ASPPA

Health Benefits Analyst
The Segal Group
in CT

Analyst, Retirement Services
TriNet
in CT

Client Service Consultant
Dedicated Defined Benefit Services
in ANY STATE

Plan Consultant
401(k) Advisors
in CA

Sales Professional
TPA in Georgia
in GA

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

ERISA at 40: Successful Middle Age or Midlife Crisis?
September 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Transitional Reinsurance Program: Supporting Documentation Job Aid Review and Updating Reinsurance Contribution Filings
September 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

Defined Benefit Plan Update
September 18, 2014 WEBCAST
(IRS [Internal Revenue Service])

5500 Filing: Easier, Faster, No Stress with ASC
September 22, 2014 WEBCAST
(ASC [Actuarial Systems Corporation])

ERISA Audits: What We All Knew but Forgot
September 25, 2014 WEBCAST
(Clear Law Institute)

Employers' Guide to California's New Paid Sick Leave Law
October 9, 2014 WEBCAST
(Ogletree Deakins)

12th Annual Made In America: 2015 Taft-Hartley Benefits Summit
January 19, 2015 in NV
(Financial Research Associates)

8th Annual Opportunities in the DCIO Market
January 22, 2015 in MA
(Financial Research Associates)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Releases Notice on Pension Funding Stabilization
"While the IRS provided extensions of some deadlines, there was no extension of the September 15, 2014 deadline for making 2013 plan year contributions for calendar-year plans. Therefore, plan sponsors should review [Notice 2014-53] quickly, as they need to make decisions and possibly take action very soon.... Sponsors can opt out of the new law for 2013 for all purposes or just for benefit restrictions. Opting out will avoid the need to redo work, but may result in higher required contributions and/or lower funding balances. Sponsors can opt out by making an election by December 31, 2014 (or by the date the 2013 Form 5500 is due, if later, which can only apply to non-calendar-year plans). An option to elect out will be deemed made if a Schedule SB that does not reflect the HATFA rates is filed by December 31, 2014, provided no action is taken to revoke that deemed election." (Towers Watson)  

[Advert.]

ftwPortal Pro is here to help you during the testing season!

Streamline your census and annual questionnaire process with ftwPortal Pro. Choose from batch delivery or online electronic completion on the portal, and seamlessly import the information directly into our Admin software!

[Guidance Overview]

Quick Action May Be Needed Under Pension Funding Transition Guidance
"In consultation with the plan's actuary, plan sponsors are now in a position to make and implement decisions about the HAFTA segment rates. Dec. 31, 2014, is the deadline if the plan sponsor wants to make any of the elections for a calendar year plan. Special care should be taken in applying this guidance to plans already subject to, or potentially subject to, the Section 436 restrictions." (McGuireWoods LLP)  

A Plan Sponsor's 401(k) Plan Self-Audit (PDF)
"[T]he IRS has provided a list of questions that you, as a Plan Sponsor, must be able to answer to ensure compliance with IRS regulations. These questions are designed to help you document and evaluate your plan's policies, procedures and internal controls.... Plan service providers ... Employee eligibility ... Contributions ... Plan distributions ... Plan testing and administration." (Kushner & Company)  

Company Stock in Your 401(k)? An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure (PDF)
"Action items for plan fiduciaries ... [1] Consider retaining an independent fiduciary to serve as 'special purpose Trustee' with respect to the Company stock fund ... [2] Consider retaining independent legal counsel for the fiduciary committee to assist it in documenting its procedural prudence with respect to the company stock fund. [3] Consider whether to establish limits on the investment in company stock.... [4] Document, document, document." [Tatum v. RJR Pension Investment Committee, No. 13-1360 (4th Cir. Aug. 4, 2014)] (Wilkins Finston Law Group LLP)  

How Safe Is Your Retirement Nest Egg from Creditors?
"IRA funds dwarf the amount of retirement assets held in employer sponsored retirement plans. Those IRAs will offer tempting targets to creditors when they pass on death to beneficiaries other than a surviving spouse. Consider leaving retirement assets in your employer sponsored plans, where protection from creditors is assured, as long as possible. Alternatively, for assets currently held in an IRA, consider retaining the spouse as the primary beneficiary (that appears to be safe for now) and naming only a spendthrift trust as the alternative beneficiary[.]" (The Retirement Plan Blog)  

[Advert.]

Download your free special report: ERISA at 40

Download this special report to understand the impacts on pension and health-care provisions in tax laws, budget bills and more, the implications of ERISA forty years after its enactment cannot be underscored. Download Bloomberg BNA's special report: ERISA@40 now!

What Happens When an IRA Beneficiary Dies?
"[If] the primary beneficiary survives the participant but later 'disclaims' the account by means of a qualified disclaimer, he is treated as having predeceased the participant -- he drops out of the picture. In that case the contingent beneficiary comes back in to the picture ... [W]ith a trusteed IRA it is possible for the original participant to dictate who the successor beneficiary is.... [If] the primary beneficiary (having survived the participant) later dies while there is still money in the account, that money will pass to the participant's chosen successor beneficiary, not to the estate of the primary beneficiary." (Morningstar Advisor)  

The New Era of Fee Transparency: Making Sense of the Details (PDF)
8 pages. "Best-practice governance routines and fee disclosure regulations place equal emphasis on documenting the process for determining reasonableness and making the determination itself. If you establish and document processes and procedures for understanding and assessing the fees paid by your plan, and you are diligent in following them, generally you are assured that you've fulfilled the fee disclosure requirements." (Bank of America Merrill Lynch)  

Can You Contribute to a Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA in the Same Year?
"Maybe. Participation in an employer plan does not disqualify you from contributing to an IRA or a Roth IRA ... [T]he question is not whether or not you can make the [IRA] contribution, but whether or not you can deduct the contribution.... If you make a non-deductible contribution, be sure you file Form 8606 with your tax return to tell IRS that you have made an after-tax contribution. Otherwise, when you go to take the funds out, you will be taxed again." (Slott Report)  

Job-Hopping Millennials Lose Big on Retirement Savings
"Your company's vesting policy may not be on your mind when considering your next career move, but it should be.... One in four workers who left their job last year lost out on this valuable retirement savings ... On average, they left behind $1,710 in savings ... Younger workers were by far the most frequent losers. More than a third of Millennials left behind an average 24% of their account balance after leaving their job. In contrast, only 11% of Baby Boomers left money behind." (CNNMoney.com)  

[Advert.]

Free Practical Law Ethics CLE Webinar: September 16, 1 pm ET

Join Practical Law for a 90-minute webinar, Ethical Considerations for Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Attorneys, providing guidance on ethical issues that arise in practice. Ethics CLE credits available. Register free: Enter code PLFREE916

Retirement Insecurity: Two Studies Underline Housing and Income Challenges
"In the bottom half of income distribution, just 40 percent of households owned any type of account -- IRA, 401(k) or traditional pension -- in 2013, down from 48 percent in the 2007 survey.... In the top 10 percent, 95 percent of families are covered. Overall, the average value of retirement accounts jumped a substantial 10 percent from 2010 to 2013, to $201,300." (Reuters)  

Macroeconomic Determinants of Retirement Timing
"[The authors] find that the fraction of partially retired workers has risen dramatically (from virtually zero to 15 percent for 60-62 year olds), and that the duration of partial retirement spells has been steadily increasing.... Workers who are partially retired show a differential response to a high unemployment rate: younger workers increase their partial retirement spell, while older workers accelerate their transition to full retirement." (University of Michigan Retirement Research Center)  

Lockton Employee Benefits Operation Builds Milwaukee Account Team
Lockton

IRI Recognizes Importance of Financial Advice, during Inaugural National Financial Advisor Week
Insured Retirement Institute [IRI]

Health Policy Briefing Now Archived
National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation

Guardian Adds Field Director for Small-Plan Market
Guardian

Growth of Defined Contribution Assets Drives Demand for Broadridge's Retirement Solutions
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

View All Press Releases