Associate
Groom Law Group Chartered
in DC

Wealth Management Officer
Monroe Bank & Trust
in MI

401(k) / Defined Contribution Pension Administrative Assistant
R.J.L. Pension Services, Inc.
in FL

Experienced Retirement Plan Consultant/Administrator
Retirement and Pension Plan Company
in CT, NJ, NY

Director of Negotiated Benefits
United Food and Commercial Workers [UFCW] International Union
in DC

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Final IRS Forms 1094 and 1095: Line-by-Line Analysis for Employers and Advisors
RECORDED
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

How to Develop Your HIPAA-HITECH Policies and Procedures
March 26, 2015 WEBCAST
(Clearwater Compliance)

Pension Problem Solvers
April 23, 2015 in NY
(Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP)

GRACE Team Care Approach in Managing High-Risk Medicare Populations
April 29, 2015 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Web Summit)

ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
June 3, 2015 in IL
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Retirement Plan Insights Seminar
June 9, 2015 in IL
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2015-28: Extension of Temporary Nondiscrimination Relief for Closed Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)
"This notice extends the temporary nondiscrimination relief provided in Notice 2014-5 for an additional year by applying that relief to plan years beginning before 2017 if the conditions of Notice 2014-5 are satisfied. During the period for which this extension applies, the remaining provisions of the nondiscrimination regulations under Section 401(a)(4) (including the rules relating to the timing of plan amendments under 1.401(a)(4)-5 ) continue to apply. The extension described in this notice is provided in anticipation of the issuance of proposed amendments to the Section 401(a)(4) regulations that would be finalized and apply after the relief under Notice 2014-5 and this notice expire." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Plan Advisors Can't Miss the NAPA 401(k) Summit -- San Diego, March 2015

Learn from the best and add to your professional skill set by earning ASPPA and CFP CE's, networking with other exclusive financial advisors and TPAs, hearing from leading speakers on topics that matter to you most. The NAPA 401(k) Summit supports your needs!

[Guidance Overview]

IRS News Release 2015-55: Many Retirees Face April 1 Deadline to Take Required Retirement Plan Distributions (PDF)
"The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers who turned 70-1/2 during 2014 that in most cases they must start receiving required minimum distributions (RMDs) from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and workplace retirement plans by Wednesday, April 1, 2015. The April 1 deadline applies to owners of traditional IRAs but not Roth IRAs. Normally, it also applies to participants in various workplace retirement plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Guidance Overview]

Clarifying the Rules on Distributions from Qualified Plans
"For plans currently offering after-tax contributions, or that have significant legacy after-tax dollars, [Notice 2014-54] may provide participants with the ability to maximize planning opportunities related to rollovers. But there are potential downsides for participants who roll money out of the qualified plan. For example, participants under age 55 would lose the ability to avoid the early withdrawal penalty on 401(k) plan distributions when separating from service after age 55 (but before age 59-1/2), or lose the opportunity to take advantage of net unrealized appreciation rules for company stock. Though these scenarios may not be common, they have significant potential impact for those who are eligible, and should at least be coordinated with the overall Roth conversion strategy." (Vanguard)  

SEC No-Action Letter Permits Non-ERISA Retirement Plans to Issue Participant Fee Disclosures Without Violating Securities Laws
"Because of the potential conflict between the DOL regulations and Rule 482 (pertaining to such items as timing of updated investment information as well as various narrative disclosures), the SEC issued a no-action letter in October 2011 ... [which] alleviated the tension created when an ERISA plan attempted to comply with both set of rules and concluded that it could simply follow the DOL final regulations instead without violating Rule 482.... [T]he SEC has now issued a comparable no-action letter to equally cover participant-level fee disclosure statements issued to participants in non-ERISA plans[.]" (McDermott Will & Emery)  

From Committees to Costs: Five Key Areas of Fiduciary Focus
"Have a well-organized and effective investment committee.... Prudently select and regularly monitor the plan's investments.... Properly oversee the plan's administrative processes.... Monitor plan costs.... Evaluate company stock." (Vanguard)  

[Advert.]

2015 SPARK National Conference -- June 7-9, Washington DC

The retirement services industry's leading event for top marketing, sales, administration and record keeping professionals. Comprehensive agenda is designed to meet the needs of 401(k) Plan Providers, Financial Advisors and Third Party Administrators.

Nine Hot Trends for Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Sponsors (PDF)
"Continued shift towards 401(k)-style retirement plans and expansion into other markets ... A continued focus on behavioral finance and retirement readiness ... Continued consolidation of investment menus... Additional asset classes for greater diversification... Continued fee scrutiny leading to greater consideration and use of alternative investment vehicle structures ... Adaptation to the challenges of the fixed annuity and stable value fund marketplace... Continued growth of qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) appropriate funds... Continued participant desire for guaranteed income... Sustained regulatory scrutiny and legislation." (Cammack Retirement Group)  

What Makes An Average Defined Contribution Plan?
"[S]omewhere around 94% of private employers report that they offer some form of a defined contribution plan. Of those private employers offering plans, the average eligibility appears to be about 88% of their full-time employee population with about 65% active participation of eligible employees. Of the companies that sponsor defined contribution plans, about 90% offer more than 10 investment options to employees, and 56% offer more than 15 choices." (Fox Rothschild LLP)  

Changing Definitions of Retirement
"Advisors who think of retirement planning only as calculating a client's 'dollars per month' will limit their power to act in the new realities of retirement.... When we think about clients' financial live, we should not think about a single 'cut off' day in which they will have to live off an asset base. Many people are living out their years in new and different ways, and it is important to have a strategy for each approach." (Morningstar Advisor)  

Retirement Planning Through the Decades
" 'Imagine taking a 30-year vacation and the amount of time it would take you to plan what you're going to do and for you to fund it-- that's what planning for retirement is about,' says Rebekah Barsch, vice president at Northwestern Mutual.... The sooner you begin to save though, the more time you'll have on your side.... Experts provide guidance on steps to take during each decade." (Fox Business)  

There's $27 Trillion in the U.S. Retirement Savings System: Don't Expect Legislators to Leave It Alone
"At least $9 trillion of the $27 trillion total represents public sector workers ... Public sector retirement assets are heavily concentrated in [DB] plans, while the majority of private sector assets is in [DC] plans.... [B]udgetary considerations, a growing focus on coverage, questions of efficiency, and several other pressure points are leading to a growing likelihood of change in the retirement system. A number of proposals are circulating at the Federal and the States level." (Russell Investments)  

Federal Employees' Retirement System: The Role of the Thrift Savings Plan (PDF)
"The [Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)] is a key element of the [Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS)], especially for workers at the upper ranges of the federal pay scale. The Social Security benefit formula is designed to replace a greater share of income for low-wage workers than for high-wage workers. The FERS basic annuity will replace about 32% of final salary for an employee retiring at the age of 62 with 30 years of service. Higher-wage federal workers need to contribute a greater percentage of pay to the TSP to reach the same level of income replacement as lower-paid workers can achieve from just the FERS retirement annuity and Social Security. At an annual rate of return of 6.0%, income from the TSP can replace about 33% of final pay for a federal employee who contributes 10% of pay over 30 years." (Congressional Research Service [CRS])  

Public Pension Cuts Exempt Police and Firefighters
"[E]ven granting that police officers and firefighters have a special claim on the public's conscience, it is not clear why the most effective way to honor that claim is through more generous pensions.... [P]olice officers and firefighters can retire with full pensions at younger ages than other state employees (beginning at age 50 in Illinois, often younger in other states). That means they frequently spend many more years drawing their pension benefits, even while receiving full-time salaries in the private sector. This drives up long-term costs for municipalities and states." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Why Some Public Pensions Could Soon Look Much Worse
"Thanks to new pension accounting rules put forth by [GASB], Kentucky, along with a handful of other plans, has been forced to lower its discount rate ... [In an] analysis of 80 pension plans that had comparable data available, about one-third adjusted their discount rate downward but just nine plans in four states lowered it by more than a half-percentage point.... In New Jersey, pension liabilities for the state employee retirement plan increased 55 percent. While the aggregate average plan saw a boost in its funded ratio of 4 percentage points, New Jersey's funded status fell by nearly one-fifth to 28 percent." (Governing)  

[Opinion]

'March Madness' an Apt Name for Fiduciary Regs Battle
"It is significant that these anticipated regulations are now widely being referred to as the 'conflicted advice' regulations, a name that unquestionably is more charged than 'fiduciary definition' regulations. 'Politically charged' would not be putting it too strongly." (Todd Berghuis, for Ascensus)  

[Opinion]

ASPPA Comment Letter to IRS on Loan Corrections Under EPCRS (PDF)
"ASPPA recommends that the Service issue guidance expanding the operational failures related to participant loans to be corrected under the SCP component of EPCRS.... ASPPA recommends that, to the extent broad expansion of SCP eligibility for plan loan failures is not provided, at a minimum, SCP should be expanded to permit correction of [certain] operational loan errors, provided such error is otherwise eligible for SCP[.]" (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA])  

[Opinion]

Actuarial Methods Spend Down Wealth More Efficiently
"Dr. Pfau separates the ten strategies into two main groups: decision rule methods and actuarial methods. He further separates the actuarial methods into four approaches ... It is important to remember, however, that developing a reasonable spending budget in retirement is equal parts art and science, as no one knows what the future holds." (Ken Steiner, FSA Retired)  

Fiduciary Breach Claim Based on Oral Representation Can Proceed
"According to the district court, nothing in Third Circuit precedent precludes oral misrepresentations from supporting a breach of fiduciary duty claim under ERISA. The court added that even if the oral representations could not support Lees' breach of fiduciary duty claim under ERISA, Lees had alleged sufficient facts on which to base his claim and further discovery into his employee file could reveal written materials to support the claim." [Lees v. Munich Reinsurance Am., Inc., No. 14-2532 (D.N.J. Mar. 9, 2015)] (Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center)  

US Labor Department Reaches $84 Million Settlement with BNY Mellon
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

NAPA Announces the Top DC Wholesalers for 2015
American Retirement Association

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