ASPPA

Retirement Plan Administrator
Pension Advisors, Inc. (A division of Sutterfield Financial Group, Inc.)
in OK

Client Manager - Employee Benefits
Broker/Consulting Firm In Dallas, Texas area
in TX

Retirement Plan Sales Consultant
Martin, Martin, Randall & Associates, Inc. [MMR]
in AL

Manager Data Operations
TIAA CREF
in CO

401(k) Administrator
Heartland Consulting Group, Inc.
in KS, MO

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Top 5 Employee Benefit Trends for 2015
February 12, 2015 WEBCAST
(Lorman Education Services)

Sal Tripodi Current Events Workshop
February 12, 2015 in CA
(NIPA - San Francisco Bay Area Chapter)

Anthem’s Cancer Care Quality Program: A Blueprint to Improve Care and Reduce Costs
February 18, 2015 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc.)

SHOP Marketplace Series
February 24, 2015 WEBCAST
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS])

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[Guidance Overview]

Puerto Rico Extends Window for Reduced Taxation of Retirement Funds (PDF)
"Even plan administrators who will not handle the Puerto Rico income tax prepayment for participants and beneficiaries should be prepared to provide supporting documentation to Puerto Rico residents about their accrued benefits (e.g., participant statements, benefit calculations, or other administrative documents) to allow them to file their prepayment directly with the Puerto Rico Treasury. To ensure that no more Puerto Rico income tax is withheld from future distributions than necessary, they must also be prepared to credit a participant with Puerto Rico income tax basis if the participant provides them with a stamped prepayment receipt from the Puerto Rico Treasury." (Buck Consultants at Xerox)  

[Advert.]

Registration Now Open for NCEO Denver Annual Conference

NCEO's 2015 Employee Ownership Conference will take place at the Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel. NEW: See Preconference Session on Compensation Issues and our Agenda to view sessions marked CB -- a track dedicated to compensation and benefits issues in employee-owned companies.

Views of Americans on Defined Contribution Plan Saving (PDF)
"Seventy-one percent of U.S. households had favorable impressions of 401(k) and similar retirement plan accounts in fall 2014, up from 66 percent in fall 2013 and 65 percent in 2012/2013. Among households expressing an opinion, 90 percent had favorable impressions of 401(k) plans, with 39 percent agreeing that they had a 'very favorable' impression.... More than eight in 10 DC-owning households said the tax treatment of their retirement plans was a big incentive to contribute. Nearly all households with DC accounts agreed that it was important to have choice in, and control of, the investments in their DC plans. Eighty-two percent indicated that their DC plan offered a good lineup of investment options." (Investment Company Institute [ICI])  

White House Fact Sheet on Proposed Tax Code Changes, Including Retirement Plan Provisions (PDF)
"The President's retirement tax reform plan would: [1] Automatically enroll Americans without access to a workplace retirement plan in an IRA ... [2] Provide tax cuts for auto-IRA adoption, as well as for businesses that choose to offer employer plans or switch to auto-enrollment.... [3] [E]xpand access for part-time workers by requiring employers who offer plans to permit employees who have worked for the employer for at least 500 hours per year for 3 years or more to make voluntary contributions to the plan... [4] [P]rohibit contributions to and accruals of additional benefits in tax-preferred retirement plans and IRAs once balances are about $3.4 million, enough to provide an annual income of $210,000 in retirement." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Is My Target Date Fund Layering On Extra Fees?
"Target-date funds that don't charge an overlay fee generally have an annual report net expense ratio of zero and a prospectus net expense ratio that represents a weighted average of the expense ratios charged by the underlying funds. This prospectus net expense ratio represents what investors pay annually to own the fund. For most target-date funds, an annual report net expense ratio that is more than zero represents an overlay fee above and beyond the cost of owning the underlying funds and is included in the prospectus net expense ratio." (Morningstar)  

PIMCO Faces Excessive Compensation Lawsuit
"The lawsuit calls into question compensation paid to former co-chief investment officers and co-chief executive officers Mohamed El-Erian and William H. Gross. Gross is PIMCO's founder and started the PIMCO Total Return Fund in May 1987.... The lawsuit alleges that despite ... poor performance, the compensation PIMCO has received for its work for the fund and fund complex has remained excessive and has led to extraordinary payments to its executives." (planadviser)  

[Advert.]

3 Live Workshops – Register Now

401(k) Beyond the Basics -- Expand your 401(k) knowledge. The program covers most recent 401(k) plan guidance, 401(k)-specific plan design, administration, compliance issues, including new strategies using after-tax contributions. 13 CE credits.

New IRS Rules for Claiming U.S. Tax Benefit in Canadian Retirement Plans
"U.S. citizens and residents with interests in certain types of Canadian registered retirement plans may now be treated as having elected to defer U.S. income tax on plan earnings until a distribution is made, if eligibility conditions are satisfied. Until now, participants had to affirmatively elect to defer the taxes on the earnings every year. Moreover, the relief is retroactive." (Towers Watson)  

How Did New Jersey Get Into This Pension Mess?
"After skipping a $3.1 billion payment in fiscal year 2011, [Governor Chris Christie] contributed $484 million in 2012, $1 billion in 2013 and $696 million in 2014 -- more than any of his five predecessors. He's expected to make a $681 million payment this year.... But Christie's payments are still a fraction of what is needed to keep the pension system from piling up even more debt." (NJ.com)  

CalPERS Intends to Reduce Private Equity Managers
"[CalPERS], the biggest U.S. public pension, is trying to reduce the number of private-equity managers it hires and teaming up with other institutional investors to negotiate better terms.... [T]he $292 billion pension could cut the number of managers it hires by two-thirds.... Calpers invests $31.2 billion, or about 10 percent of its portfolio, in private equity." (Bloomberg)  

[Opinion]

President's Retirement Proposals Send Mixed Message
"Portraying the President's proposal as limiting retirement plan balances to 'about $3.4 million' is very misleading. In fact, the proposal limits annual benefits that can be paid at age 62. In today's extremely low interest rate environment, that equates to about $3.4 million. But given historical interest rates the government uses for pension calculations, the allowable account balance for a 35 year old worker would be about $300,000[.]" (American Benefits Council)  

[Guidance Overview]

Understanding Form W-2 When It Includes Income from Stock Compensation
"The vesting of restricted stock, the share delivery from restricted stock units (RSUs), and the vesting of performance shares all prompt W-2 reporting of the income received. The treatment on the W-2 is essentially the same for all three grant types.... With incentive stock options, the spread value appears on the W-2 only when you make what is technically called a disqualifying disposition, i.e. when you sell or gift the stock before you have met the required holding periods of one year from exercise and two years from grant. In that case, the income appears on the W-2 as compensation income.... If you sold shares from stock compensation or an ESPP last year, you'll need guidance to report the sale proceeds on your tax return." (myStockOptions.com)  

DOL Seeks Cloud Vendors for ERISA Website
"The Department of Labor is looking for vendors able to provide a FedRAMP-certified cloud to host the [ERISA] public disclosure website. The site -- which maintains filings on pension and health plans offered by private companies -- currently contains approximately 12 terabytes of pdf forms, growing by about 450 gigabytes a year. The cloud website would host all the documentation and provide a search function for users." [Text of the RFI is online: Sources Sought for Cloud Support Services.] (Federal Times)  

Pension Associates International is Certified to Industry Best Practices
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

Actuaries Call for State of the Union to Include Public Policy Focus on Aging of America
American Academy of Actuaries

Pershing Launches Retirement Plan Network to Help Advisors Establish and Grow Business in the $6.6 Trillion Defined Contribution Market
BNY Mellon

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