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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]
New Same-Gender Marriage Guidance; Part 4: Effect on 403(b) Plans
"While the Windsor decision and the related IRS guidance (including the effective date rules in Notice 2014-19) apply to 403(b) plans, the effect is more limited than with qualified plans because relatively few rules dealing with 403(b) plans deal with spouses. For example, because the entities which sponsor 403(b) plans do not have owners, ownership attribution is irrelevant.... Many 403(b) plans sponsored by tax-exempt organizations are subject to ERISA. If so, these plans must either comply with the QJSA/QPSA rules, or else (very commonly) the plan must provide that the spouse is the 100% death beneficiary unless the spouse consents to naming another beneficiary."
(SunGard Relius)
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[Advert.]
ASPPA Encourages Professional Development
Are you looking for ways to expand your professional opportunities? Look no further than ASPPA certificates and credentials! Register for these exams and show employers you are ready to take the next step in your career.
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[Guidance Overview]
Multiemployer Pension Plans May Need Amendments to Comply with IRS Guidance on Same-Sex Marriage Provisions
"The Notice requires that amendments be adopted by a multiemployer pension plan as follows: [1] If the plan's terms with respect to the requirements of section 401(a) define a marital relationship by reference to section 3 of DOMA or are otherwise inconsistent with the outcome of Windsor or the guidance in Rev. Rul. 2013-17 or the Notice, then an amendment to the plan that reflects such outcome or guidance must be adopted. [2] An amendment is required if a plan sponsor chooses to apply the rules with respect to married participants in a manner that reflects the outcome of Windsor for a period before June 26, 2013. The amendment must specify the date as of which, and the purposes for which, the rules are applied in this manner.... For a multiemployer pension plan, an amendment required in [1] is not subject to the requirements of section 432 of the Code ... while an
amendment required in [2] is subject to those requirements."
(Cary Kane ERISA Lawyer Blog)
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Chart of Rollover-Eligible Retirement Plans and IRA Combinations (PDF)
BenefitsLink came across this handy unofficial chart on the IRS web site. It is a one-page summary in the form of a table, listing the eight kinds of plans and IRAs that can make rollover-eligible distributions, and the corresponding eight kinds of plans and IRAs into which those distributions can (or cannot) be rolled over.
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
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The Debate over ETFs in 401(k) Plans
"In contrast to mutual funds, a typical retirement savings vehicle, ETFs offer intraday pricing, no early redemption fees or minimum holding periods and lower management fees. Schwab asserts that its platform can slash retirement plan costs by 90 percent, compared with plans using actively managed mutual funds, and by 30 percent, compared with plans with index mutual funds.... Some industry insiders believe retirement plan providers have been slow to include exchange-traded funds in 401(k) plans because -- unlike mutual funds -- ETFs don't offer revenue sharing as do mutual funds."
(Institutional Investor)
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Hibernation Versus Termination: Evaluating the Choice for a Frozen Pension Plan
"As a frozen corporate defined benefit pension plan matures, the need for a decision on exit strategy gets closer. One option is plan termination (the purchase of annuities for all participants, which effectively transfers all liabilities to an insurance company). Another strategy is 'hibernation,' whereby the sponsor continues to manage the plan at a low level of cost and with some uncertainty about future cost. What are the primary considerations for plan sponsors evaluating the latter option?"
(Russell Investments)
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Another Federal Judge Rejects 'Church Plan' Exemption for a Catholic-Affiliated Hospital
"[T]his decision ... has broad implications for employers who currently rely on the church plan exemption based on the entity's 'association' with a church. If these plans are not church plans, they will be subject to ERISA and face allegations of ERISA violations. With two district courts now rejecting application of the church plan exemption to non-profit hospital systems that are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, we await decisions in the three other pending church plan cases." [Kaplan v. Saint Peter's Healthcare System, No. 13-2941 (D.N.J. Mar. 31, 2014)]
(Alston & Bird, LLP)
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New Pension Rules for Cooperative Small Employer Charity Plans
"This legislation would amend ERISA to establish minimum funding standards for [Cooperative Small Employer Charity (CSEC)] pension plans and set rules governing contributions to [them]. The bill is designed to help charities and cooperative associations by implementing pension funding rules that reflect the unique designs of their CSEC plans, rather than subjecting these plans to the funding rules of the Pension Protection Act (PPA)[.]" [H.R. 4275 was signed by President Obama on April 6, 2014.]
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
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Most People Still Haven't Estimated Their Retirement Income Needs (PDF)
"Less than half (44 percent) of workers responding to the 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) report they and/or their spouse have ever tried to calculate how much money they will need to have saved for retirement. That's comparable to the findings measured over the last decade by the RCS ... Workers with higher income are significantly more likely to complete the needs calculation than their counterparts."
(Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI])
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Moody's Finds Public Pension Plans Lag Corporate Plans in Managing Credit Risk
"While corporations have federal agencies, accounting rules and shareholders monitoring how well they fund their pension plans and manage the related credit risk, state and local governments do not.... The report notes the 50 largest corporations have a median pension liability as a percentage of total debt (including pensions) of 24%, while the government median is 73% for states and 49% for large local governments. The state data are for fiscal year 2012 and the local government number is based on fiscal 2011 data."
(Pensions & Investments)
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[Opinion]
Mountains of Paperwork Make 401(k) Transfers a Tough Hill to Climb
"Retirement plan advisers are struggling to help workers roll 401(k) assets into a new 401(k) plan when they change jobs, as record keepers load the process with so much red tape that it's easier to move into individual retirement accounts.... Moving assets from one employer to another, in theory, should be intuitive. The transfer ought to take place between the plans and their record keepers so the individual worker doesn't have to worry about receiving a paper check, or about rolling it over within 60 days of receipt[.]"
(InvestmentNews)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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Four in Ten Employers Believe ACA Has Impacted Their Retirement Savings Plans
"43 percent of employers report the [ACA] has affected their current retirement benefits strategy and spending, and 45 percent believe ACA will change their retirement plans in the future. Of those who believed the ACA has changed their retirement benefits strategy, 55 percent said they are spending less money on retirement benefits and shifting costs to employees and 42 percent said they are spending less time evaluating their retirement benefits[.]"
(LIMRA)
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[Official Guidance]
Text of Executive Order: Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information
Excerpt: "The [federal government] contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed the compensation of the employee or applicant or another employee or applicant. This provision shall not apply to instances in which an employee who has access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of such employee's essential job functions discloses the compensation of such other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such information, unless such disclosure is in response to a formal complaint or charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or is consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish
information."
(Executive Office of the President)
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