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June 20, 2014          Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise
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Employee Benefits Jobs

Part Time On Call Retirement Planning Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in AR, CA, HI, IL, MI, MO, NJ, NY, TN, TX, UT

WFIS Health & Welfare Consultant 2
Wells Fargo
in TX

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Webcasts and Conferences

Federally-facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (FF-SHOP) Series III - Update and Issuer Q&A
July 29, 2014 WEBCAST
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS])

West Coast Defined Contribution Conference
October 26, 2014 in CA
(Pensions & Investments)

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  LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook Hand-picked links to the web's best news articles,
official guidance, jobs, webcasts and more.
[Official Guidance]

Social Security Defines Policy for Same-Sex Married Couples; Agency Extends Benefits Broadly, Subject to Legal Constraints
"Social Security has published new instructions that allow the agency to process more claims in which entitlement or eligibility is affected by a same-sex relationship. These instructions come in response to last year's Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor, which found Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. This latest policy development lets the agency recognize some non-marital legal relationships as marriages for determining entitlement to benefits. These instructions also allow Social Security to begin processing many claims in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages or non-marital legal relationships." [More information, including Fact Sheets and Q&As, is online.] (U.S. Social Security Administration [SSA])  


[Advert.]

Boston Regional Conference, July 10-11

Sponsored by ASPPA

Sessions designed for TPAs, actuaries, attorneys and investment professionals, featuring national and regional speakers.



Should You Offer ETFs in Your DC Plan?
"While the average expense ratio for ETFs may be lower in plans than either institutional or noninstitutional share classes of traditional index mutual funds, a closer look at the minimum expense ratios tells a different story. The lowest expense ratio of two basis points for institutional share classes is less than the lowest expense ratio of five basis points offered by ETFs. In addition, the lowest expense ratio of five basis points for non-institutional-share-class mutual funds is identical to that of ETFs." (Vanguard)  

Supreme Court Rules Inherited IRAs Are Not Retirement Funds
"While rollover IRAs can be used effectively to reduce income tax liability by spreading distribution over several years, other strategies may be preferable, particularly when the beneficiary is vulnerable to creditors. Certain trusts can qualify as designated beneficiaries for retirement plans and IRAs, and these trusts can incorporate spendthrift provisions, which provide full asset protection. Moreover, the trust vehicle can ensure ongoing management and control over ultimate disposition, while allowing flexibility in distributing assets among individual beneficiaries." [Clark v. Rameker, No. 13-299 (S. Ct. June 12, 2014)] (Fox Rothschild LLP)  

Supreme Court Ruling Means Asset Protection Planning Is Needed for IRAs
"The big winners of this decision are the certified financial planners, accountants and trust attorneys who will advise the millions of IRA account owners as to how to protect the beneficiaries of their IRA accounts from creditors in the coming months and years.... Currently, seven states have enacted statutes exempting inherited IRAs in bankruptcy.... Although receiving considerable ink in the Clark briefs and discussed at several points in the oral argument, neither this disparate treatment nor the resulting chaos was mentioned by the Court in its opinion. It is likely, nonetheless, the new frontier for the debate over inherited IRAs and bankruptcy exemption." [Clark v. Rameker, No. 13-299 (S. Ct. June 12, 2014)] (McGladrey)  

DC Retirement Plan Trends for Retirement Plans with Up to $20 Million in Assets
"Launched in 2011, Vanguard Retirement Plan Access TM (VRPA) is a comprehensive, turnkey service for retirement plans with up to $20-plus million in assets. Through VRPA, we served 1,400 plan sponsors with more than 60,000 participants at year-end 2013. The Small Business Administration reports that small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms, and they employ half of all private-sector employees. Accordingly, to help small-business DC plan sponsors understand how their plans compare with other small- business plans, we are pleased to offer this VRPA supplement to our annual series of How America Saves benchmarking reports." (Vanguard)  


[Advert.]

401(k) Plan Duties and Liability Update: What You Need to Know and Do

Sponsored by Lorman and BenefitsLink

July 9 live webinar. Are you prepared to handle your 401(k) plan duties? Stay on top of current regulatory, legislative and legal trends. BenefitsLink discount.



What Happens if I Accidentally Miss My Required Minimum Distribution?
"The still-working exception for RMDs only applies to the employer for whom you are working. It does not apply to plans held with previous employers. Before you can move the old 401(k) plan to either your current plan or to an IRA, you will have to take all RMDs you have missed." (The Slott Report)  

Testing Your DC Plan's IQ: Accepting Rollovers (PDF)
"[P]romoting the consolidation of participant account balances is one of the most positive actions that plan sponsors can take to improve participant outcomes. Consolidating retirement accounts: [1] Reduces the potential for prematurely cashing out old balances; [2] Reduces investment costs for the participant; [3] Provides professional oversight for investments; and [4] Supports more accurate retirement income projections." (BMO Retirement Services)  

[Opinion]

PBGC Premium Increases Punish the Good Guys
"[S]moothing scores as a raiser because company contributions and the corresponding deductions will decrease in the short term, raising revenue in the budget window. Then, supposedly to account for the increased risk to PBGC that comes from these lower contributions, PBGC premiums are increased and scored to 'raise' even more. The end result: Good actors who pose no risk to PBGC get hit with an additional penalty for continuing to sponsor a defined benefit plan, while employers with plans that do pose a risk to PBGC get Congress's stamp of approval to reduce funding even further." (Judy Miller, Director of Retirement Policy, American Society of Pension Actuaries [ASPPA])  

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Official Guidance]

Text of FASB Update No. 2014-12: Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved After the Requisite Service Period
21 pages. Excerpt: "Many reporting entities account for performance targets that could be achieved after the requisite service period as performance conditions that affect the vesting of the award and, therefore, do not reflect the performance target in the estimate of the grant-date fair value of the award. Other reporting entities treat those performance targets as nonvesting conditions that affect the grant-date fair value of the award. This Update is intended to resolve the diverse accounting treatment of those awards in practice." (Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB])  

IRS to Tell Practitioners to Remove 'IRS Made Me Do It' Circular 230 Disclaimers (PDF)
"The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility will send letters asking practitioners to stop using Circular 230 disclaimers saying the disclaimer is required, OPR Director Karen Hawkins said ... '[If] a disclaimer says "The Internal Revenue Service says" or "I am required under Circular 230," I can promise you that you will get a letter from my office asking you to cease and desist using that kind of language because I don't want taxpayers to be misinformed,' Hawkins said. 'We do not require that language after last week.'" (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

ERISA Has a Whistleblower Provision? Yep.
"In analyzing the language of Section 510, the Sixth Circuit reasoned that generally there are two types of anti-retaliation provisions: [1] opposition clauses, protecting employees who oppose, report, or complain about unlawful practices; and [2] participation clauses, shielding employees from retaliation for participating, testifying, or giving information in inquiries, investigations, proceedings, or hearings.... The court found it meaningful that ERISA Section 510 contains only a participation clause ... [and] concluded that Congress had enacted this second clause with the intent of preventing interference with inquiries and proceedings, as opposed to protecting all persons who disclosed violations of the Act." [Sexton v. Panel Processing, Inc., No. 13-1604 (6th Cir. May 9, 2014)] (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)  

[Opinion]

Senator Harkin Introduces Legislation to Protect Whistleblowers
"Senator Harkin's bill would ... make any oral or written complaint made by an employee to their benefit plan's administrators, their employer, or any external authority an action sufficient to guarantee whistleblower protection for that employee. Section 404 of S.1979, the USA Retirement Funds Act of 2014, clarifies that individuals who report violations of the federal private pension law to company or plan officials would be protected against retaliation." (Pension Rights Center)  

Press Releases

PBGC Launches New and Improved Version of MyPBA
PBGC [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation]

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