Veterans Day 2013

Client Service Representative
Associated Pension Consultants
in CA

Pension Administrator
Metro Benefits, Inc.
in PA

Pension Administrator
Metro Benefits, Inc.
in WV

Retirement Plan Consultant
Retirement Solution Group
in IL

Project Manager (SAS)
Milliman
in TX

Defined Benefit - Client Service Analyst
Milliman
in TX

Project Manager (CST)
Milliman
in TX

Defined Benefit - Data Analyst
Milliman
in TX

Defined Benefit - Client Service Manager
Milliman
in TX

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Affordable Care Act 101
December 5, 2013 WEBCAST
(U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA))

Welfare Wraps - Why and How to Wrap ERISA Welfare Plans
December 5, 2013 WEBCAST
(ftwilliam.com)

EBIA’s 16th Annual Advanced Benefits Conference 2014
July 15, 2014 in WA
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

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[Guidance Overview]

Seminars from the 2013 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Now Available Online
"The IRS ... reminds tax professionals that they can earn continuing professional education credits online through seminars filmed at the 2013 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums. The 14 self-study seminars are now available[.]" [Benefits-related seminars from 2013 include: 2013 New Roth Conversion Opportunities & Other Retirement Curveballs and Grab the Money and Run? Retirement Plan Loans and Hardship Distributions] (Internal Revenue Service)  

[Advert.]

Education wherever and whenever you need it!

Do you want your client's undivided attention? Try adding a well-rounded knowledge of retirement plans to your investment expertise. Learn directly from experts who'll provide industry info + earn CE credit with ASPPA's PFC-1 Webcast Series.

Confusion About Adviser Compensation
"Few investors truly understand how financial advisers get paid. And that confusion could cost them. At the heart of the confusion: disagreement over what signifies proper use of such common terms in the business as 'fee-only' and 'fee-based' -- and whether some advisers and broker-dealers are forthright enough in their disclosures to clients about their compensation." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

Possible Extension of MAP-21 Interest Rate Stabilization
"The MAP-21 floor allows sponsors to use higher interest rates than they would be able to under the PPA. Higher interest rates = lower liability valuations = lower minimum required contributions. MAP-21 was included in last year's transportation bill as a 'pay-for' because reduced minimum contribution requirements = lower contributions = lower tax deductions = more revenues. Hence the continued appeal of proposals to relax funding in the larger context of the federal budget." (October Three Consulting)  

Chicago Credit Rating Cut Three Steps by Fitch on Pension
"Chicago, the third-most-populous U.S. city, had its credit rating lowered three steps on more than $8 billion of debt by Fitch Ratings, which cited the city's growing unfunded pension liability.... Chicago, a city of more than 2.7 million residents, is projecting a budget deficit of as much as $1 billion in 2015 unless the Illinois legislature restructures the public-pension system, which is a state creation." (Bloomberg)  

Macroeconomic Determinants of Retirement Timing
"[T]he fraction of partially retired workers has risen dramatically [from 1960 through 2010] (from virtually zero to 15 percent for 60-62 year olds), and [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. We also find that high inflation discourages full-time work and encourages partial and full retirement." (University of Michigan Retirement Research Center)  

Intergenerational Equity: Who Should Pay for Past Retirement Promises?
"Once an intergenerational inequity is created, it will be nearly impossible to reverse it in a manner that's equitable to everybody. So what's the solution? The best we can do is require equal sharing by all generations of the burdens inherited from past generations.... [A] presenter at the SOA annual meeting advocated that intergenerational equity should be evaluated holistically by considering more than just governmental retirement programs such as Social Security. Factors that should also be considered include all unfunded entitlement programs, accumulated public debt, the state of infrastructure, human capital such as the education of children, private transfers of wealth and environmental degradation." (CBS MoneyWatch)  

FTSE350 Pension Deficits: Higher Accounting Deficits Hide Improving Trend for Cash Funding Deficits
"[T]he accounting deficit of defined benefit pension schemes for UK companies increased by 6bn GBP over the month of October.... [T]he estimated aggregate IAS19 deficit for the defined benefit schemes of FTSE350 companies stood at 102bn GBP (equivalent to a funding ratio of 85%) at 31 October 2013. Asset values increased by 13bn GBP over the month from 553bn GBP at 30 September 2013 to 566bn GBP at 31 October 2013. Liability values also increased by 19bn GBP over the month from 649bn GBP at 30 September 2013 to 668bn GBP at 31 October 2013." (Mercer)  

[Opinion]

Why Your Financial Planning Pricing Should Be Clearly Stated On Your Website
"[M]ost planners indicate that they prefer to discuss fees and costs in person with a client, to explain in detail the services and value provided, and to ensure that the fee is not misconstrued or misunderstood.... Fearing that clients will not view your pricing in proper context should not be an excuse to avoid transparency; it should be a reason to provide more information and context about your pricing!" (Michael Kitces in Nerd's Eye View)  

[Opinion]

Get Public Pensions Under Control
"Public buy-in for public pensions rests on the assumption that these benefits are needed to help employees avoid poverty and discomfort in old age. (Many public employees, after all, won't get Social Security retirement benefits.) But some employees undermine public support when they take advantage of a system that allows them to retire young enough to take another job.... That the city often rehires retirees while also paying them a pension and requires no contribution from their new salary to pension funds is bad public policy, bad for the pension funds and bad for current city employees who hope to retire." (Omaha World-Herald)  

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by McGuireWoods to SEC on Proposed Pay Ratio Rules (PDF)
"Registrants should be allowed to identify the median employee by using statistical sampling based on a definition of compensation other than 'annual total compensation' under Item 402.... We recommend that the final rule follow the proposed rule by not including leased employees, independent contractors or other individuals who are not statutory employees of the registrant in the determination of the median employee.... We recommend that the final rule give companies the flexibility to choose a date other than the last day of the company's most recent completed fiscal year for identifying the company's employees for purposes of calculating the pay ratio." (McGuireWoods LLP)  

National Council Applauds Final Parity Rule for Mental Health and Substance Use
National Council for Behavioral Health

Helen Darling, President and CEO of National Business Group on Health, To Retire on April 30, 2014
National Business Group on Health

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