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Employee Benefits Jobs
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Webcasts and Conferences
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[Official Guidance]
IRS Publication 1020: Appeal Procedures for Employee Plans Examinations, Revised November 2014 (PDF)
"This publication explains: What to do if you agree to the proposed plan disqualification [and] steps to take to appeal to the IRS Office of Appeals if you don't agree with the examination findings. These instructions apply to proposed actions in a revocation letter, nonqualification letter or discrepancy adjustment report for: [1] Form 5500-series annual return of employee benefit plans information examinations relating to: Revocations ... [and] Nonqualifications ... [2] Form 1040/1120 Income tax discrepancy adjustments resulting from these revocations or nonqualifications ... [3] Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, for minimum funding deficiencies, prohibited transactions and other employee plans excise taxes ... and [4] Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return, reporting the unrelated business income tax liability
of the employee plan's trust."
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
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[Guidance Overview]
Changes Issued for Tax Notices Required to Be Provided to Persons Entitled to Receive a Retirement Plan Distribution
"The changes not only reflect the change in the rollover rules but also discuss the In-Plan Roth Rollover tax treatment. The changes include a clarification that refunds of automatic enrollment contributions are not eligible to be rolled over, if your plan has implemented automatic enrollment in salary reduction or deferral contributions of persons when they are first eligible. There is one notice for a plan without a Roth account and a separate notice for a plan with a Roth Account."
(Winstead PC)
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Unbundled Target Date Funds: Improving Participant Outcomes Through a Customized Approach
"[C]ustomizing TDFs creates great potential for maximizing participant retirement outcomes. Plan-specific characteristics to incorporate include plan objectives, participant demographics and behaviors, and other corporate benefits such as a legacy defined benefit (DB) plan. Creating a customized TDF solution allows plan sponsors to unbundle the key decision points of a TDF series, and tailor the design of the glide path, portfolio construction and implementation to plan specifications.... The move toward unbundled recordkeeping relationships (achieving fee transparency, and separating administrative and investment services and fees) in favor of transparency and open architecture is the most prevalent practice today."
(Towers Watson)
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A Road Less Travelled: Including Alternative Investments in a 401(k) Plan (PDF)
"As with any investment, the plan sponsor needs to understand and analyze the alternative investment to ensure that it is prudent and made solely in the interest of plan participants and beneficiaries ... However, the analysis becomes more complicated, because fiduciaries also must resolve the question of whether the investment itself is deemed to be holding plan assets. If so, additional fiduciary considerations come into play[.]"
(Marcia Wagner, via 401k Advisor)
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PBGC Guarantees 401(k) Rollovers to DB Pensions
"If a private-sector pension plan goes bankrupt, the PBGC guarantees payments, up to $60,165 a year. Under the new rules, you'll be able to add your 401(k) assets to your pension, which would increase the amount of your pension paycheck. The amount you add to your pension from your 401(k) wouldn't be subject to the $60,165 limit."
(USA TODAY)
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Tips on Making the Most of Your First 401(k)
"While many employers do a good job of educating their employees about how to use their plans, others do not -- or perhaps employees simply aren't listening. About 52 million Americans participated in 401(k) plans in 2012, yet many still are not saving enough for retirement or have developed bad habits, such as taking out loans that inhibit the growth of their accounts.... [Here are] tips on everything from saving enough to picking the right investments to simply taking the long view about the whole process."
(Morningstar)
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Government Workers Get First Crack at Phased Retirement
"The nation's largest employer, the federal government, on Nov. 6 began accepting applications for phased retirement. While the rules apply only to federal workers, they could serve as a pilot project for the private sector.... During phased retirement, employees will be paid for part-time work, supplemented by a partial annuity, and will continue to accrue additional service credits toward their final annuity. The employees also will spend 20% of their time mentoring younger workers."
(InvestmentNews)
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Judge to the State's Defense of the Illinois Pension Reform Law: No Dice
"The Court struck down the State's affirmative defense claims that it could diminish benefits despite Article XIII of the [Illinois] Constitution based upon an exercise of the State's 'reserved sovereign powers or police powers.' There was 'no such legally valid defense' according to the Court, because the pension protection clause of the Constitution does not provide for any such exception or limitation. In light of this conclusion, the Court did not even need to address the merits of the State's defense.... [T]he Governor and Attorney General have stated that they will move for an immediate appeal ... to the [Illinois] Supreme Court." [In re Pension Litigation, No. 2014 MR 1 (7th Ill. Nov. 21, 2014)]
(Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
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San Diego County Pension Fund Searching for New Investment Chief
"A large California pension fund is searching for a new chief investment officer amid concerns about a complicated investment strategy that uses derivatives to boost performance. The board of San Diego County Employees Retirement System authorized the move [on Nov. 21] in an 8-1 vote that requires the $10 billion fund to install an internal investment chief instead of relying on an outside firm for that role.... The switch to a new governance structure ... represents the latest clash between outside consultants and the pension funds that rely on them for advice, as public retirement systems wrestle with how to fulfill mounting obligations to retirees."
(The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)
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[Opinion]
ERIC Comment Letter to PBGC on Proposed Collection of Information by PBGC Concerning Payment of Premiums (PDF)
"[1] Plan sponsors can increase the strength and duration of their defined benefit plans through a variety of de-risking methods. The PBGC should support the efforts of companies that continue to sponsor and/or administer defined benefit plans. [2] The Information Collection Request is somewhat vague and open-ended with respect to the type of information that the PBGC plans to collect. The PBGC should provide additional clarification with respect to the data that needs to be reported."
(The ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC])
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Press Releases
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