SunGard's Relius

Chief Actuary
The Kagan Company
in CA

Manager - Conversions
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

ERISA Attorney
McKenzie Rothwell Barlow & Coughran, PS
in WA

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

What You Need to Know About Plan Fees, Equalization, and Target Date Funds - Recorded
April 9, 2014 WEBCAST
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Voluntary Benefits in a Health Care Reform Environment - The Missing Piece -- Recorded
April 10, 2014 WEBCAST
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

IRS, DOL and PBGC ERISA Update for 1st Quarter 2014
April 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(Erisafile Inc.)

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - Madison, WI
April 22, 2014 in WI
(SunGard Relius)

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - St. Louis
April 22, 2014 in MO
(SunGard Relius)

Tax Forms Workshop: 5500 and More - St. Louis
April 23, 2014 in MO
(SunGard Relius)

Ethics and Professional Conduct for Retirement Plan Professionals 2014
April 24, 2014 WEBCAST
(Erisafile Inc.)

ERISA Litigation National Institute
June 18, 2014 WEBCAST
(ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)

Long-Term Disability Benefits Advanced Seminar
June 20, 2014 WEBCAST
(ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

2014NAFE [2014 NIPA Annual Forum & Expo]

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Modifies 403(b) Pre-Approved Plan Program, Extends Deadline for Filing (PDF)
"In other administrative changes, the procedure has been modified to allow a person to sponsor a plan as a minor modifier of a 403(b) volume submitter specimen plan of a mass submitter under the same conditions previously listed in the procedure for a person sponsoring a plan as a minor modifier of a 403(b) prototype plan of a mass submitter. In addition, a mass submitter who had submitted 15 word-for-word identical adopter plans may submit additional applications on behalf of other pre-approved plan sponsors as minor modifiers of a 403(b) volume submitter specimen plan of the mass submitter after the 15 word-for-word identical adopter requirement has been met." (Groom Law Group)  

[Advert.]

Please join us for our 3rd Annual ftwilliam.com Customer Conference!

Sign-up for our 3rd Annual ftwilliam.com Customer Conference, August 3-5 in downtown Chicago! Earn CE credits while learning about the latest industry news and trends, interacting with your peers, and learning more about your ftwilliam.com software tools.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Extends Deadline for 403(b) Plan Documents
"[F]or the tiny part of the industry which actually writes 403(b) plan documents, this change signals a sea-changing event. Not only does Rev. Proc. 2014-28 give plan document providers a little more time to submit their proposed prototype and volume submitter plan documents to the IRS for opinion/advisory letters, it also reduces the number of required sponsors from 30 to 15[.]" (The Pension Protection Act Blog)  

[Guidance Overview]

New Once-Per-Year IRA Rollover Rule Emerges from Bobrow v. Commissioner Tax Court Case
"The net results of the Bobrow case is that any distribution from any IRA invalidates subsequent IRA rollovers within a 1-year period beginning on the date that the first distribution occurs from the first IRA! ... Going forward, not even the multiple-IRAs-handled-separately approach are a valid way to chain together multiple IRA rollovers, despite the fact that they were described as a valid example in Publication 590! If an IRA rollover occurs from one IRA, the taxpayer cannot do another rollover from that IRA or a different one either!" (Michael Kitces in Nerd's Eye View)  

Eighth Circuit Finds That Float Generated by 401(k) Plan Contributions Is Not a Plan Asset
"Although ERISA does not exhaustively define the term 'plan assets', the [DOL] has repeatedly defined 'plan assets' consistently with ordinary notions of property rights. Here, the participants failed to adduce any evidence that the Plan had any property rights in the float or float income. To the contrary, the record evidence indicates that, when a contribution was made, Fidelity credited the participant's Plan account and the Plan became the owner of the shares of the selected investment option -- typically shares of a mutual fund -- the same day the contribution was received.... The Court concluded that, since neither the float or float income was a Plan assets, Fidelity could not have breached its ERISA fiduciary duties based on the way it handled the float." [Tussey v. ABB, Inc., No. 12-2056 (8th Cir. Mar. 19, 2014)] (Cary Kane ERISA Lawyer Blog)  

Another Way to Become Personally Liable to a Multiemployer Plan
"[A federal district] court concluded that the founders and sole officers of a cleaning company violated their fiduciary duties under ERISA by failing to remit contributions to a multiemployer plan. The plan's collection policy specifically provided that 'all money owed to the trust, which money (whether paid, unpaid, segregated or otherwise traceable, or not) becomes a trust asset on the due date.' Because of that statement, the court determined that the contributions became trust assets from the date they were owed and that the officers of the company who chose to pay other company obligations were personally liable for the delinquent contributions. That liability attached even though the business was operated in corporate form." [Trustees of the Construction Industry and Laborers' Health & Welfare Trust v. Archie, No. 2:12-CV-225 (D. Nev. Mar. 3, 2014)] (Stinson Leonard Street)  

[Advert.]

4 out of every 10 Deaths are going unreported by the SSA!

Are these your retirees? PBI has developed a GROUND-BREAKING Solution that fills-the-gap of missing records. Save time & money while identifying deaths, even if NO DEATH RECORD EXISTS! Call 415-482-9611 or email inquiry@pbinfo.com for a free trial.

What Investment Managers Need to Know as FATCA Deadlines Loom
"More than 48% of respondents said they did not know the deadline by which FFIs are required to have a Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN).... Managers are underestimating the costs of FATCA compliance ... Most of the managers expect the fund to pay a large portion of the expenses.... Managers are behind the curve on FATCA-related preparations ... Managers can use the following timeline to help better prepare for FATCA." (SEI)  

A Proposed Code of Conduct for ERISA Section 3(16) Plan Administrators
"[N]o plan sponsor should hire a service provider unless the vendor subscribes to the following Code of Conduct. The vendor shall: Avoid all situations that raise conflicts of interest ... Notify the sponsor in writing prior to being hired that the sponsor retains fiduciary liability for the selection and monitoring of the vendor.... Describe plainly and in a manner that can be easily understood the fiduciary responsibilities it is assuming and those that remain with the sponsor.... Not limit its liability for its own mistakes or negligence in the administration of the plan.... Provide annual employee benefits and fiduciary responsibility training to staff." (Fiduciary Plan Governance, LLC)  

8th Circuit's Tussey Decision to 'Punt'
"The 8th Circuit's ruling seems to ignore the intent, purposes, and goals of ERISA by putting the administrator's interests ahead of those of the plan participants, despite the numerous violations of ERISA by the plan and the plan's administrator/fiduciary.... [T]he 8th Circuit overturned the district court's ruling that found the plan and plan sponsor in breach of their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence despite overwhelming evidence of such violations. The 8th Circuit's basis for their decision, the allegation that [the District Court judge] failed to give proper deference to the discretion of the fiduciary, is difficult to accept." (The Prudent Investment Adviser Rules)  

How Do Your Investment Committee Meetings Measure Up? (PDF)
"[T]he successful operation of an institution's investment committee is a fluid and complex business.... Among the most common complaints about investment committee meetings are: that too much is done to no clear purpose; too much time is devoted to minutiae, and too little to the strategic decisions that ultimately lead to success or failure; and committees can be petri dishes for behavioral errors, such as groupthink or overconfidence." (Russell Investments)  

More U.S. Workers Satisfied with Finances, Retirement Confidence
"[N]early half of respondents (46%) are satisfied with their current finances, a sharp increase from 26% in 2009. However, nearly six in 10 (58%) remain worried about their financial future. Additionally, employees' confidence in their ability to retire has climbed steadily since the financial crisis, with nearly a quarter (23%) very confident of their income sufficiency for the first 15 years of retirement. However, that confidence deteriorates when workers look farther ahead, with only 8% very confident of having adequate income 25 years into retirement." (Towers Watson)  

Really? I'm Saving Too Much for Retirement?
"[T]here are too many variables that change during retirement, and retirement spending on average does not increase at the same level of inflation. In fact, the higher an employee's pre-retirement income is, the lower the percentage replaced needs to be. It's hard to argue that a person earning $200,000 needs to replace as much income as someone earning $20,000 to cover their basic needs.... [R]etirees may actually only need to save 50-60% [of pre-retirement income]. That's 20% less than the conventional rule of thumb." (The Principal Blog)  

Pension Annuitization Attractiveness Hangs On
"The Dietrich Pension Risk Transfer Index, which tracks the relative attractiveness of annuitizing pension liabilities, is basically unchanged this month. As of March 1, 2014 the Index sits at 95.27; falling slightly due to continued slides in interest rates. The index's annuity discount rate proxy of 3.12% lost 6 basis points from last month." (Dietrich & Associates)  

Your Retirement-Planning Time Table: It Pays to Consider the Details Early
"It's never too early to start dreaming. And, of course, the earlier you actually start saving for your retirement, the easier it will be to amass the amount you'll need to fund your desired lifestyle. If you want to retire at 60, for example, you should get serious about planning by the time you hit your mid-40s." (Consumer Reports)  

Many RIAs Merely 'Accommodating' Retirement Plans Business
"Managing the retirement business requires following complicated rules designed to protect retirement plan participants -- small investors -- as well as employers. The survey reveals that RIAs consider the retirement business to be a burden. At the same time, the retirement business is projected to deliver robust growth as baby boomers move into their golden years, defined contribution plans attract more assets and the federal government sanctions the growth of the employer-sponsored defined contribution model." (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

Politicized Climate May See Retirement Programs Under Attack
"Preston Rutledge, senior tax counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, says he believes that the current political climate is leaning more and more in favor of a nationalized retirement system -- to the detriment of a considerable private industry that has developed in the post-DB world. Rutledge says he's concerned with recent sentiment -- underlying President Obama's own MyRA proposal -- that 401(k) and other well-established tax-deferral retirement programs are increasingly perceived as yet another tax benefit for the rich, and not of benefit to average Americans." (Employee Benefit News)  

Severance Payments Are Wages -- at Least in Most Instances -- for Purposes of FICA
"[T]he Court concluded its opinion with a paragraph alluding to the arguable inconsistency in the IRS's position. If the SUB payments made by Quality Stores here (and severance payments more generally) are 'wages' under the plain meaning of FICA, then how can the IRS continue to exempt from wages those SUB payments that happen to be tied to state unemployment compensation? There may be policy justifications undergirding the Revenue Rulings carving out such an exemption, as explained above. But how are those rulings consistent with the 'plain meaning' of 26 U.S.C. Section 3121(a)? ... Those Revenue Rulings may now be vulnerable, especially given the Court's broad reading of 'wages' in Quality Stores." (SCOTUSblog)  

Supreme Court Rejects Quality Stores
"[T]he Court expressly states that it does not reach the question of whether the IRS' current exemption under Rev. Rul. 90-72 (when severance payments are tied to state unemployment benefits) is consistent with the broad definition of wages under FICA. This is a big (although generally anticipated) win for the IRS, as it indicated in its brief that over $1 billion of potential refunds were on the line. This should be the final answer on severance payments that fall outside the limited exception of Rev. Rul. 90-72 -- they are subject to FICA (and presumably FUTA) taxes." (Groom Law Group)  

Supreme Court Rules Severance Payments are Subject to FICA
"[T]he Supreme Court's ruling ends FICA tax refund claims based on the Quality Stores case. This means that previously filed protective refund claims (or appeals of claim disallowances) will likely be denied by the IRS. Additionally, unless severance benefits fall into the IRS's exemption described above (which most do not), there is no reason for employers to file FICA tax refund claims for severance paid in 2010 or later." (Mazursky Constantine, LLC)  

Are 401(k) Plans Maximized to Help Individuals Reach Retirement Goals?
Mutual of Omaha

New Global Survey Finds Companies are Increasing the Use of Cash Long-Term Incentives for Employees
Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company

View All Press Releases