ASPPA

Plan Design/Sales Consultant
for United Retirement Plan Consultants in IN, KY, OH

Benefits Supervisor
for Resources for Human Development in PA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Martin Martin Randall & Associates, Inc. in AL, MS

Legal & Fiduciary Risk, Managing Attorney
for The Northern Trust Company in IL

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

Webinar on Health Care Reform
Nationwide on August 23, 2012 presented by Phelps Dunbar LLP

Health and Welfare Benefit Plans 2012 National Institute
in District of Columbia on October 11, 2012 presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

Executive Compensation 2012 National Institute
in District of Columbia on November 8, 2012 presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

Stock Options & Other Equity Compensation Awards - Tax & Accounting Treatment
Nationwide on October 2, 2012 presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

ERISA Assets: QPAM and INHAM Audit Legal Requirements and Best Practices: Navigating DOL Rules for Pension Asset Management Compliance
Nationwide on August 29, 2012 presented by Strafford Publications

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and Abandoned Plan Program Webinars
Nationwide on August 29, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

ASPPA Benefits Council of Cleveland - Full Day Seminar
in Ohio on September 11, 2012 presented by ASPPA Benefits Council of Cleveland

 

[Guidance Overview]

I Received My 401(k) Service Provider Fee Disclosure—What Do I Do Now?
"There is a prohibited transaction exemption if you did not know that the covered service provider failed to disclose some or all of the required information, but you must take specific actions to qualify for it.... Make Sure the General Content Requirements are Met... Make Sure Special Requirements are Met for Certain Services... Request Changes or Additional Materials if the Disclosed Information is Inaccurate or Incomplete... Document Steps Taken." (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)

DATAIR! New Features – Flexible Pricing – Module Integration   [Advert.]

Proposals, Testing, Administration, 5500s, 1099Rs, Plan Documents
401(k), New Comparability, 403(b), Non-qualified Plans
(888) 328-2474    Sales@DATAIR.com    www.DATAIR.com

[Guidance Overview]

Further Questions and Answers on Brokerage Accounts
"This Technical Update focuses on plans which provide participants the option to direct their investments through brokerage accounts, and do not otherwise provide a set of designated investment alternatives (DIAs) for participant selection. [Questions include:] Is such a plan a participant directed plan subject to the new participant fee disclosure regulations? ... Is the brokerage account a DIA? Are the investments selected through the brokerage accounts DIAs? ... Since the plan does not have any DIAs, must it provide a comparative chart of investments?" (SunGard Relius)

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Revises Guidance on Participant Fee Disclosures for Brokerage Window Investments
"Q&A-39 is welcome guidance for fiduciaries of plans with [Self-Directed Brokerage Arrangements (SDBAs)] ... Fiduciaries are still bound by the general ERISA fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty to participants who use SDBAs, including taking into account the nature and quality of services provided in connection with the SDBA. The DOL also noted that while plans are not required to have a particular number of designated investment alternatives, the failure to designate any investment alternatives (for example, to avoid fee disclosure obligations) would raise questions under the general fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty." (McDermott Will & Emery)

A 401(k) Fee Secret Revealed
"Investors in index funds ... frequently get a free ride when it comes to plan administrative fees. The reason: Most index funds don't pay the 12b-1 and sub-transfer agent fees that defray the administrative costs of 401(k) plans. Instead, these fees are paid by investors in actively managed funds." (SmartMoney Encore)

Life's Just Good for Most Older Americans
"This generation of retirees, including the oldest Baby Boomers, who turn 66 this year, will more likely to enjoy the fruits of their life-long labors than future retirees ... They stopped working before employers pulled the plug on pension plans, before companies stopped matching contributions to 401(k)s and before Social Security and Medicare finances hit the crisis stage. As a result, today's retirees could be the last wave of happy seniors." (USA TODAY)

Half of Americans Die With Virtually No Money
"In examining asset levels, the authors said that many of these households may have been deemed to be well-prepared for their retirement years because their income in their final years was adequate and not substantially lower than their income in their late 50s or early 60s. Yet with such low assets at the end of their lives, they would have been unable to pay for fun activities or travel, let alone sudden and unexpected expenses like a health crisis[.]" (AARP)

Are Retirees Better Off Than We Think? Data Says Yes
"The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) ... greatly underreports distributions from IRAs, 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, a new report in the Social Security Bulletin concludes.... [B]ecause most IRA distributions are irregular, they are not measured as income in the survey. In addition, very few 401(k) plan participants take their retirement distributions as annuities. 'Excluding periodic distributions misses much of the money distributed from IRAs and defined contribution plans,' the article noted." (Investment News; free registration required)

Legal Constraints on State Pension Cuts Open to Debate, Research Shows
"Budget-strapped states are hampered in their efforts to trim pension benefits for current workers by a 'morass' of legal provisions that wind up putting most of the burden on new employees ... [M]ost states could change future benefits for current workers, although it would require legislative action and court rulings and would be 'extremely difficult' in many states. Only three states—Alaska, Illinois and New York—are limited by their constitutions from reducing benefits for current employees." (Pensions & Investments)

Shifting Investment Responsibility in 401(k) Plans
"Target-date funds (TDFs) are transforming the 401(k) retirement plan landscape, with adoption rising steadily over the past decade. Approximately half the participants in Vanguard-recordkept plans own TDFs—sometimes as a single fund, sometimes in combination with other funds. This TDF growth signals an important development in the nature of investment decision-making within 401(k) plans. Through the TDF mechanism, responsibility for investment decision-making is shifting back to the employer—or, more specifically, the employer's chosen TDF manager." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Consumers' Retirement Perspectives Third Quarter 2012 (PDF)
13 Slides with charts illustrating results of nationally-representative survey of non-retired Americans who are either the primary financial decision-makers or share responsibility for making financial decisions. Findings include: Almost half of Americans are not contributing to any retirement plan.... Most plan participants read retirement plan disclosures, but spend less than five minutes with them.... Paper disclosures remain the primary mode of delivery for plan accounts.... Plan provider websites are the most commonly used source of retirement account information.... Most plan participants understand their retirement account features, men are more likely to indicate they understand features "very well." (LIMRA)

[Opinion]

9% Commission? Defend That, ASPPA/NTSAA
"A few minutes ago [I, Scott Dauenhauer] received this cute little annuity advertisement. Yes—the commission is 9%. Wanna bet the people selling this product are not fiduciaries. Honestly, can ASPPA/NTSAA defend the possibility that their own member agents are selling this stuff to unwary school employees?" (The Meridian Blog)

[Opinion]

Will Canadian Private Pensions Deal a Crushing Blow to Business?
"Ottawa is basically telling companies 'you're on your own' and companies are responding by shutting down defined-benefit plans to new entrants and trying to manage their exploding pension liabilities as best as possible.... In the end, all this reinforces [the author's] strong belief that we need a major rethink on pensions, one that takes pensions out of the purview of the private sector and into the domain of well governed public pension funds. Everything else is tinkering on the edges and it will accelerate pension poverty and lead to more corporate collapses." (Pension Pulse)

[Opinion]

Social Security Not the Deal It Once Was for Workers
"People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire.... Previous generations got a much better bargain, mainly because payroll taxes were very low when Social Security was enacted in the 1930s and remained so for decades. If you retired in 1960, you could expect to get back seven times more in benefits than you paid in Social Security taxes, and more if you were a low-income worker, as long you made it to age 78 for men and age 81 for women. As recently as 1985, workers at every income level could retire and expect to get more in benefits than they paid in Social Security taxes, though they didn't do quite as well as their parents and grandparents. Not anymore." (National Center for Policy Analysis)

[Opinion]

Why You May Retire in Poverty
"As recently as 1998, 52 percent of Americans over age 60 received income from a defined benefit pension ... By 2010, that figure had fallen to 43 percent. In the private sector, the decline has been more dramatic—down from 38 percent in 1979 to 15 percent in 2010.... How important are defined benefit pensions in keeping seniors out of poverty? The study—which is based on U.S. Census Bureau data—found poverty rates were nine times greater in 2010 in households without defined benefit pension income." (Reuters)

[Opinion]

Yet Another Benefits Boost at the California Capitol?
"[A bill now pending before the California Senate] removes the statute of limitations for job-related survivor death benefits for ... current firefighters, police officers, prison guards and other public safety workers but retirees as well.... Its practical effect is to give every police officer, every firefighter, every prison guard or park ranger a taxpayer-funded life insur.ance policy. To pay for that extraordinary benefit, services will have to be cut. In some jurisdictions, even police and firefighters could be laid off to pay for it." (Sacramento Bee)