ASPPA

Associate Attorney
for Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in PA

Account Services Representative
for Verisight, Inc. in CA

Account Manager
for Verisight, Inc. in CA

Pricing Specialist
for New York Life Retirement Plan Services in MA

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

Terminating 401(k) and Other Defined Contribution Plans
Nationwide on October 17, 2012 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Davis-Bacon Plans
Nationwide on September 27, 2012 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Rehires, including HEART and USERRA
Nationwide on October 24, 2012 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

"The Ins and Outs of Benefits, Rights, and Features" Web Seminar
Nationwide on September 25, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

"Testing for Related Employers" Web Seminar
Nationwide on October 5, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

"Electronic Notices: Fee Disclosures and Beyond" Web Seminar
Nationwide on October 10, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

Mandatory Fee Disclosure is in Effect: Next Steps for Plan Fiduciaries (NY CLE Program)
in New York on September 27, 2012 presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

HIPAA Privacy and Security Update: Lessons Learned From Latest Enforcement Actions
Nationwide on October 17, 2012 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA

"ERISA Workshop 2012" - Bloomington
in Illinois on October 17, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

"ERISA Workshop 2012" - Minneapolis
in Minnesota on October 17, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

"ERISA Workshop 2012" - Chicago
in Illinois on October 18, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

"ERISA Workshop 2012" - Appleton
in Wisconsin on October 19, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

CFDD

 

[Guidance Overview]

MAP-21 Ready to Roll (PDF)
"Informed by [the guidance in IRS Notice 2012-61,] decisions can be made about assigning contributions to 2011 or 2012 plan years, using funding balances to meet 2012 funding requirements, when and how to implement funding-based benefit restrictions, and for sponsors of cash balance plans that use segment rates as a reference point for interest credits, what rate to credit now while awaiting final regulations on permitted market-related rates." (Buck Consultants)

[Advert.]

DATAIR! More Choices – Better Guidance – Less Cost

Documents, SPDs, Amendments, Administrative Forms
401(k)/Profit Sharing, 403(b), DB and Cash Balance Plans
(888) 328-2474    Sales@DATAIR.com    www.DATAIR.com

Employee Benefits Security Administration Announces Launch of 401(k) Fee Disclosure Resource Website for Plan Participants
"The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has announced a new 401(k) fee disclosure website as a resource for consumers. The new site, http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/understandingretirementfees.html, offers information on disclosures that, for the first time, will help workers with 401(k)-type retirement plans see what they are paying to invest their savings. It also includes new tips and tools on making smart retirement investment decisions." (Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Unwelcome Surprises for Variable Annuity Investors
"[U]nder pressures related to the financial crisis and its aftermath, some of the companies that sell variable annuities are making their terms less generous—and many investors are learning that the 'guarantee' of a guaranteed payment comes with a lot of caveats.... The cost to insurance companies of hedging their market risk have gone up since the financial crisis, while the money the companies earn in the bond market has fallen with lower interest rates.... This squeeze has made it harder for annuity providers to sustain the generous guarantees they offered a few years ago." (SmartMoney Encore)

Making Saving for Retirement Easier, Cheaper, and More Secure
"As the first generation of workers to depend primarily on 401(k) plans—rather than the increasingly rare defined-benefit pension—starts to retire ... [the] typical near-retirement-age worker with a 401(k) has accumulated enough money to provide a monthly retirement payment of only about $575. Making matters worse, less than half of all workers even have a retirement plan at work, and that figure has been declining over the past few decades. Americans, therefore, are deeply worried about their ability to retire, with half of all workers saying they are not confident they will have enough money for retirement." (Center for American Progress)

Survey and Experimental Evidence on Financial Advice and Behavior Change
"When do individuals actually improve their financial behavior in response to advice? ... Results from a hypothetical portfolio-allocation choice experiment ... show that unsolicited advice has no causal effect on investment behavior, yet individuals who actively solicit advice ultimately improve performance, despite negative selection on financial ability. While expanding access to advice can have positive effects (particularly for the less financially literate), more extensive compulsory programs of financial counseling may be less effective." (Pension Research Council, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; free registration required)

[Advert.]

Learn, Network and Sell at the SPARK Forum Retirement Industry Conference

Join the industry's top record keepers, asset managers, TPAs, advisors, marketing and sales executives for unequaled educational and networking opportunities. Gain insights into the latest market trends, business strategies, regulatory and legislative issues, and product developments.

Financial Advice: Does it Make a Difference?
"[F]inancial advisers can improve financial outcomes when the interests of the advisor and household are aligned. Yet professional advice can harm consumers if conflicts of interest create high agency costs. Understanding how differences in compensation methods and regulatory frameworks affect incentives is essential to improving the breadth and quality of professional advice." (Pension Research Council, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; free registration required)

RIAs and Smaller Record Keepers Move to Right a Long-Term 401(k) Wrong: Lopsided Plan Expenses for Participants
"It's the nasty little secret of 401(k) fees: In many cases, a few plan participants may be paying the bulk of the plan expenses while others are getting a free ride. Recently, with fees and fiduciary issues taking center stage, industry leaders, attorneys and RIAs are saying that this isn't fair ... One of the most egregious examples occurs in smaller businesses where half the plan's assets are held in company stock and the other half in mutual funds." (RIABiz)

DOL Accuses Insurance Brokerage of Fleecing Pension
"The complaint, officially filed by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, claims [Dietrich & Associates, a Pennsylvania-based insurance brokerage] rigged the bidding process for Memorial Hospital's annuity purchase, presenting false final bids to ensure Hartford Life Insurance Company's bid came in lowest and won. Hartford, in turn, had allegedly struck a kickback deal with Dietrich: the insurance company would pay a portion of the annuity's purchase price to the brokerage, provided Hartford won." (aiCIO)

Next School Crisis for Chicago: Teachers' Pension Fund is Running Dry
"The Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund has about $10 billion in assets, but is paying out more than $1 billion in benefits a year—much more than it has been taking in. That has forced it to sell investments, worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, to pay retired teachers. Experts say the fund could collapse within a few years unless something is done." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Pension Provisions in MAP-21
"Most DB plans will have a lower minimum required contribution when MAP-21 changes are applied. Lower contributions made today will likely result in larger required contributions in the future. Sponsors should work with their actuaries to decide whether to 'pay now or pay later'.... DB plan sponsors will be paying significantly higher PBGC premiums.... Maintaining a higher level of contribution will reduce the unfunded vested liability and hence reduce the level of the PBGC variable rate premium." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Court Allows ESOP Participants to Sue for Company Stock Drop
"[T]his case was the first in which an appeals court held that plaintiffs claimed the defendants, including Fifth Third, its chief executive officer and other officers, violated their fiduciary duty by incorporating by reference certain Securities and Exchange Commission filings into the plan's summary plan description.... [T]he 6th Circuit ruling found 'legislative history combined with a natural and clear reading of [ERISA Section] 404 [led] to the inexorable conclusion that ESOP fiduciaries are subject to the same fiduciary standards as any other fiduciary except to the extent that the standards require diversification of investments'." [Dudenhoefer v. Fifth Third Bancorp., No. 11-3012 (6th Cir., Sept. 5, 2012)] (Thompson SmartHR Manager)

Fiduciary Responsibility and 401(k) Plans
26 slides from a "Plan Sponsor Basics" webinar series, focusing on fiduciary responsibility and 401(k) plans. Specific topics include plan governance, ERISA section 404(c) compliance, QDIAs and fees. (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Checklist for Retirement Plan Sponsors in Reviewing Fee Disclosures from Service Providers (PDF)
"While the DOL has not yet issued meaningful guidance as to what specific actions are required by responsible plan fiduciaries with respect to these obligations (especially with respect to the assessment of whether fees are reasonable), ... the attached Checklist [is] a practical guide for responsible plan fiduciaries to address their initial obligation when they receive the relevant disclosures from service providers -- to review the disclosures made by the service provider and confirm that there are no obvious errors or omissions so as to be able to form a reasonable belief that the required disclosures have been made." (Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP)

Alpha, Beta, and Now ... Gamma
"'Gamma' [is] designed to quantify the additional expected retirement income achieved by an individual investor from making more intelligent financial planning decisions.... [A] retiree can expect to generate 29% more income on a 'utility-adjusted' basis using a Gamma-efficient retirement income strategy when compared to [a] base scenario, which assumes a 4% constant real withdrawal and a 20% equity allocation portfolio.... Unlike traditional alpha, which can be hard to predict, ... Gamma (and Gamma equivalent alpha) can be achieved by anyone following an efficient financial planning strategy." (Morningstar Investment Management)

[Opinion]

What's Happening with GM's Pensions?
"To those of us who spend our time advocating the automatic annuitization of at least some portion of 401(k) balances so that people will not outlive their resources, the offer to unannuitize—transform lifetime incomes into lump sums—seems like a step in the wrong direction. ... Retirees with pensions will not outlive their benefits, and they do not have to worry about the ups and downs of the stock market." (MarketWatch)

[Opinion]

With Pensions At Risk, Government Workers Must Demand Better 457 and 403(b) Retirement Plans
"[I]f you worked for a state or local government, or a public school or university, you might have been offered the opportunity to invest in what are commonly referred to as 457(b) or 403(b) plans. These defined contribution retirement plans permit largely public sector workers to defer a portion of their compensation. However, don't make the mistake of confusing them with their 401(k) cousins. There's a world of difference. The odds are so stacked against most 457 and 403(b) investors that they'll be lucky if the principal they invested is available upon retirement." (Forbes)

[Opinion]

Quantifying Returns on Pension Governance?
"[L]arge, well-governed defined-benefit plans are vastly superior to any defined-contribution plan. They pool resources, lower costs, invest in the best public and private market managers across the world, and in Canada, Denmark and Netherlands, are increasingly bringing assets internally to lower the costs more, which means all stakeholders will benefit when the cost of their plan goes down." (Pension Pulse)

[Opinion]

Text of Letter to California Governor Urging Enactment of the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (PDF)
"California has an unprecedented opportunity to defuse a potent threat to its economy and its government revenues—and in the bargain serve a wide range of public and private interests that will benefit the state, its private sector employers and its citizenry well into the future.... Millions of California workers are not in a retirement savings plan—the vast majority because there is no plan available to them." (National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems [NCPERS])

[Opinion]

Text of Suggestions to Treasury Department for Improvements to EPCRS
"ASPPA and CIKR appreciate the Service's efforts to continue to increase the standard corrections available under the Program.... Recognizing the importance of increasing usage of automatic enrollment in qualified retirement plans, we encourage the Service to expand EPCRS to include an alternative corrective option for the failure of a plan to either automatically enroll participants or automatically increase deferral rates." (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) and the Council of Independent 401(k) Recordkeepers (CIKR))

Year-End Deadline Nears to Amend Certain Section 409A Agreements
"The last day of 2012 ends the two-year transition period for employers to revise employment agreements that require executives separated from service to sign a release of claims document before receiving post-termination pay and avoid further compliance problems under Section 409A.... [C]ompensation agreements most likely to be affected include severance plans, change-in-control and employment arrangements, and certain restricted stock unit and other cash-settled equity compensation awards that contain a severance feature." (Bloomberg BNA)

Benefits of an Employee-Centric Enrollment Experience (PDF)
"Fewer than half (49%) of employees are very satisfied with the overall benefits program their employers offer. Email (40%) and mail (36%), received either at home or at work, are the most preferred ways to receive benefits information. 57% of employees currently enroll in their benefits online, but eight in 10 prefer this method." (Guardian Life)

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation: $28.80 per Hour as of June 2012
"Wages and salaries averaged $20.27 per hour worked and accounted for 70.4 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.52 and accounted for the remaining 29.6 percent." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

NAPA & ASPPA Open Nominations for 401k Advisor Award
National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) and American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)