or enrolled actuaries.... Fee amounts collected for scheduled registered tax return preparer test appointments canceled due to the court ordered injunction are being refunded. Additionally, fees collected from return preparers who tested on or after January 18, 2013, the date the test was enjoined, are also being refunded." (Internal Revenue Service)

Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Head of IRS
"President Obama on Thursday appointed senior budget adviser Daniel Werfel as the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service... Werfel has served for most of the Obama administration as controller of the Office of Management and Budget, overseeing federal procurement, financial disclosure and working to fight waste. A lawyer by training who also worked as a budget official in the George W. Bush administration, Werfel has helped reduce the administration's level of improper payments to contractors and has been working to manage the mandatory budget cuts known as the sequester." (The Washington Post)

Reinhart Employee Benefits Update, May 2013 (PDF)
Articles include: Summary of Description of Material Modifications for Calendar Year Plans; PBGC Issues Proposed Regulations on Reportable Events and Other Notification Requirements; IRS Provides Relief from the Anti-Cutback Requirements for Certain ESOP Amendments; FAQs on SBC Requirements and Updated SBC Template for 2014; IRS Proposes Regulations on Determining Minimum Value; Supreme Court Issues Decision in US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen. (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)

Cypen & Cypen Newsletter, May 16, 2013
Articles include: [1] NASRA issue brief treats state and local government spending on public employee retirement systems; [2] Has DC plan design come full circle? [3] What to know before selling pension/settlement income streams; [4] Pension funds with the highest equity allocations; [5] Pension funds with the largest hedge fund portfolios; and [6] Thirty-fourth annual police officers' and firefighters' pension trustees' school. (Cypen & Cypen)

Reenrollment in Retirement Plans: Better Process, Same Great Benefits
"[Reenrollment] can be a powerful method to address a plan's asset allocation problems and the inertia of plan participants. Reenrollment resets participant investments, directing current and, typically, future holdings into a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) such as a balanced fund, managed account, or life-cycle or target-date fund." (Vanguard)

Pension De-Risking Through Lump Sum Offers
"Lump sums can be a useful tool to reduce the size of pension obligations, but they must fit within the context of an organization's overall financial and HR strategies. If the plan sponsor's objective is to reduce its pension risk, the first question is: 'Are we better off settling our liabilities, either through lump sum payments or other risk transfer mechanisms such as an annuity purchase, or are we better off trying to manage these risks ourselves?'" (Towers Watson)

[Official Guidance] Disaster Relief Relating to PBGC Deadlines in Response to Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding in Illinois
"This Disaster Relief Announcement provides relief relating to PBGC deadlines [to] any person responsible for meeting a PBGC deadline (e.g., a plan administrator or contributing sponsor) that is located in the disaster area for which the [Internal Revenue Service] has provided relief ... [On] May 14, 2013, IRS provided relief in connection with filing extensions for Form 5500 series returns as a result of the disaster for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area. The relief generally extends from April 16, 2013 through July 1, 2013. The disaster area consists of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry and Will counties." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Guidance Overview] DOL Considering Requiring DC Plans to Provide Lifetime Income Illustration (PDF)
"According to the DOL, the assumed 3% annual increase in the rate of future contributions is based on an expectation that wages, particularly for younger workers, will increase at an even higher rate.... However, for those individuals already contributing the maximum elective deferral amount to a 401(k) plan, this assumption may be too high when inflation is lower than 3%. Similarly, a 7% rate of return may not be achievable for employees near retirement age who invest more conservatively and may create an unreasonably high projected retirement annuity." (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

Employee Ownership Update, May 15, 2013
By NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers. Articles discuss loan-funded share plans in Australia; whether fiduciary rules for appraisers are on indefinite hold; and the Seventh Circuit's affirmance of the presumption of prudence by plan fiduciaries in a 401(k) case. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

[Official Guidance] Presentation Handout for Upcoming May 23 IRS Phone Forum on 403(b) Correction Issues (PDF)
Topics include: Changes made in Rev. Proc. 2013-12 that impact 403(b) Plans; What failures can be corrected under Rev. Proc. 2013-12; Correction Issues with 403(b) Plans; Correction under Rev. Proc. 2008-50; and Correction under Rev. Proc. 2013-12. (Internal Revenue Service)

[Opinion] Pension Predators in New York
"By insisting that they are making advances, not loans, these firms elude state supervision, including usury laws, licensing regulations and the federal Truth in Lending Act, which requires lenders to disclose borrowing costs. These and other subterfuges have enabled the companies to ambush pensioners with 'advance' loans that carry interest charges ranging ... from 27 percent to 106 percent. This is clearly illegal in New York[.]" (The New York Times)

[Official Guidance] IRS to Be Closed on May 24 and Four Other Days -- Filing and Payment Deadlines Unchanged (PDF)
"The Internal Revenue Service announced ... additional details about the closures planned for May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30, 2013.... [A]ll IRS operations will be closed on those days. This means that all IRS offices, including all toll-free hotlines, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and the agency's nearly 400 taxpayer assistance centers nationwide, will be closed on those days.... No tax returns will be processed and no compliance-related activities will take place." (Internal Revenue Service)

How to Reduce Employee Cravings for 401(k) Loans
"Plan sponsors should consider some options to limit the amounts of loans while still offering them: 1. Allow only one outstanding loan at a time.... 2. Limit participant loans for hardship reasons only." (Employee Benefit News)

Automatic 401(k) Saving Features No Fail-Safe to Retirement Success
"Workers can always opt out of the auto-saving features, but they usually don't ... On the plus side, automation leads many who would otherwise save nothing to steadily sock away a slice of their paycheck. But the 3% default contribution rate favored by employers doesn't come close to the savings rate needed for a secure retirement: roughly 12% to 15%, experts say, including both worker and employer contributions." (Kiplinger)

[Opinion] Why the Industry Needs to Accept Some Blame for Flaws in PBS Frontline's 'Retirement Gamble'
"If a smart journalist, looking for as much information as possible about retirement plans and interviewing dozens of plan participants, plan sponsors, and academics, still can't understand his own retirement plan, then it may be that those doing the explaining aren't doing a very good job. Some of the blame for inaccuracies and missing information in the documentary is reflective of confusion and missing information in the industry." (RIABiz)

Consumer Fact Sheet: The Basics of Investing
"The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) and the National Retirement Planning Coalition (NRPC) released a new fact sheet focused on the basics of investing as part of their six-month national retirement planning campaign.... According to research by IRI, only about 17 percent of Boomers believe that they are extremely or very knowledgeable about making financial investments. Even more alarming, more than 40 percent of Boomers say that they are not very or not at all knowledgeable about investing." (Insured Retirement Institute)

State and Local Government Employees Postponing Retirement
"[A recent study] asked supervisors what changes their retirement-eligible employees had made about their plans for retirement and found 37.6% indicated employees postponed their retirement date, 21.7% said employees accelerated their retirement date, 23.6% reported employees made no changes to their retirement date and 20.5% said 'don't know.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com)

401(k) Sponsors Take to Social Media
"The use of social media, including Web sites and blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter, is strongest among mid-sized plan sponsors, who represent plans with total assets of $20 million to $100 million. Among this group, 77 percent use some form of social media, with Web sites or blogs being the most popular and LinkedIn being the second most popular." (Financial Advisor)

Drinker Biddle Retirement Income Team Newsletter, May 2013 (PDF)
Articles include: [1] Projecting Retirement Income; [2] NAIC Update: Spring 2013 Meeting; [3] Distribution Payments in "Guise": An SEC Examination Priority; [4] Converting Defined Contribution Plan Benefits To Annuities Through Rollovers to a Defined Benefit Plan: Practical Considerations for Employers; [5] FINRA's 2013 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Include Variable Annuity Sales Practice Issues; and [6] Selecting an Annuity Provider. (Drinker Biddle)

[Guidance Overview] Roth Adoption and the New In-Plan Conversion Feature
"[The authors] anticipate that the Roth feature will appeal to successful plans -- those with high levels of savings and well-diversified plan assets -- where the sponsor is seeking to add incremental plan features for consideration by participants. For sponsors overseeing plans with below-average participation and savings rates, or poorly diversified plan assets, the Roth feature is likely to remain less important than optimizing savings and investment behaviors." (Vanguard)

Fiduciary Obligation to Select Appropriate Share Classes
"[The Tibble v. Edison] trial court found, and the appellate court agreed, that plans must use their purchasing power to select the appropriate share class. The practical consequence is that advisers should make recommendations based on the share classes available and must educate plan sponsors about the available share classes, including their costs, and plan sponsors (typically acting through their plan committees) must understand that multiple share classes may be available and must investigate which are best for their plan and participants. That could be a daunting task." (FredReish.com)

[Official Guidance] PBGC Interest Assumptions for Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans, June 2013
"The June 2013 interest assumptions under the benefit payments regulation will be 0.75 percent for the period during which a benefit is in pay status and 4.00 percent during any years preceding the benefit's placement in pay status. In comparison with the interest assumptions in effect for May 2013, these interest assumptions represent a decrease of 0.25 percent in the immediate annuity rate and are otherwise unchanged." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

IRS to Focus on Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans, Other Concerns Highlighted in Questionnaire Results
"The Internal Revenue Service has identified an increasing number of small employers that maintain multiple tax-qualified retirement plans, an arrangement that is not a violation of tax code rules but that raises questions, [Monika A. Templeman, director of Employee Plans examinations at IRS] said during an agency-sponsored phone forum.... 'More plans means more complexity and more need for internal controls, so we are a little bit concerned,' she said." (Bloomberg BNA)

Industry Experts Question DOL's Lifetime Income Illustration
"Attendees and panel speakers at [the recent EBRI] Policy Forum ... said DOL was taking a step in the right direction by drawing up guidelines for ways plan sponsors can show participants how their current and future retirement savings will shape their future income stream. But among the questions the organization's leader posed was whether the proposal's longevity projections were too short." (Thompson SmartHR Manager)

[Guidance Overview] EBSA Considering Rule on Lifetime Income for Plan Benefit Statements (PDF)
"Although over 700 comments have been reviewed on this topic since 2010, EBSA is seeking further comments on this new proposal, to be received no later than July 8, 2013.... The agency has suggested the possibility that it might stop short of issuing actual regulations on lifetime income streams if it can find an alternate means of achieving its objective. However, it is widely believed that EBSA will not allow a purely voluntary delivery of lifetime income projections to plan participants and beneficiaries." (Ascensus)

Top Five Actions Employers Can Take to Help Employees Become Super Savers for Retirement (PDF)
"Drive employee participation in the plan and encourage contribution increases over time.... Encourage employees to use resources that help evaluate retirement readiness.... Offer target date solutions that automate investment decisions.... Use proactive communications that motivate employees to take appropriate action.... Use leadership and centers of influence to promote retirement savings." (Transamerica Retirement Solutions)

Economic Indicators to Include Focus on Pensions
"The goal of enhancing transparency about employer-provided defined benefit retirement plans is laudable. However, in reading the fine print, one wonders if the opposite will occur and users of post-implementation data will be more confused." (Pension Risk Matters)

[Guidance Overview] Preview of the 2013 Comprehensive Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts: Changes in Definitions and Presentations (PDF)
"To measure pension entitlements when they are accrued, BEA will adopt the accrual accounting approach for measuring pension income, relying on actuarial estimates of pension costs In implementing the accrual approach, BEA will treat defined benefit pension plans as 'pass-through' entities that are effectively owned by the household sector and will classify these plans as financial corporations that receive contributions and property income on behalf of plan participants but do not have income or saving of their own." (Bureau of Economic Affairs)

Technical Progress, Sorting, and Early Retirement
"Technological progress has been shown to affect early retirement via two opposite forces. On the one hand, it increases real wages and, therefore, creates incentives to delay retirement. On the other hand, it causes an erosion of workers' skills, which raises the probability of early retirement." (Working Papers in Economics, Universitat de Barcelona via SSRN)

[Guidance Overview] EPCRS Overpayment Rules
"[Assume] a profit sharing plan permits in-service distributions to participants who have attained age 59-1/2 ... incorrectly permits a participant who is age 40 to receive an in-service distribution (non-hardship) of his or her account balance. The plan is not a 401(k) plan. The appropriate correction would be to: Inform the participant that the distribution was made in error; Request that the participant return the distribution, plus earnings, to the plan; and Inform the participant that the distribution is not eligible for rollover." (McKay Hochman)

IRS Final Report on 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire (PDF)
"The Final Report explains the sample selection and analysis methods and provides the response to each question by percentage of plans, plan sponsors, or participants. It also includes stratified data based on plan size and a section on Automatic Contribution Arrangements. The findings will be used to gain a better understanding of the health and compliance behaviors of 401(k) plans and to better allocate IRS resources to foster voluntary 401(k) plan compliance." (ING)

[Opinion] Employers Face Looming Litigation Threat from 401(k) Plan Loan Defaults
"The dramatic increase in pension leakage is a very bad omen for employers and fiduciaries. It signals that a broader cross section of American families has been adversely affected. This fact -- plus the increasing availability of optional death, disability and unemployment protection as a plan loan feature -- make fiduciary claims disproportionately more likely as time goes on. In fact, as a candidate for the next breach-of-fiduciary-duty cause du jour, pension leakage has a lot going for it." (Pensions & Investments)

Pension Finance Watch, April 2013
"The impact of a significant decline in long bond yields was only partially offset by positive investment results. As a result, the Towers Watson Pension Index fell 1.6% in April to 66.0. Even with this month's decline, the index value remains up 5.9% for the year." (Towers Watson)

The Language of Savings
"The relatively new field of behavioral economics which blends micro-economics and psychology is being used to help employees make better decisions about their 401(k) plans.... [T]he underlying process of helping employees save for retirement is about communication -- which is to say, the language we use.... Recent research... goes to that very concept when [it] added the linguistic dimension to how and why people make savings decisions." (The Retirement Plan Blog)

Ten Steps to Setting Up an ESOP
"From engaging your ESOP consultant to rolling out the plan to your employees, this ten step process will help guide you through the key steps to implement an ESOP." (Principal Financial Group)

[Opinion] PBS Frontline's 'The Retirement Gamble' Got 401(k)s Right
"[T]he following are key things to consider whether you are an employer offering a 401(k) or an employee investing in one: [1] Costs Matter: Keep investment fees low as it can help keep more money invested in the markets versus in the hands of financial providers.... [2] Over the long-term, few professionally managed funds (known as actively-managed funds) outperform its peer market index.... [3] Choose a provider that takes on a fiduciary responsibility with your 401(k): This simply means use a provider that agrees in writing to act in your company's 401(k) plan's best interest." (Avik Roy, in Forbes)

Massachusetts Probes Firms Seeking to Buy Pension Income Streams
"The inquiry letters seek information on whether the company does business in Massachusetts; how and by whom it is marketed; whether Massachusetts residents have been contacted; as well as information needed to determine if the future income streams have been securitized." (Boston Herald)

Plan Sponsors Embracing Social Media
"While many providers continue to dedicate more time and money to more traditional forms of communication and outreach, such as e-mail or direct contact with an adviser or firm representative, plan sponsors are more often linking to plan providers through websites or blogs (39%), LinkedIn (24%), and Facebook (22%) to share or seek news and opinions related to 401(k) plans and providers." (PLANSPONSOR.com)

[Opinion] Text of Comments to EBSA on Benefit Statement Proposals (PDF)
"EBSA has decided that the safe harbor disclosure of the monthly payment associated with the Current Balance should be determined by converting the current balance to a life annuity equivalent assuming the participant has reached his or her normal retirement age ... under the plan on the date of calculation, even if the participant is much younger on such date. EBSA explains the rationale for this calculation as the payment the participant would receive today for life if he/she were old enough today (i.e., [had] reached the normal retirement date). The result of this methodology is to effectively assume no investment return on the current account balance between current age and normal retirement date.... [T]his is not the accrued benefit associated with the current balance; it is potentially misleading and not particularly helpful to someone who is trying to plan for retirement." (Kenneth A. Steiner, FSA Retired)

DOL Seeks Input on Guidance Regarding Lifetime Income Illustrations (PDF)
"EBSA hopes that providing defined contribution plan participants with 'a lifetime income illustration might spur better planning for the future.' EBSA's goal is to illustrate for workers what their lump-sum retirement savings would actually 'look like when they are spread out over all the years of retirement.'" (Benefits Bryan Cave)

ERISA Does Not Preempt Post-Distribution Suit Against Beneficiaries
"Despite [waiving any benefits from the Plans, [his ex-spouse] never named a new beneficiary for either Plan. Accordingly, the administrator of the Plans determined that the proceeds of both Plans should be paid to Andochick, because Andochick remained the named beneficiary of the Plans.... Andochick argued that ERISA preempts the waivers embodied in the marital settlement agreement. The Fourth Circuit disagreed, finding that '[a]llowing post-distribution suits to enforce state-law waivers does nothing to interfere' with the core objectives of ERISA. Therefore, the Fourth Circuit determined that Andochick should be paid the benefits from the Plans, but that the decedent's estate could seek to recoup those benefit by enforcing the marital settlement agreement in state court.'" (Herrick, Feinstein LLP)

Sixth Circuit Finds ERISA Does Not Preempt State Law Claims Surrounding 'Invalidation' of Plan by Company Board of Directors (PDF)
"Defendants' duty not to interfere with Plaintiffs' SERP agreement with Metaldyne arises under Michigan tort law, not the terms of the SERP itself. And more to the point ... Defendants' duty is not derived from, or conditioned upon, the terms of the SERP. Nobody needs to interpret the plan to determine whether that duty exists. Thus, Plaintiffs' claim is based upon a duty that is 'independent of ERISA [and] the plan terms[.]'" [Gardner v. Heartland Indus. Partners, LP, No. 11-2327 (6th Cir. May 10, 2013)] (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit)

[Opinion] Retirement Income Reporting: Signs of Progress
"[S]ince the goal of most defined contribution plans is to provide financial security throughout a retiree's lifetime, then the way in which account balances are reported needs to reflect that goal. This has been coming ever since the 401(k) plan started to evolve from a supplementary savings plan into the primary retirement vehicle for a huge section of the private sector workforce[.]" (Russell Investments)

[Guidance Overview] DOL Moves Closer to Lifetime Income Disclosure Rules for Defined Contribution Plans (PDF)
"Although displaying both the current and projected information should be useful to participants and is a terrific start, providing these numbers within the context of all of the employee's expected sources of retirement income and as a range of outcomes provides a more accurate picture of retirement readiness. Additionally, visually presenting the impact of potential actions, such as increasing contributions, may improve the chances of employees acting on that information to improve their prospects for retirement." (Buck Consultants)

DOL Requests Comments on Proposed Rule for Illustrating Lifetime Income on Benefit Statements
"These particular proposed rules ... focus more narrowly on the need to highlight the income replacement purpose of plan benefits and motivate workers to save more. Presumably to signal some flexibility in achieving those goals, the notice pledges that the DOL will consider reasonable alternatives to direct regulation, including other ways to provide participants and beneficiaries with 'constructive and helpful lifetime income illustrations.'" (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Proskauer ERISA Litigation Newsletter, May 2013
Articles include: [1] U.S. Supreme Court Provides Defendants With More Ammunition for Defeating Class Certification by Requiring Classwide Proof of Damages; [2] District Court Limits the Collection of Withdrawal Liability Against Private Equity Funds; [3] Monetary Damages Potentially Available For Inadequate Disclosure; [4] U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Plan Terms Trump Equitable Defense; and [5] U.S. Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Case On ERISA Statute of Limitations. (Proskauer Rose LLP)

In Reversal, PBGC Covers Pension of Hospital Center After IRS Revokes 'Church Plan' Status
"[I]n 2003, after the hospital became affiliated with Cathedral Healthcare System Inc., the [IRS] determined that the hospital's pension plan had become a church plan, which removed it from PBGC's protection. Soon after that, the hospital began winding down its operations and laying off employees. Over the past several years, at the request of the Pension Rights Center, PBGC worked with the hospital's former staff and the IRS to revisit that designation. IRS recently set the designation aside and PBGC can now cover the pensions." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Guidance Overview] DOL Proposes to Include 'Lifetime Income Illustrations' in Benefit Statements (PDF)
"Although the ANPRM only addresses a narrow issue presented under ERISA section 105 -- that is, how to present a description of a participant's 'total benefits accrued' under a [DC] plan, it is better understood as a next step in a broader DOL initiative to facilitate access to 'lifetime income options' that could provide a lifetime stream of income after retirement to American workers who now primarily save for retirement through [DC] plans." (Groom Law Group)

[Opinion] Text of ACLI Statement on DOL Draft Proposal for Translating Savings Into Lifetime Income
"The proposal represents a significant step forward in educating workers about retirement and helping them achieve their retirement security goals.... Most workers recognize the need to accumulate retirement assets, but many may not think about the need to manage their assets over the course of a retirement that could last 20 or 30 years. Understanding what a lump sum really means in terms of paying the monthly bills will help countless workers ensure they are on the right path to meeting their retirement goals." (American Council of Life Insurers)

OPM Is Pursuing Incremental Information Technology Improvements for Processing of Retirement Claims, After Canceling a Modernization Plagued by Management Weaknesses
"For over two decades, OPM has been attempting to modernize its federal employee retirement process by automating paper-based processes and replacing antiquated information systems. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful, and the agency canceled its most recent large-scale retirement modernization effort in February 2011.... GAO is not making new recommendations at this time. GAO has previously made numerous recommendations to address IT management challenges that OPM has faced in carrying out its retirement modernization efforts." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

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