ASPPA

Manager, Client Services
Verisight
in AL

Actuarial Analyst
USI Consulting Group
in CT

401(k) Plan Administrator
Southfield-based Third Party Administration Firm
in MI

Retirement Plan Administrator
Pension Consultants Co., Inc.
in WI

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Annuities Within a 401(k)
March 24, 2015 in FL
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Central Florida)

IRS/DOL Correction Programs
March 24, 2015 in MA
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of New England)

CFO Roundtable: Designing Effective Executive Compensation Practices
March 26, 2015 in CA
(Mintz Levin)

Need a refresher on 457(b) Plans? Join our CE credit webcast!
March 31, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASC Institute)

2015 CCA Health Reform Meeting
April 15, 2015 in DC
(Conference of Consulting Actuaries)

Getting It Right, Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities
May 7, 2015 in CA
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

HIPAA Privacy & Security
May 15, 2015 in MN
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS News Release 2015-50: Still Time to Contribute to an IRA for 2014 (PDF)
"Most taxpayers with qualifying income are either eligible to set up a traditional or Roth IRA or add money to an existing account. To count for 2014, contributions must be made by April 15, 2015. In addition, low- and moderate-income taxpayers making these contributions may also qualify for the saver's credit w hen they fill out their 2014 return.... The deduction for contributions to a traditional IRA is generally phased out for taxpayers covered by a workplace retirement plan whose incomes are above certain level." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Practical, timely, and comprehensive answers to your retirement plan questions.

Our TAG experts have on average over 25 years of experience so you get your questions answered—quickly. Using TAG you have access to legislative updates, regulations, and previously answered questions. Why trust anyone else? Learn more now.

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Guidance on Locating Missing Participants (PDF)
"Where a missing participant remains unresponsive, a plan fiduciary must determine the appropriate method for distributing that participant's account balance. FAB 2014-01 establishes a range of options for distributing benefits to unresponsive participants after a plan fiduciary has exhausted the search efforts ... FAB 2014-01 identifies a preferred method and two alternative methods for consideration if the preferred approach is not viable." (The Wagner Law Group)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Issues HATFA Guidance for Annual Funding Notice (PDF)
"HATFA makes the following changes to the annual funding notice: [1] References to HATFA in addition to MAP-21 must appear within the notice; [2] References to MAP-21 interest rates are replaced with the term 'Adjusted Interest Rates' in the model supplement; and [3] There is no longer a requirement to add language that the value of plan assets before applying the adjusted segment rates is different from the value of plan assets used for minimum funding purposes." (Prudential)  

ERISA Revenue Sharing Arrangements: Avoiding Plan Asset Status and Complying with Due Diligence Requirements
61 PowerPoint slides. Topics include: [1] Brief Overview of Revenue Sharing Arrangements: When are Revenue Sharing Payments 'Plan Assets'? Considerations for Revenue Sharing Payments that Constitute 'Plan Assets'; [2] Due Diligence Process and Alternative Pricing Models: Approaches to benchmarking defined contribution plan fees; Factors impacting plan cost; Methods of analyzing plan fees; Example of a possible fee benchmarking process; and Understanding the various pricing models available, including revenue 'equalization'; and [3] Understanding the Various Pricing Models Available and Allocating Plan Revenue. (Strafford Publications)  

The Unintended Consequences of Prioritizing One Risk in Target Date Fund Design (PDF)
28 pages. "[It is] important to understand how differences in glide path design may enhance or detract from expected retirement outcomes. This is particularly true in how the strategy handles risk management in its portfolio allocation and construction choices. Given the broad number of factors that go into securing retirement funding success, assessing a glide path's risks entails more than evaluating standard deviations and downside volatility alone. Instead, [this] analysis examines how different glide paths allocate risk capital and quantifies how these decisions may affect risk/reward trade-offs that could significantly shape participant outcomes." (J.P. Morgan Asset Management)  

[Advert.]

9th ERISA Litigation, April 13-14, 2015, Chicago

The only ERISA conference that goes the extra mile and brings you the highest-level judicial insights and maximum networking opportunities. It features expert strategies on today's key issues involving benefit plans, plan investments and fiduciaries.

A Checklist for IRA Rollovers
"Remember to account for aftertax money in the plan, plan loans, life insurance, spousal consent, and more as part of the transaction considerations.... Taking your distribution in cash seems to be a trigger for catastrophe -- the participant or a family member suffers serious medical problems, a building burns down, or a typhoon sweeps through. It is very easy to miss the 60-day deadline. Avoid the risk by using a direct rollover instead!" (Natalie Choate, in Morningstar)  

State Auto-IRAs and Federal Law: 'We've Already Stepped on That Rake'
"The ERISA issues related to state-auto-IRAs are ... similar to 403(b) plans: how do you establish a payroll-based auto-IRA without causing the arrangement to be governed by ERISA? Like 403(b)s, there is a regulatory safe harbor to prevent the application of ERISA. But, like 403(b)s, the safe harbor was not exactly designed with thee current state of affairs in mind.... Unlike participant investments in 401(k) plans which enjoy extensive securities law exemptions, providing investments and investment advice to individual related to their IRA investments enjoy no such exemptions. Attention needs to be paid to such matters within the SEC's and FINRAs purview, such as suitability, pooling of assets, the nature of asset allocation models, and other like-regulated matters." (Business of Benefits)  

Should a Plan 'Re-Risk' while De-Risking? (PDF)
"De-risking should not be a one-size-fits-all concept, where any and all risks within a portfolio should be reduced as a plan approaches 100% funded. As the overall equity allocation of a plan is decreased, it allows plans that believe in active management to revisit the active-passive decision. By increasing the amount of active management at lower equity levels, a plan could improve returns while maintaining or even lowering total portfolio risk." (Prudential Investment Management)  

GAO Issues De-Risking Report
"For sponsors, probably the greatest significance of the report is its recommendations. These include: [1] sponsor reporting (e.g., to DOL) of de-risking transactions; [2] much more robust pre-decision disclosure to participants; [3] reconsideration of the use of a lump sum valuation interest rate based on a prior year 'lookback rate;' and [4] a timeline for adopting an update to current mortality tables." (October Three Consulting)  

Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 Increases Disclosure Requirements
"Prior to the amendment, ERISA disclosure requirements were limited to furnishing actuarial reports, financial reports and applications for extension of amortization periods filed with the Secretary of the Treasury to plan participants or beneficiaries, employer representatives or any employer obligated to contribute to the plan. The MPRA completely amends the disclosure requirements and amends provisions relating to limitations of disclosure, record retention and civil enforcement. The new disclosure requirements require Plan administrators to furnish [an] expanded list of documents of which they have had possession for at least 30 days and less than six years[.]" (Lindquist LLP)  

Robo Rumpus Gets Vicious
"Wealthfront chief executive Adam Nash ... claimed Schwab's new platform, which allows consumers to manage, monitor and rebalance their portfolios online, isn't free as advertised. He said it will cost consumers thousands of dollars in opportunity costs related to high cash allocations and expensive 'smart beta' exchange-traded funds, many of which are proprietary or 'from issuers that pay Schwab to use them.' " (InvestmentNews)  

The Fiduciary Exemption for Commissions
"[A] fiduciary adviser must receive 'level compensation,' so that the adviser is not, in effect, able to recommend investments that increase the adviser's compensation. Obviously, that is a conflict of interest. However, under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, it is also a prohibited transaction.... At first blush, it appears that the proposal will require more disclosure about compensation and conflicts of interest ... and will also require that a fiduciary adviser act in the best interest of the participants. Of course, that's difficult to measure ... so the devil will be in the details[.]" (FredReish.com)  

DOL Head Says Fiduciary Standard Will Happen
"Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez expressed confidence ... that his agency will be able to complete work on a rule to strengthen investment-advice standards for retirement accounts before the end of the Obama administration.... The DOL has been pushing for the rule as a way to protect workers and retirees from conflicted advice as they build their retirement nest eggs. The financial industry has warned that the rule would significantly increase brokers' regulatory and liability costs, driving them out of the advice market for investors with modest assets. The agency is taking that skepticism into account, Mr. Perez said." (InvestmentNews)  

Ten Strategies to Save for Retirement on a Low Income
"Save by default.... Automatically increase your savings rate.... Don't stick to your employer's savings rate.... Open an IRA.... Make smart decisions when changing jobs.... Save part of your tax refund.... Set aside separate emergency savings.... Start saving early in life.... Don't withdraw the money early.... Avoid high-cost investments." (U.S. News & World Report)  

Retirement Planning Among Middle-Aged and Older Hispanics
"[M]ost participants, whether they were already retired or not, are not well prepared for retirement since they have been unable to save for retirement and have not made specific retirement plans ... [T]he majority of the participants had parents who did not plan for retirement, and very few had parents who were able to save.... While many participants help their parents, most of them do not want to ask children for help and do not expect getting help from them." (Luisa R. Blanco, Emma Aguila, Arturo Gongora, Beverly Weidmer, and Kenrik Duru, via SSRN)  

The Retirement Savings Gap Between Haves and Have-Nots Is Getting Bigger
"Nearly 40 million working-age households don't have any retirement accounts ... Whether someone has an account is closely tied to his or her income and wealth. Households with accounts have annual income that's 2.4 times higher than those that don't. The median retirement account balance when you look across all households? $2,500." (Bloomberg)  

[Opinion]

Testimony of American Academy of Actuaries for Senate Committee Hearing: 'Bridging the Gap: How Prepared Are Americans for Retirement?' (PDF)
18 pages. "An important issue underlying many causes of inadequate lifetime income is the unpredictability of an individual's life span and an understanding that life expectancy is not how long an individual will live. Many people who carefully plan for their income needs in retirement do so based upon a fixed retirement horizon of average life expectancy and thus might give short shrift to the significant probability of living longer. Most people simply do not have the tools readily available to determine how much money they need to accumulate to finance a retirement that could last 30 years or more." (American Academy of Actuaries)  

[Opinion]

Testimony of the Brookings Institution at Senate Committee Hearing: 'How Prepared Are Americans for Retirement?'
"My testimony is in three parts. I first discuss the problem of low retirement savings and, secondly, I summarize relevant theories of saving that help to illustrate areas for improvement. In the final portion, I offer some specific policy recommendations based on my own work and that of my colleagues. In offering these recommendations, I seek to enhance the financial security of Americans in retirement." (Michal Grinstein-Weiss, for The Brookings Institution)  

[Opinion]

Does Retirement Saving Cost, or Pay?
"The annual 'tax cost' estimated by CRS for home mortgage interest deductions is four times the estimated cost in lost revenue as a result of IRA deductions and contributions to employers' retirement plans. Furthermore, citizens who reduce their taxable income via the home mortgage interest deduction do not pay this tax benefit back to the U.S. Treasury at some future time. Contrast this with deductible IRA contributions and pre-tax amounts deferred into 401(k) plans which are eventually taxed when a retiree withdraws them for financial support in retirement. Contrary to the way these retirement benefits are often characterized, they are not a permanent 'cost' to the federal tax revenue stream." (Todd Berghuis, for Ascensus)  

Boeing CEO Compensation Jumps Due to Increase in Pension Value
"Boeing Co. said Friday that the total compensation for Chief Executive Jim McNerney climbed 24% to $28.9 million, with two other senior leaders securing threefold increases as changing interest rates boost pension values.... The bulk of Mr. McNerney's higher compensation was in the form of a higher pension value, while equity awards fell 17% compared with 2013. The interest-rate environment has lifted compensation packages across American corporations by boosting the value of executive plans." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

DOL Alleges New York ESOP Overpaid in $24M Stock Sale
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

US Labor Department Sues Fiduciaries of Northampton, Mass., Health Plan for Unremitted Contributions, Unpaid Healthcare Claims
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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