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Leading Northern NJ Actuarial Firm
in NJ

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Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in MI

Retirement Plan Operations Manager
Growing Organization
in MI, NC

Account Manager
Nova 401(k) Associates
in ANY STATE

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TPA Firm
in LA

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Nixon Peabody LLP
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ASC's DC Plan Processing Steps for Investment Provider Plans
September 16, 2014 WEBCAST
(ASC [Actuarial Systems Corporation])

Forensic Underwriting: An Employer Roundtable
September 19, 2014 in NY
(Corporate Synergies)

Lost Participants: Welcome to the 21st Century
September 23, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

ERISA Fiduciary Compliance: A DOL Plan Audit: Where the Rubber Hits the Road
October 1, 2014 WEBCAST
(Fiduciary Doctors LLC)

Health Care Reform Information Reporting (Code Sections 6055 And 6056) — Forms And Instructions Issued
October 2, 2014 WEBCAST
(Trucker Huss)

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New Money Market Fund Rules Require Review by Retirement Plan Sponsors
"Retirement plan fiduciaries have a fiduciary obligation to consider whether to continue utilizing money market funds in light of the likely increases in expenses, potential limitations on liquidity and administrative challenges under the new money market rules. In addition, a defined contribution plan fiduciary who decides to retain a money market fund as a plan investment will need to take steps to prepare for participant communications on changes in fees and the imposition of restrictions on redemptions." (McDermott Will & Emery)  

[Advert.]

ASPPA Annual Conference on October 26-29 in Washington DC

We don't just set the bar, we're constantly raising the bar for America's Retirement. And we unleash that tenacity at every ASPPA Annual Conference.

IRS Verdict Is In, But Buyer Jury Is Out, on QLACs
"The question no one is able to answer at this point is how attractive this investment option will be to those with assets accumulated in IRAs or employer plans. It is a safe assumption that it will take time for interest to grow. Longevity annuities are not actually a new product, but until now they did not offer the tax benefits provided by these final regulations." (Todd Berghuis, for Ascensus)  

Reducing Pension Plan Headcount Reduces Risk and PBGC Premiums
"PBGC premiums function more like a tax. Unless your plan ultimately goes through a distress termination, the premiums you pay go to fund other companies' benefits. Thus, reducing PBGC variable-rate premiums reduces real costs; increasing funding simply accelerates the payment of costs you will, at some point, have to pay in any case." (October Three Consulting)  

Retirement Plan Leakage and Retirement Readiness
"There is no clear answer to the leakage problem in plans. A good retirement plan design can greatly influence the behavior of its participants. It has to include and encourage regular employer and employee contributions to help build retirement accounts. Withdrawal provisions and loans in plans don't signify poor plan design, but tighter administrative controls around the plan provisions, such as allowing only one in-service withdrawal per year, helps keep money in the plan." (Milliman Retirement Town Hall)  

More Seniors Carry Student Loan Debt Into Retirement
"There are now approximately 706,000 senior citizen households that still have student loan debt.... Social Security offsets to pay student loan debt grew by 500 percent from approximately 6,000 in 2002 to 36,000 in 2013 among people age 65 and older. The Treasury collected about $24 million by withholding Social Security benefits from debtors in 2002, a number that increased to $150 million in 2013." (U.S. News & World Report)  

[Advert.]

Register for P&I's 2014 Custom Target-Date Strategies Summit

Via a case-study format, plan sponsors share their unique experiences and provide advice on design, implementation and evaluation to help their peers determine if a customized solution will meet their company's specific needs.

Actively vs. Passively Managed Funds (PDF)
"While the opportunity for outperformance of actively managed funds is appealing, the argument against actively managed funds is that management fees and transaction costs cut into the investor's profit.... The argument against passively managed funds is that in market downturns, the passively managed funds follow the overall market, missing the opportunity to customize investments for the specific market environment.... The best option ... may be to mix active and passive investments, benefiting from the advantages of both fund styles." (Ekon Benefits)  

ERISA's Rich History: A Conversation with Phyllis C. Borzi, Assistant Secretary of Labor of EBSA
"One area of ERISA that has proven difficult over the years is the function of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. 'There was never agreement when ERISA was passed and there isn't agreement now as to what PBGC was supposed to be,' she said. 'The reason the PBGC has proved to be a vexing, difficult program is because unlike these other areas of ERISA, where there was broad, general consensus,' there was dispute over what it should look like, she said." (Bloomberg BNA)  

Leaving a Legacy: Three Differences Between Roth IRAs and Life Insurance
"Life insurance and Roth IRAs have a lot in common. They are both often used as wealth transfer tools to help facilitate an efficient transfer of assets from one generation to the next, and they are both able to provide a tax-free legacy, just to name a few.... [1] Roth IRAs are always included in your estate ... [2] There's a limit to the amount you can contribute to a Roth IRA ... [3] There are no RMDs for life insurance." (Slott Report)  

Is a Fully Insured Defined Benefit Plan Right for Your Company?
"Employers find 412(e)(3) Plans so attractive because they avoid the complications commonly associated with traditional defined benefit plans. For example, no enrolled actuary's certification is needed; there are no required quarterly contributions; there is no full funding limitation applied that might limit contributions; and administrative costs are generally lower." (Las Vegas Review-Journal)  

[Opinion]

Vanguard Founder John Bogle Calls for Less Trading, Favors Fiduciary Standard
"If John Bogle were writing the rules, not only would broker-dealers be considered fiduciaries, but to fulfill those obligations there would be a lot less trading activity. Bogle, the founder of fund giant Vanguard Group, argues that the financial services sector as a whole is chasing short-term gains and in the process saddling investors with the costs of higher trading volumes and often not acting in their best interests." (On Wall Street)  

[Official Guidance]

IRS Instructions for Form 2848 (Rev. July 2014) (PDF)
"Use Form 2848 to authorize an individual to represent you before the IRS. See Substitute Form 2848 ... for information about using a power of attorney other than a Form 2848 to authorize an individual to represent you before the IRS. The individual you authorize must be eligible to practice before the IRS." [Revision date is July, 2014; released online September 9, 2014.] (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Administrative Exhaustion, Futility and the Last Refuge of the Scoundrel
"The case nicely highlights how high the bar is to prove futility in this context, and raises the question of what then would be enough to prove futility. Many lawyers often find that a hard question to answer, for the specific reason that most lawyers have never actually had a case in which the opportunity to recover benefits voluntarily from a plan was so futile that, in fact, futility could be proven for these purposes." [Carson v. Int'l Headquarters Pension and Beneficiaries Plan of the Int'l Union of Operating Engineers, No. 5:14-cv-11617 (S.D.W.V. Sept. 9, 2014)] (Stephen Rosenberg of The Wagner Law Group)  

New IRS Publication Helps You Find out if You Qualify for a Health Coverage Exemption
IRS [Internal Revenue Service]

Atlantic Pension Services Inc. is Certified to Industry Best Practices
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

New Book by James Russell Now Available: Social Insecurity: 401(k)s and the Retirement Crisis
Beacon Press

Navera Offers Guidance for Education and Decision Support Tools to Boost Engagement in Voluntary Benefits
Navera

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