Pensions & Investments

Client Service Representative
Associated Pension Consultants
in CA

Defined Contribution Client Manager
Milliman
in OR

Retirement Plan Specialist
New York Life Retirement Plan Services
in MA

Plan Administration Compliance Specialist
Tax Deferred Solutions
in CA

401(k) Plan Administrator
PASI, LLC
in CT

WTRIS Transition Manager
Wilmington Trust, an affiliate of M&T Bank
in AZ

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Employee Benefits: Tomorrow, Today, Yesterday
December 12, 2013 WEBCAST
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist
December 12, 2013 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Reform Center & Policy Institute)

Two New Half-day Specialty Topic Seminars – Boston and 16 Other Cities - January
January 9, 2014 in MA
(SunGard Relius)

Two New Half-day Specialty Topic Seminars – Charlotte and 16 Other Cities - January
January 10, 2014 in NC
(SunGard Relius)

6th Annual Leadership Summit on Consumer Engagement through Health Plan Innovation
March 25, 2014 in FL
(World Congress)

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Private Equity Firms Request Supreme Court Review of First Circuit's Sun Capital Decision Expanding Controlled Group Pension Liability
"The First Circuit denied the funds' petition for a rehearing on the question, but on November 21, the private equity funds involved in the case filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court, asking that court to overturn the ruling.... If the First Circuit's decision is upheld, it could substantially increase the risk faced by private equity funds contemplating investment in companies that have pension funding liabilities." (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

[Advert.]

Half-day Specialty Topics Seminars – 17 Cities in January

Learn the top ten plan designs for small employers and features that can help save money. Learn to use EPCRS principles to correct common and uncommon errors and retain qualified plan status. Up to 8 hours of CE credits available. Register today.

Federal Employees' Tension Over Possible Pension Changes Escalates
"The congressional budget conference committee ... is considering requiring federal employees to contribute 1.2 percent more to their pensions, which would save about $20 billion over 10 years ... The committee reportedly would use those savings to help pay for a partial repeal of the sequester.... [F]ederal employee unions ... have pushed back hard on the proposal, arguing that federal workers already have contributed roughly $114 billion to deficit reduction efforts, mostly through the three-year pay freeze and changes to new federal hires' pension benefits." (Government Executive)  

80% Salary Replacement Rule: Origins and Exceptions for 401(k) Retirement Savers to Consider
"[T]he replacement ratio does vary from year to year, so the 80% rule of thumb is actually fairly sound.... For many professionals, however, it really suggests more of a guideline. While it represents a good ... starting point, specific circumstances based on the individual lifestyle choices of retirement savers may require adjustments to the number." (Fiduciary News)  

A Useful Compendium of Lifetime Income Guidance for Defined Contribution Plans
"[The authors] have been extensively researching, writing on and developing the concept of providing lifetime income from defined contribution plans for some 15 years. The work has resulted in a patent; several major independently published research papers; the outlining of some of the important concepts which [underlie] the proposed QLAC regs and its key revenue ruling; and the development of more than one retirement product.... We've now compiled those pieces here for use by employers, vendors, actuaries, advisers and attorneys who may be struggling to support lifetime income in defined contribution plans." (Business of Benefits)  

Many Blacks, Latinos Have No Retirement Savings
"More often than not, blacks and Latinos benefit little from the tax breaks and other policy initiatives aimed at bolstering retirement security because they typically have no money to save for retirement in IRAs and other vehicles outside the workplace ... In addition, they are much less likely than whites to have defined-benefit pensions, particularly outside of public sector jobs." (The Washington Post; subscription may be required)  

[Advert.]

Changing Systems and Support to Secure a Better Future

A retirement crisis is looming. But, visionaries in the field are shaping new systems & implementing changes that make a tremendous difference. Hear from them in just one of the 7 General Sessions offered at Health & Benefits Leadership Conference.

Can 'Investment Performance' Really Not Be the Same Thing as 'Participant Success'?
"A traditional declining-risk glide path tends to deliver higher returns in the early years -- which means that time-weighted rates of return will normally look better for such glide path than money-weighted rates of return. Such a glide path therefore turns a given level of (time-weighted) investment performance into a sub-standard level of (money-weighted) participant success ... But ... for a glide path, there's also risk -- so there's no value in comparing time-weighted and money-weighted returns: the right comparison is between strategies with equal risk." (Russell Investments)  

Corporate Pension Funded Ratio Nears 94% as Funded Status Improves for the Third Straight Month (PDF)
"The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans improved by $34 billion during November ... The deficit declined to $93 billion from $126 billion at the end of October, due to a rise in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities. Asset returns exceeded expectations and contributed to the funding improvement during November as well." (Milliman)  

[Opinion]

Letter to Treasury Requesting Additional Guidance for Application of Windsor Decision to Qualified Retirement Plans (PDF)
"[G]iven the numerous and complex administrative problems associated with the potential retroactive application of Windsor to retirement plans, we strongly recommend that the Service utilize its authority ... to limit the extent of the decision's retroactivity. Specifically, we recommend that the Service issue further guidance providing that it will not disqualify a retirement plan as a result of the plan's failure to administratively comply with the Revenue Ruling prior to its September 16, 2013 effective date." (The SPARK Institute, ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC], U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and ten other trade associations)  

IRS Issues Final Regs on the Medicare Surtax for Investment Income and on the Additional Medicare Tax
"[T]he income from a stock option exercise or the vesting of restricted stock units could be subject to the Additional Medicare Tax while also causing your investment income in the same year to be subject to the Medicare surtax. The income thresholds triggering the Medicare surtax and the Additional Medicare Tax are unusual because they are not indexed for inflation. The amounts set for 2013 will remain for future years unless Congress changes them." (myStockOptions.com)  

Employer Obligations for Additional Medicare Tax
"[E]mployers must withhold the 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax from wages [paid] to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year, without regard to the employee's filing status, wages paid by another employer or income from self-employment.... [An] employer is not required to withhold the Additional Medicare Tax so long as the employee's wages do not exceed $200,000, even if the employer has reason to believe the employee will be liable for the Additional Medicare Tax (e.g., if an employee and his or her spouse each earn $150,000)." (McDermott Will & Emery)  

2014 Rates & Limits Guide
"This quick reference guide contains: Summary of payroll tax limits; Filing deadlines; IRS standard mileage rates; Summary of other limitations, including elective deferrals and benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans." (Lindquist LLP)  

25 Employee Benefit Trends for 2014, Part 1
"Analyze your employee health data.... Be prepared for the 2014 ACA requirements.... Cost-management.... Dispel the myths.... Increase awareness of state benefits requirements.... Know and Learn what the new benefits strategy lingo means." (Ed Bray for Employee Benefit News)  

NASDAQ Proposes to Amend Compensation Committee Independence Standards (PDF)
"NASDAQ indicated that it received feedback from listed companies and others that the prohibition on compensatory fees creates a burden on companies, especially on those in some industries, such as the energy and banking industries, where it is common to have directors who engage in a de minimis amount of business with the company. The elimination of the bright-line prohibition on compensatory fees should provide NASDAQ-listed companies flexibility to recruit and appoint qualified directors to their compensation committees that have de minimis compensatory arrangements with the listed companies for which they serve on the board of directors, as such fees would not decisively impair their independence." (Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC)  

Alliance Benefit Group – Illinois Launches Plan Contribution Limits App
Alliance Benefit Group of Illinois

American Benefits Council Action Alert: Urge Lawmakers to Reject PBGC Premium Increases as Part of Budget Deal
American Benefits Council

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