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Sr. Retirement Specialist
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Johnson Financial Group in WI
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Hand-picked links to the web's best news articles, official guidance, jobs, webcasts and more.
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[Guidance Overview]
Maximum Deferral and Threshold Limits for 2013 and 2014 (PDF)
"The limits are located in various sections of the Code and often apply in different ways to private and public-sector plans.... The table [in this memo] presents the key limits for 2014 and compares them with the 2013 limits. The remainder of this memo briefly describes these limits."
(Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)
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Year-End Compliance Issues for Single-Employer Retirement Plans (PDF)
"By year-end 2013, sponsors of calendar-year single-employer retirement plans must act on necessary and discretionary amendments and perform a range of administrative procedures to ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. This Client Action Bulletin looks at key areas that such employers and sponsors of defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) plans should address by Dec. 31, 2013."
(Milliman)
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Probing Pension Consultants for Possible Conflicts of Interest
"In the case of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, with nearly $161 billion in assets in Q1-2013, the single person trustee and New York State Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, describes numerous attempts to enhance transparency and avoid conflicts.... While the published files are a good start, it would be nice to have even more information, especially with respect to the detailed due diligence process that was or is being employed by various advisers for recommended asset managers."
(Pension Risk Matters)
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Milliman Pension Funding Index, November 2013 (PDF)
"The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans improved by $3 billion during October as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). The deficit declined modestly to $126 billion from $129 billion at the end of September, due to a robust investment gain of almost 2.4% during October. The PFI funded ratio increased to 91.9% from 91.5% at the end of September."
(Milliman)
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Map 21 and DB Plan Finance: Looking Ahead to 2014
"Because of this 'year based' treatment keying off of a 25-year average ending with August of the 'prior year,' we now know the 2014 MAP-21 'floor' rate for all of 2014. We also know the 24-month average rate for plans using August or September as the '24th month.' We do not know the 24-month average rate for 2014 for plans using October-December as the '24th month.'... [T]he MAP-21 floor for 2014 went down by about 50 basis points from the floor for 2013. The floor is, however, still providing significant relief in the form [of] higher interest rates than would otherwise apply under the PPA."
(October Three Consulting)
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Pension Finance Watch, October 2013
"Another strong month of equity returns drove October financial results. The benchmark asset portfolio earned almost 3% for the month, more than offsetting the impact of a small decline in long-bond yields. The bottom-line impact was a 1.1% increase in the Towers Watson Pension Index, to 75.5. With this increase, the Index is now up 21% for the year."
(Towers Watson)
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Bank of America Moves Its $19 Billion 401(k) Plan In-House
"Bank of America is moving its $19 billion 401(k) plan to its own Bank of America Merrill Lynch institutional retirement platform early in 2015, six years after the bank bought Merrill Lynch. Bank of America's 401(k) plan, which serves more than 300,000 participants, is currently managed by Fidelity Investments.... Fidelity will continue to oversee the administration of Bank of America's defined benefit pension plan and transferred savings account defined contribution plan ... Bank of America is moving its Countrywide Pension Plan participants into their defined benefit plan at Fidelity."
(Reuters)
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Cypen & Cypen Newsletter, November 7, 2013
Article titles include: Report Reveals Depth of Corporate Collusion in Pension Attacks; IRS Announces Plan Limitations for 2014; Various Tax Benefits Will Increase in 2014; Cincinnati Voters Soundly Reject Pension Reform; and Six Reasons That a Frozen Pension Plan Is Different.
(Cypen & Cypen)
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Congress Told: Don't Mess With Tax Deferral
"Don't mess with tax deferral in retirement savings products. Do preserve tax deferral in annuities. Don't take tax deferral for granted, and don't take it away. In view of expected budget changes coming up, retirement industry leaders are working to get those messages out to Congress, the industry and the public in different ways."
(InsuranceNewsNet.com)
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Has Social Security Redistributed to Whites from People of Color?
"Using Current Population Survey data from 1970 through 1994 ... [the authors] find that for many decades, Social Security redistributed from blacks, Hispanics, and other people of color, to whites. These transfers will likely to continue in future decades.... [F]indings suggest that future reforms that place the burden of Social Security reform solely on younger, more diverse generations may have undesired distributional consequences if the aim of the program is to provide greater relative protections to more vulnerable groups."
(Urban Institute)
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Using Creative Chaos to Demonstrate the Value of the Fiduciary Standard
"Independent investment advisers can, and should, take advantage of their independence to stress the fiduciary issues inherent in the broker/non-fiduciary standard and the investment adviser/fiduciary and the implications of both for investors. In order to drive the difference home, [the author suggests concentrating] on a simple question -- 'what is so objectionable and onerous about requiring that anyone providing investment advice and investment recommendation be required to put their client's interests ahead of their own?'"
(The Prudent Investment Adviser Rules)
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Australia Rising to the Retirement Challenge
"Australia's Superannuation assets totaled $1.62 trillion in June 2013. The National Institute on Retirement Security estimates that Australians with an average salary may replace 50% or more (52.6% for men; 50.1% for women) of current salary in retirement just from mandatory programs, not counting other voluntary savings. Compare that with an average earner in the United States relying on Social Security, with an estimated 42.3% income replacement rate."
(Putnam Investments)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Some Form 5500 Filers Get Notices of Late Filing Penalties Despite Having Filed Form 5558 Extension of Time to File
"Form 5500 filers that file their return before their extension Form 5558 has had a chance to post are receiving CP 283s assessing them a late filing penalty. Proposed changes to the penalty program would allow time for extensions to post before penalty notices are generated. However, until these changes can be implemented, tax examiners and telephone assistors should abate these penalties as Service Errors using the guidance [in this document]."
(Internal Revenue Service)
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Press Releases
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