Business Development Associate
Capital Strategies Investment Group
in IL

Field Director, 401K Sales Coach
Guardian Life Insurance Company
in ANY STATE

Account Executive II - Retirement Services
The Principal Financial Group
in MO

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Fifth Third Bank
in OH

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Top Ten Corrections Not Covered by EPCRS
April 16, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

Same Gender Marriage - Retroactivity: Plan Amendments
April 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

Employment Relations Seminar: Keeping Your Workplace Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
April 29, 2014 in OH
(Porter Wright)

2014 Webinar: IRA Excess Contributions
May 1, 2014 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

Medical Provider Claims and ERISA Litigation
May 8, 2014 WEBCAST
(Practising Law Institute)

Value Proposition Of A Private Exchange
May 22, 2014 WEBCAST
(Employee Benefit News)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Text of PBGC Monthly Interest Rate Update for May 2014
"The May 2014 interest assumptions under the benefit payments regulation will be 1.50 percent for the period during which a benefit is in pay status and 4.00 percent during any years preceding the benefit's placement in pay status. In comparison with the interest assumptions in effect for April 2014, these interest assumptions are unchanged." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)  

[Advert.]

2014 ERISA Outline Book: NEW Website. NEW Experience. NEW EOB

The 2014 Edition of The ERISA Outline Book is now available. New Online EOB. New Experience. A must have for the serious professional, get the information you need to grow your business with the new online search platform shaped by user feedback.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Ruling Streamlines Plans' Acceptance of Rollover Contributions
"This ruling should be welcomed by plan sponsors and TPAs for its streamlining of the rollover process. Prior examples of 'reasonably concludes' (in Treasury regulations) contemplated employees obtaining documentation from the distributing plan and submitting it to the receiving plan, leading to potential delay and frustration for employees and administrators -- and, as the IRS news release notes, to employees taking taxable distributions instead of continuing their tax-deferred savings." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

[Guidance Overview]

Filling in the Retirement Plan Gaps for Same-Sex Couples: What It Means for Your Retirement Plan
"While the IRS guidance is certainly welcome and provides clarity on amendment and retroactive application, this only applies to plan qualification and not claims under Title I of ERISA. The [DOL] has not yet provided similar guidance on applying the Windsor decision. In the interim, there is uncertainty regarding whether a participant or beneficiary (such as a same-sex spouse) can make a benefit claim for a retroactive application of Windsor. Further, due to the gap period from June 26, 2013 to September 15, 2013, plan sponsors must carefully consider whether to apply the state of domicile rule or the state of celebration rule." (Ogletree Deakins)  

[Guidance Overview]

Do Your Qualified Retirement Plans Recognize Same-Sex Spouses as of June 26, 2013?
"[In] Washington state, plan sponsors should introduce procedures to ensure that they are aware of any same-sex registered domestic partnerships that will be automatically converted into marriage as of June 30, 2014. These new spouses will be entitled to all spousal benefits under an employer's plans." (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Proposes Rules for Summary of Fee Disclosures, Aims to Help Smaller and Mid-Size Employers
"A possible approach is for recordkeepers to receive the information from various designated alternative investments and consolidate the information in its own fee disclosure material. Another possibility is that a third party electronic data base may provide the necessary information. The DOL estimates that it will take 7.4 hours to find all the required information! ... The technology costs to develop a guide, consolidate the required information and populate the guide on a plan by plan basis might be quite expensive." (ERISAdiagnostics, Inc.)  

[Advert.]

PBI receives SSA DMF certification from NTIS for uninterrupted access

Prevent overpayments and identify deaths… even when no death record exists with PBI's PlatinumPLUS solution. The SSA is not reporting 4 out of every 10 deaths! Contact us today for a no charge trial for 30 days. Call 415-482-9611 or email inquiry@pbinfo.com.

Fourth Circuit Finds Use of Age-Based Contributions to Public Pension Plan Causes Discrimination Under ADEA
"[T]he Fourth Circuit ruled that a Maryland public employee retirement plan violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) by requiring greater contributions for participants that enrolled at later ages.... Because much of the opinion was grounded in the fact that employees could retire after a stated number of years of service that did not depend on age, the court's decision may not apply to a situation where employees can retire only after attaining a certain age." [EEOC v. Baltimore County, No. 13-1106 (4th Cir. Mar. 31, 2014)] (Cheiron)  

The Equitable Allocation of Revenue Sharing (PDF)
"[If] a plan does not specify how to use revenue sharing (and most don't), then committees must make prudent decisions about the allocation.... In most cases, recordkeeping expenses are allocated pro rata to the accounts of the participants -- when they are not paid by revenue sharing. As a result, this method is equivalent to allocating the revenue sharing on a pro rata basis to the participants. But, do plan committees understand that, as a legal matter, they made that decision? What documentation do they have to support that they engaged in a prudent process to reach that decision?" (Fred Reish, for Paychex)  

CalPERS Seeks Fresh Faces to Manage Investments
"Public pension systems, with some prodding from legislation, are stepping up a drive to spread their investments to firms owned and operated by minorities and women, often with what were called 'mixed' returns so far.... The definition of 'emerging and diverse' is loose, usually meaning new and small (managing less than $2 billion) but often varying widely among different investments such as stocks, bonds, private equity, real estate, infrastructure and commodities. Under legislation requiring the California Public Employees Retirement System and CalSTRS to have a five-year plan for emerging manager participation in all asset classes, the definition of 'emerging investment manager' was left to the pension systems." (Calpensions)  

Would an Expanded Fiduciary Definition Lead to Billions in Retirement Cash-Outs?
"If the [DOL] moves ahead with its proposal to impose a fiduciary responsibility on financial professionals offering retirement advice, waves of broker-dealers and company call centers would exit that market and further jeopardize the already precarious retirement situation for millions of workers ... Without that advice, more workers would be likely to cash out their plans upon leaving a job, rather than rolling them over to an IRA or staying with the employer's plan.... [T]hose cash-outs [c]ould add up to between $20 billion to $32 billion each year, which could translate into a net annual decline in retirement savings by 20% to 40% for the affected workers." (Financial Planning)  

[Advert.]

BenefitsLink app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch now available!

Stay up-to-date while you're on the go with the BenefitsLink App -- now available for iPad, iPhone 5, and iPod touch.

'Before It's Too Late: A Retirement Security Newsletter from Phyllis Borzi', April 14, 2014
"The Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) have some new online tools that can help you get organized, make informed decisions, and plan for a more secure financial future, including a secure retirement." (U.S. Department of Labor)  

Key Findings from the Survey of Calendar-Year Multiemployer Plans' 2014 Zone Status Under PPA '06
"The percentage of calendar-year plans in the green zone is 65 percent, up from 61 percent in 2013. The percentage of plans in the yellow zone is 8 percent, down from 11 percent one year earlier. The percentage of plans in the red zone is 27 percent, which is similar to last year's percentage (28 percent). The average Pension Protection Act of 2006 funded percentage as of January 1, 2014 is 88 percent, which is an increase from 85 percent in 2013." [Results are summarized in a one-page infographic.] (Segal)  

Once Thought Secure, Multiemployer Pensions Teeter and Fall
"The pensions of millions of Americans are being threatened because of trouble in a part of the retirement world long considered so safe that no one gave it a second thought.... Multiemployer pensions are not only backed by federal insurance, but they also were thought to be even more secure than single-company pensions because when one company in a multiemployer pool failed, the others were required to pick up its 'orphaned' retirees." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Special and New Challenges for 403(b) Plans
"Once 403(b) plans were almost completely ignored by the IRS and the [DOL].... And now the agencies have taken clear aim at them.... Private educational institutions must now ... consider the negative impact of having multiple vendors, not rely exclusively on incumbent providers, and look closely at and compare available investments, based on fees, performance and services, to make sure they are providing appropriate 403(b) plan benefits. In other words, they must look to the plan as a whole and evaluate vendor candidates from the perspective of the considerable buying power their plans have." (Fiduciary Plan Governance, LLC)  

Rhode Island's Deal on Pension Overhaul Falls Apart
"After mediation, the state and unions in February agreed to ease the impact of the overhaul by rolling back the retirement age for many current workers to 65 from 67, increasing the frequency of cost-of-living adjustments and restoring a traditional defined-benefit retirement plan for more-veteran employees.... Eligible police officers rejected the deal, prompting a state-court judge to send the two sides back to mediation this past week ... Rhode Island's governor and treasurer announced Friday that mediation talks had broken down and the dispute was headed to court." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

High Fees Eroding Many 401(k) Retirement Accounts
"[A] new study finds that the typical 401(k) fees -- adding up to a modest-sounding 1 percent a year -- would erase $70,000 from an average worker's account over a four-decade career compared with lower-cost options. To compensate for the higher fees, someone would have to work an extra three years before retiring.... [The] analysis, backed by industry and government data, suggests that U.S. workers, already struggling to save enough for retirement, are being further held back by fund costs." (Associated Press)  

What to Do With Your 401(k) When You Retire
"The ability to invest in nearly anything is a central attraction of an IRA ... as is the chance to get away from the extra administrative costs and pricey fund options that dog some 401(k) plans. Other respondents said they chose to roll over multiple 401(k) accounts from multiple employers to a single IRA for convenience and simplicity.... Several respondents said they had in fact chosen to stay put in their high-quality, low-cost plans, citing extra creditor protections and the ability to pick up a bit of extra yield in a stable-value offering." (Morningstar)  

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by Several Trade Associations to DOL on Proposed 408(b)(2) Guide Requirement (PDF)
"DOL is using the issuance of the Proposed Rule as an opportunity to collect information from the public in order to make findings necessary to adequately demonstrate that the guide (i.e., the proposed data collection) contemplated by the Proposed Rule is (i) necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, and (ii) will have practical utility. Accordingly, DOL has not completed the threshold steps of determining whether the guide is in fact needed or will be useful to plan sponsors, nor has it developed a realistic estimate of the total time required for [affected] service providers to prepare the guide." (The SPARK Institute, Investment Company Institute [ICI], SIFMA, ACLI and American Bankers Association)  

[Opinion]

San Jose Mayor: We Need Substantial Pension Reform in California
"To avoid this looming disaster, we must do two things. One, we must pay the annual required pension contribution to ensure our public servants receive the benefits they have earned. And two, we need to reduce the cost of future benefits so that government agencies can provide essential services to the public.... [It's] clear that we need to address the legal constraints that prevent employers and employees from negotiating new contracts that will reduce pension debts, increase retirement security and minimize the long-term cost to taxpayers." (San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, in Sacramento Bee)  

[Opinion]

Coalition to Protect Retirement Responds to Chairman Camp's Proposal
"[We] believe that it is important to distinguish a tax deferral from a tax exclusion or deduction.... [T]he draft would freeze for a decade the inflation adjustments for the limits on annual contributions to retirement plans and individual retirement accounts, which would have a significant and negative cumulative impact on individuals' ability to save for their retirement.... The discussion draft also would impose on higher earners an upfront tax on retirement contributions -- on both tax-deferred employee contributions and on employer contributions.... Some employers, particularly small business owners, may decide that the tax benefits no longer justify the expense of sponsoring a retirement plan." (The Coalition to Preserve Retirement, via Plan Sponsor Council of America)  

[Opinion]

NTSA Attacks 403(b) Bill In Ohio
"The bill does not exempt public entities from 'any purchasing requirements' and why shouldn't a public institution be able to manage who their 403(b) providers are? This bill doesn't actually allow such 'sole and absolute discretion' even though it should (when coupled by a strong procurement process and fiduciary responsibility). The only true statement is that the 'legislation will take away your business,' but even that is false." (The Teacher's Advocate)  

Alternatives for Severance Payments After Supreme Court Nixes FICA Tax Break for Downsizing Firms (PDF)
"A company with a defined benefit pension plan may be able to amend the plan to increase the benefits of laid-off workers, then give them the option of receiving the increase as a lump sum or in installments over a relatively short period. Distributions from qualified plans are exempted from FICA wages by section 3121(a)(5). The need for care arises from a variety of obstacles, including nondiscrimination requirements, restrictions on lump sum and installment payments by underfunded pension plans and penalty taxes on participants who receive distributions before age 55. The possible savings for both companies and workers may nonetheless make this alternative attractive where it is feasible." (Steptoe & Johnson LLP)  

Executive Pay: Invasion of the Supersalaries
"The current system of executive compensation, with its emphasis on performance, can theoretically constrain pay, but in practice it has not stopped companies from paying their top executives more and more.... Economists have long known that high executive pay has contributed to the widening gap between the very rich and everyone else. But the role of executive compensation may be far larger than previously realized." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Pay for Performance? It Depends on the Measuring Stick
"[P]ay for performance is only as good as the metrics used to determine it. And as a recent study shows, some metrics -- including the most popular -- are downright ineffective at motivating executives to create shareholder value.... Some boards award incentive pay based on a company's total shareholder return or earnings-per-share growth; others use return on invested capital or return on equity. Most companies use more than one measure. And all argue that their methods justify the incentive pay they award." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

TIAA-CREF to Purchase Nuveen Investments
TIAA-CREF

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