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Employee Benefits Jobs
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Webcasts and Conferences
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Hand-picked links to the web's best news articles,
official guidance, jobs, webcasts and more.
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[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2014-41: June 2014 Update for Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves, and Segment Rates (PDF)
"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve (and the corresponding spot segment rates), ... the 24-month average segment rates[,] ... the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008, the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate ... and the minimum present value segment rates ... as in effect for plan years beginning after 2007. These rates reflect certain changes implemented by [MAP-21]."
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
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[Official Guidance]
Text of PBGC Monthly Interest Rate Update for July and Third Quarter 2014
"The third quarter 2014 interest assumptions under the allocation regulation will be 3.43 percent for the first 20 years following the valuation date and 3.66 percent thereafter. In comparison with the interest assumptions in effect for the second quarter of 2014, these interest assumptions represent no change in the select period ... a decrease of 0.04 percent in the select rate, and an increase of 0.02 percent in the ultimate rate ... The July 2014 interest assumptions under the benefit payments regulation will be 1.25 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 June 2014, these interest assumptions are unchanged."
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
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[Guidance Overview]
Transcript of IRS Phone Forum, February 26, 2014: Employee Plans Guidance (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "We're going to talk about the priority guidance plan and of course, focusing on the 2013 and 2014 plan [years]. We'll talk about the EP Determinations Program status and the status of the pre-approved program for both the defined contribution and defined benefit [pre-approved] plans. Then, we'll come back and talk about some miscellaneous items of recently issued guidance and upcoming guidance."
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
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[Guidance Overview]
Post-Windsor Amendments to Puerto Rico Qualified Plans (PDF)
"[Puerto Rico retirement plans] must comply with the applicable ERISA provisions to retain their qualified status under the provisions of the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011 ... [T]he guidance issued by the IRS on these areas must be followed in the administration of PR Plans in order to comply with the provisions of ERISA Title I, despite the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico's law to exclusively recognize or validate opposite-sex marriages."
(McConnell Valdes)
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[Guidance Overview]
Transcript of IRS Phone Forum, August 29, 2013: How to Prepare for an EP Audit (PDF)
21 pages, published online June 11, 2014. Excerpt: "There are over a million plans, not counting 403(b) and 457 plans and IRAs, and they cover approximately 90 million participants. We have approximately 19.5 trillion ... that are invested in these retirement plans, and that's more than a third of all US households' financial assets. So it's a very vast universe. Now more than ever, it is really crucial to ensure that plans are operating in accordance with their terms and providing appropriate benefits to plan participants."
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
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Text of Supreme Court Opinion: Funds Held in Inherited IRAs Are Not 'Retirement Funds' Exempt from Bankruptcy Estate (PDF)
"Three legal characteristics of inherited IRAs provide objective evidence that they do not contain such funds. First, the holder of an inherited IRA may never invest additional money in the account. Second, holders of inherited IRAs are required to withdraw money from the accounts, no matter how far they are from retirement. Finally, the holder of an inherited IRA may withdraw the entire balance of the account at any time -- and use it for any purpose -- without penalty." [Clark v. Rameker Trustee, No. 13-299 (S. Ct. June 12, 2014)]
(Supreme Court of the United States)
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They Just Re-Invested Your 401(k), and It's for Your Own Good
"[S]purred by data that shows amateur investors getting amateur returns, many retirement plans are going a step further. On the assumption that many workers invest all wrong, some employers are overriding their workers' existing selections. Unless employees object, companies are re-enrolling them in new funds, usually in target-date funds with risk profiles suited to their age."
(Bloomberg)
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IRA Rollover Advice May Be 'Hot Button Issue' In DOL's Re-Proposed Fiduciary Rule
"[T]he re-proposal may include guidance on how far advisers can go when recommending to participants that they take a distribution from their retirement plan and roll it over into an IRA before they become fiduciaries to that plan. It is possible the DOL will mimic guidance issued by [FINRA] in December 2013 that said a firm's recommendation that investors roll over their retirement plan assets to an IRA involves securities recommendations subject to FINRA rules[.]"
(Bloomberg BNA)
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San Jose to Appeal Court Decision Overturning Pension Reforms
"Both the city and the unions are looking for a better outcome in the appeals court. The biggest war -- over whether cities could force existing employees to pay more toward their pensions, as Measure B called for -- was won by the unions the first time around. The judge still did side with the city on 10 of the other 14 provisions of the measure, which combined would still allow San Jose to save tens of millions of dollars per year. That has unions signaling an interest in an appeal, as well."
(San Jose Mercury News)
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Detroit's General Retirement System Board Urges Support for Bankruptcy Plan
"The pension plan board expects to issue a letter to nonuniform retirees next week, with its reasons for supporting the plan. Detroit claimed more than 100,000 creditors in 17 classes in filing Chapter 9 bankruptcy last July, but the general system emerged as its largest single creditor, with a claim of just over $2 billion[.]"
(Crain's Detroit Business)
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Should You Split a Roth Conversion Into Multiple Accounts to Isolate Investments for Strategic Recharacterization?
"[O]ne significant caveat of Roth recharacterizations ... is that [they] must allocate gains/losses across the account on a pro-rata basis. As a result, one cannot simply 'cherry pick' the worst performing investments from a Roth conversion to subsequently recharacterize, and trying to do so can accidentally shift originally-Roth investments into a traditional IRA in the process! Fortunately, though, a special rule allows Roth recharacterizations to occur on a standalone basis, as long as the conversion is placed in a separate account in the first place."
(Michael Kitces in Nerd's Eye View)
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A Checklist of Questions Plan Sponsors Should Ask About Their Retirement Plans, Part 1
"Have you identified your plan fiduciaries, and are they clear about the extent of their fiduciary responsibilities? ... If participants make their own investment decisions, have you provided sufficient information? ... Have you considered ways to limit fiduciary liability under the plan?... Are you aware of the schedule to deposit participants' contributions in the plan, and have you made sure it complies with the law? ... If you are hiring third-party service providers, have you looked at a number of service providers and made meaningful comparisons?"
(Strategic Benefit Services)
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Who Is Most Likely to Come Up Short in Retirement, and When? (PDF)
"While 5 percent or less of those in the second, third and highest income quartiles run short of money in the first year of retirement, more than two in five (43 percent) of those in the lowest-income quartile would. By the 10th year in retirement (assuming retirement at age 65), nearly 3 in 4 (72 percent) of the lowest income quartile households would have run short of money... [J]ust 2 percent of those in the highest-income quartile are simulated to run short of money within a decade of retirement."
(Employee Benefit Research Institute)
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Industry-Wide Annuity Sales Up 13 Percent Year Over Year (PDF)
"[F]ixed annuity sales ... totaled $22.6 billion during the first quarter ... This was a 50.7 percent increase from nearly $ 15 billion in first-quarter 2013 and down just 4.1 percent from $23.5 billion in the previous quarter.... [V]ariable annuity total sales came in at $33.5 billion in the first quarter, down 3.2 percent compared with first-quarter 2013 total sales of $34.6 billion and down 6.4 percent from $35.8 billion during the fourth quarter of 2013."
(Insured Retirement Institute [IRI])
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Federal Employee Retirement Claims Backlog Could Be Eliminated by End of 2014
"The backlog at the end of May was 14,551 claims -- the lowest it has been since December 2013, when there were 12,637 applications in the queue. The agency typically receives an influx of new retirement claims at the beginning of the year on top of the current backlog. OPM also received 1,631 more new claims in May than it expected, and processed a total of 10,498 applications last month, 1,498 more claims than its projected goal."
(Government Executive)
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[Opinion]
Text of Comments by Pension Rights Center to EBSA on Its Spring 2014 Regulatory Agenda (PDF)
"We are pleased that EBSA will be focusing on the fiduciary rule, lifetime income disclosure, and target date funds for 401(k) plans next year.... But we are concerned that the Spring 2014 regulatory agenda does not include initiatives to address the equally pressing needs of participants and beneficiaries in defined benefit pension plans. Specifically, there is nothing in the agenda about .... Updated claims and appeals procedures for pension plans ... Retention of records ... Recoupment of overpayments ... [and] Individual benefit statements for pension plan participants."
(Pension Rights Center)
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[Opinion]
Breaking Pension Promises is No Solution at All
"[M]embers of Congress are considering a proposal that would allow the trustees of [underfunded multiemployer] plans to immediately cut benefits across the board for all participants, including those who have been retired for many years.... This proposal violates the most fundamental principle of pension law: no cuts in retirees' earned benefits in ongoing pension plans."
(Pension Rights Center)
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[Opinion]
Text of Comments by Investment Company Institute to DOL on Proposed Fee Disclosure Guide (PDF)
22 pages. Excerpt: "While our members have a vested interest in ensuring that their clients have the information they need to assess the reasonableness of the compensation to be paid for plan services, they have significant concerns that the guide requirement described in the Proposed Rule represents a 'one-size-fits-all' standard that ignores the reality that disclosure materials can vary significantly for each service provider by product lines, investment products, plan design and plan sponsors' needs and preferences."
(Investment Company Institute [ICI])
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Text of Amendments to PCAOB Accounting Standards Regarding Executive Compensation (PDF)
223 pages. Excerpt: "Clarifications ... explicitly provide that the auditor's work relating to a company's financial relationships and transactions with its executive officers does not include an assessment of the appropriateness or reasonableness of executive compensation arrangements.... [The] amendments strengthen existing requirements by requiring the auditor, as part of the audit risk assessment process, to perform procedures to obtain an understanding of the company's financial relationships and transactions with its executive officers."
(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCAOB])
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[Guidance Overview]
Transcript of IRS Phone Forum, January 29, 2014: Ethical Standards for Employee Benefits Practitioners (PDF)
"[We] would like to focus on the standards of practice applicable to a practitioner's communications with clients and the IRS.... We also want to give you a brief overview of Circular 230, and talk about what Circular 230 is.... [We] will analyze some hypothetical fact patterns, which we believe illustrate the application of some key provisions of Circular 230 that apply to a practitioner's offering of tax advice relating to employee benefit plans."
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
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Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2014
"Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $29.99 per hour worked in March 2014. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $43.10 per hour worked in March 2014.... Private industry employer costs for paid leave averaged $2.09 per hour worked (7.0 percent of total compensation), supplemental pay averaged 85 cents (2.8 percent), insurance benefits averaged $2.50 (8.3 percent), retirement and savings averaged $1.15 (3.8 percent), and legally required benefits averaged $2.44 (8.1 percent)."
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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Press Releases
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