ASPPA

Senior Retirement Plan Administrator
Third Party Administrator Firm
in FL

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[Official Guidance]

2014 Instructions for IRS Form CT-1, Employer's Annual Railroad Retirement Tax Return (PDF)
"Use Form CT-1 to report taxes imposed by the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA).... File Form CT-1 if you paid one or more employees compensation subject to tax under RRTA. A payer of sick pay (including a third party) must file Form CT-1 if the sick pay is subject to Tier 1 railroad retirement taxes. Include sick pay payments on lines 8-11 and, if the withholding threshold is met, line 12 of Form CT-1." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

2015 Advanced Pension Conference in St. Pete Beach, FL – January 28-30

Get 19 CE hours! Lost participants, PPA restatements, new cash balance regs, deferral election, trustee vs. participant direction, practitioner liability, TPA's guide to working with brokers and advisors and more. Register by 12/22, save $150.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Employee Plans News 2014-22, December 9, 2014 (PDF)
Topics covered: [1] December 11 webinar: Retirement Plan Distributions -- What Every Participant Should Know; [2] Pension Equity Plans; [3] Deadlines extended for submitting applications for opinion and advisory letters for pre-approved defined benefit plans for the plans' second six-year remedial amendment cycle; [3] 2014 Cumulative List -- for plans in Cycle E; [4] Required minimum distributions; [5] Maintaining your retirement plan records; [6] TE/GE realignment transfers some technical responsibilities to the Office of Associate Chief Counsel' and [7] Form 23-EP, Application for Enrollment to Practice Before the IRS as an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA) (Rev. Dec. 2014). (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Reminds Retirees to Take Required Retirement Plan Distributions by December 31
"Though the RMD rules are mandatory for all owners of traditional IRAs and participants in workplace retirement plans, some people in workplace plans can wait longer to receive their RMDs. Usually, employees who are still working can, if their plan allows, wait until April 1 of the year after they retire to start receiving these distributions." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

The Challenges with Participant Education
"Employers should work with their vendors to develop an education strategy ... specifically designed to direct the efforts of the vendors as they provide education services to employees on the importance of retirement savings and the value of the contributions made by the [employer]. Understanding that individuals learn differently, the key elements of these efforts should be focused on the four key drivers of successful retirement plan education programs: Plan participation; Employee deferral rates; Asset allocation; [and] Income replacement." (Multnomah Group)  

[Advert.]

Targeted Strategies to Increase Your Defined Contribution Market Share

Hear directly from industry innovators, retirement platforms, advisors & consultants on everything from effective product positioning, to the latest news in plan design, QDIAs, and regulatory updates. Mention FMP164 during registration for 10% discount.

Emerging Trends for Improving 401(k) Plans
"Employers that don't offer Roth contributions should consider doing so.... Once you have [benchmarking] data in hand, it becomes much easier to make positive changes to your plan.... Some providers now allow you to see how many of your plan participants are on track to retire, and how far off track the rest are. Previously, plan sponsors knew that much of their work force was not adequately prepared for retirement, but they didn't have the granularity these new services provide." (CFO)  

Designing Balanced DC Menus: Considering Equity Investments
"Reducing the core investment lineup to three or four options may be too extreme for many plan sponsors -- particularly if they are concerned about being perceived as taking away choice.... Simplifying a menu can help participants make better selections and improve their ability to stay the course -- rather than chasing performance or, more likely, fleeing an investment, and thus locking in losses if the market suddenly drops. Combining investment strategies and styles may help dampen abrupt swings in performance." (PIMCO)  

Why Longevity Annuities Aren't as Popular with 401(k) Fiduciaries as Regulators Think
"Just because a product may be 'pro-consumer' doesn't mean consumers will be pro-product. Longevity Annuities face the same stark behavioral hurdles as other annuities and long-term investing in general.... [O]nce you solve for the insurance product risks, once you get around the financial risk, once you eliminate the behavioral disincentive, you still have to deal with the investment risk." (Fiduciary News)  

Assumptions, Assessments and Actions: Plan Sponsor Views of Participant Support and Advisor Partnerships (PDF)
16 pages. "The study revealed that plan sponsors: [1] View their most important goal as striving to ensure financial security for their participants. [2] Value participant communication and education programs but feel these efforts have fallen short. [3] Underestimate how much intervention participants want and expect from them. [4] Count on the expertise of their advisors and will look to advisors for even more help in the future." (American Century Investments)  

The Uniform Fiduciary Standard and ERISA Plans: A New Kind of Status Quo Is Emerging for Brokers (PDF)
"The dawning reality ... is that major regulatory changes may not come and that advisors and brokers likely may continue to do business under the existing two separate sets of rules applicable to them under the securities law and a third set of existing rules under [ERISA].... Although neither the uniform fiduciary standard nor the DOL conflicted advice rule may ever be realized, the door to a true fiduciary standard has been pushed open by developments brokers must take notice of." (Investment Management Consultants Association [IMCA])  

Retirement Spending: How Much Can You Afford?
"There are a few caveats about the 4% rule you should be aware of: It applies to a specific portfolio composition.... It includes a very high level of confidence that your portfolio will last for a 30-year period.... [It] assumes that in nearly every scenario the hypothetical portfolio would not end with a negative balance.... It assumes a 30-year retirement." (Charles Schwab)  

Jury in Detroit Pension Case Convicts Former Treasurer, Two Others
"A federal jury on Monday convicted the city of Detroit's former treasurer and two others for conspiring to defraud retirees through bribery and kickbacks involving $200 million in deals, prosecutors said.... The evidence at trial, according to federal prosecutors, showed that Detroit's two retirement systems lost more $97 million on pension deals corrupted by bribes and kickbacks taken or paid by the defendants." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

[Opinion]

Things That Can't Go on Forever Won't
"Congress views the single employer defined benefit plan system as a carcass on which the CBO can feast for sham revenues. It views the multiemployer defined benefit plan system as a Titanic-like disaster to which it is prepared to commit significant deck chair-arranging efforts but no life boats.... [T]he easiest thing in world would be to merge the two [PBGC] programs. The single employer program will have lots of premiums it doesn't need that the multiemployer program does need. That would, however and of course, more or less spell the end of the single employer DB plan." (money vs. time)  

Eleventh Circuit: Claim Barred by Statute of Limitations Even When Administrator Cannot Produce Denial Letter
"For 12 years [the employee] did not challenge the termination of benefits. Then, in 2009 [he] wanted to know where his benefits were. He claimed he never received the termination letter [issued in 1997].... MetLife's decision to cease providing benefit payments after April 30,1997, and for 12 years thereafter, constitutes 'clear and continuing repudiation of [the employee's] rights' ... By agreeing to review the terminated claim [in 2012], MetLife did not waive the statute of limitations defense.' " [Witt v. Met Life Ins. Co., No. 14-11349 (11th Cir. Nov. 25, 2014)] (Lane Powell PC)  

How Are Companies Stacking Up? Assessment Framework Highlights Possible Priorities for Executive Compensation
"[T]he breadth of many companies' [pay for performance (P4P)] assessments appears rather limited in terms of pay definitions, performance measures and regularity. Moreover, the results indicate that few companies are leveraging P4P analyses to test if they are getting the downside of pay 'right' (i.e., ensuring pay outcomes track with performance when performance weakens)." (Towers Watson)  

Checklist of Items to Review for the 2015 Annual Meeting and Reporting Season (PDF)
17 pages. "Incorporate lessons from 2014 say-on-pay results.... Assess potential impact from recent compensation-related litigation.... Consider recent trends in compensation recoupment policies.... Comply with IRC Section 162(m)." (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP)  

Fiduciaries of National Multi-employer Benefit Plan Based in Cherry Hill, N.J., Ordered to Pay $4.7 million in Assets and Interest
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

Year-End Content At myStockOptions.com Helps Employees With Stock Compensation Plan For The Ongoing Impact Of Tax Changes
myStockPlan.com, Inc

Northern Trust Enhances Asset-Liability Risk Reporting for Pensions
Northern Trust

New Fellows - December 2014
Society of Actuaries

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