Part Time On Call Retirement Planning Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in AR, CA, FL, GA, HI, IL, MI, MO, NJ, NY, TN, TX, UT

Controller
NYC Multiemployer Trust Funds
in NY

Benefits Compliance Coordinator
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association [NRECA]
in VA

Defined Contribution Consultant
Pavilion Advisory Group Inc.
in IL

Senior Benefits Specialist
Unilever
in NJ

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

ASC Valuation System Spring Release Webcast
June 11, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASC)

Fundamentals of 401(k) and Other Qualified Plans
July 7, 2015 in TX
(SunGard Relius)

IRA Contributions
August 27, 2015 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

Annuity Market Update Audio/Webcast
September 9, 2015 WEBCAST
(Conference of Consulting Actuaries)

Understanding Accounting for ESOPs: What Every CPA, CFO and Banker Should Know
October 28, 2015 WEBCAST
(Beyster Institute)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Text of Cash Balance Supplement for Defined Benefit Plan Listing of Required Modifications (LRM) and Information Package (PDF)
26 pages. "This information package amends and supplements the initial LRM information package issued for defined benefit plans [in] April 2013 .. for the purpose of enabling cash balance non-standardized submissions.... These LRMs are intended to be used in conjunction with the general Defined Benefit LRMs, substituting or adding the language from the cash balance LRMs where appropriate for a cash balance feature.... This package also identifies provisions of the Initial DB LRM that cannot be used for purposes of cash balance features. All other provisions in the Initial DB LRM remain in effect, unless otherwise noted under this or other guidance." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Set Your Firm Apart from the Competition with a NIPA Designation

Improve day-to-day performance, streamline processes and increase productivity through NIPA's world-class designation programs. Ensure your staff has the skills to effectively handle clients' plans and increase your firm's professional credibility.

[Official Guidance]

Text of Employee Stock Ownership Plan Listing of Required Modifications (ESOP LRM) and Information Package (PDF)
43 pages. "This information package contains samples of plan provisions that satisfy certain requirements of the Code applicable to ESOPs. Such language may or may not be acceptable in specific plans depending on the context in which used.... A partnership or a joint venture is not eligible to maintain an ESOP. However, a partnership or a joint venture that has elected to be taxed as a corporation may be a Participating Employer ... ESOPs that provide for the holding of employer stock as defined in Code Section 409(l)(3) are excluded from the pre-approved program under Rev. Proc. 2015-36. The applicability of parts or all of [certain ESOP LRM sections] ... depends on whether the Employer is an S or a C corporation." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Guidance Overview]

Text of 'SIMPLE IRA Plan Fix-It Guide' (PDF)
27 pages. Includes an overview of SIMPLE IRA Plans, a description of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, and tips on how to avoid various specifically described mistakes. This is a revision of a 2008 version. (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Text of Eighth Circuit Opinion Affirming Disqualification of IRA to Used to Fund Business Startup; Taxpayer Owes Ordinary Income Tax on Entire Amount (PDF)
"[A]n attorney for Mr. Ellis formed CST Investments, LLC (CST), to engage in the business of used automobile sales ... The operating agreement contemplated that Mr. Ellis's IRA would provide an initial capital contribution of $319,500 in exchange for a 98 percent ownership in CST ... Mr. Ellis's IRA did not exist at the time CST was formed.... [H]e received [the funds] from a 401(k) that he had established with his previous employer, and he deposited the amount in his IRA.... To compensate him for his services as general manager, CST paid Mr. Ellis a salary of $9,754 in 2005 and $29,263 in 2006.... If a disqualified person engages in a prohibited transaction with an IRA, the plan loses its status as an individual retirement account under Section 408(a), and its fair market value as of the first day of the taxable year is deemed distributed and included in the disqualified person's gross income.... The tax court properly found that Mr. Ellis engaged in a prohibited transaction by directing CST to pay him a salary[.]" [Ellis v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue, No. 14-1310 (8th Cir. June 5 2015)] (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit)  

Text of Fourth Circuit Opinion: Participants Had Standing under ERISA Sec. 502(a)(3) to Sue Employer for Disgorgement of Profits Due to Illegal Transfers from 401(k) Plan to DB Plan (PDF)
34 pages. "In this [ERISA] case, [NationsBank] was deemed to have wrongly transferred assets from a [401(k) plan] to a [defined benefit] pension plan that lacked one. Although the transfers were voluntary and the employer guaranteed that the value of the transferred assets would not fall below the pre-transfer amount, an Internal Revenue Service audit resulted in a determination that the transfers nonetheless violated the law. Plaintiffs, who held such separate accounts and agreed to the transfers, brought suit under ERISA and sought disgorgement of, i.e., an accounting for profits as to, any gains the employer retained from the transaction. The district court dismissed their case, holding that they lacked statutory and Article III standing.... [W]e disagree and hold that Plaintiffs have both statutory and Article III standing." [Pender v. Bank of America Corp., No. 14-1011 (4th Cir. June 8, 2015)] (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit)  

Are Automatic 401(k)-Plan Features Violating Patents?
"T. Rowe Price spokesman Edward Giltenan declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of GRQ Investment Management of Plano, Texas ... It comes amid a continuing debate about which business methods and abstract ideas should be patentable -- and about the potential cost to businesses of so-called patent trolls that buy up patents not to use them but to seek licensing fees or settlements through litigation.... The patents involved here mostly relate to design work by Brian Tarbox, an investment and retirement-plan specialist who died 10 years ago of cancer at age 55. The patents were issued after his death, in some cases with additional work by co-inventor Mark Greenstein, an attorney who is a pension-law specialist at the U.S. Labor Department." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

Does Mortality Differ Between Public and Private Sector Workers?
"In projecting pension costs, state and local plans assume their workers will live longer than private sector workers.... The analysis confirms that public sector workers -- particularly women -- have lower mortality rates than their private sector counterparts. The question is whether lower mortality reflects the nature of the job or the nature of the workers. The answer is the workers -- specifically their education levels. Controlling for education, the gap between public and private workers disappears." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

The Social Security Retirement Age: In Brief (PDF)
7 pages. "When a worker claims benefits at any age between the EEA and the FRA, monthly benefits will be reduced. 7 The reduction for claiming benefits before the FRA is permanent and can be large. Consider a retired worker or spouse who claims Social Security benefits at the age of 62. If the worker has an FRA of 65 (i.e., somebody born in 1937 or earlier), his or her Social Security benefit would be reduced by 20%. If the worker has an FRA of 67 (i.e., somebody born in 1960 or later), the reduction to the Social Security benefit at the age of 62 would be 30%." [Report No. R41962, dated June 1, 2015.] (Congressional Research Service [CRS])  

Deadly Sins Every ERISA Fiduciary Must Avoid: Misapplied Asset Allocation
"[M]any continue to see Asset Allocation as primarily a way to reduce losses.... But how realistic is the mitigation of a 'catastrophic loss'? What Happened in 2002 and 2008/09? ... If 2002 and 2008/09 do not represent a failure of Asset Allocation, they may hint at its Achilles' Heel." (Fiduciary News)  

A Comparison of House and Senate Provisions for Military Retirement Reform (PDF)
"The House and Senate committee versions would change the existing system from a defined-benefit system that is vested at 20 years of qualifying service (YOS) to a blended system that authorizes government-matching contributions of up to 5% of basic pay to individual Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts.... Currently, most non-disability retirees are eligible to receive a retired annuity equal to 50% of pay base after 20 years of service, based on a multiplier of 2.5% times the number of qualified years of service (with the exception of servicemembers in the Redux system, where it is calculated differently). Both versions of the FY2016 NDAA would reduce the multiplier for the defined benefit from 2.5% to 2.0% (a retirement annuity equal to 40% of pay base at 20 YOS)." (Congressional Research Service [CRS])  

Legislation Exempting Some Federal Employees from Retirement Plan Withdrawal Penalty Gains Ground
"After the House passed the Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act (H.R. 2146) last month, the Senate passed its version of the legislation on June 4. However, an amendment was added to delay the bill's start date by a year ... [Law enforcement officers and firefighters] will be able to withdraw funds from the TSP in the amount of their choosing as long as they are 50 years of age and retired.... Before this law, LEO/FFs under the age of 55 at retirement could still get funds from the TSP penalty-free by using [a series of payments over the individual's life expectancy], but these payment amounts are prescribed by law and [the retiree is] locked-in for the longer of 5 years [or] ... age 59-1/2. After 12/31/2015, the retiree will be able to select the amount of their choosing and not be locked into a payment plan." (FedSmith.com)  

S&P 500 Company Pension Funding Ratio Falls in 2014
"The funding ratio of pension plans sponsored by S&P 500 companies fell 6.7 percentage points to 81.2% in 2014, said new research from S&P Dow Jones Indices.... The report also indicated underfunded levels for other post-employment benefit funds increased 7.9% to $195.6 billion in 2014. The funding ratio of those trusts declined to 26.7% from 28.5%." (Pensions & Investments)  

Text of Written Statements to ERISA Advisory Council by Invited Witnesses
Links to the full text of statements submitted to the ERISA Advisory Council's meetings on May 27-29, covering [1] Model Notices and Plan Sponsor Education on Lifetime Plan Participation (12 witnesses); [2] Model Notices and Disclosures for Pension Risk Transfers (11 witnesses); and [3] Security and Privacy Risks Related to Model Notices and Disclosures (4 witnesses). (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

House Bill Would Shift Participant Disclosure Defaults
"Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives June 4 would allow pension plan participants to be automatically opted in to electronic delivery of documents.... The bill's supporters note that it's estimated (conservatively) that the costs of sending just one four-page notice to recipients is between $36 million and $60 million. They argue that the RETIRE Act would reduce mailing costs, protect the environment by eliminating thousands of pieces of paper mailed each day, and make information more accessible to recipients." (National Tax-Deferred Savings Association [NTSA])  

SunGard to Go Public
"SunGard filed a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. The filing says the sale will begin 'as soon as practicable' after the filing is declared effective." (National Association of Plan Advisors [NAPA])  

Pension Finance Watch, May 2015
"The recent pattern of increases in long bond yields and positive equity returns continued in May. These factors combined to move the Towers Watson Pension Index up 2.8%, to 75.3. The index is now up almost 5% for the year." (Towers Watson)  

[Opinion]

Responding to the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act
"The law was passed ostensibly to 'save' deeply troubled underfunded multiemployer plans, but really what the law does is allow trustees to balance the books on the backs of retirees -- the most vulnerable.... [A] report by the hedge fund BlackRock [says] point-blank that the new Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 may lead to what they euphemistically call other 'reform' in corporate pension plans. They suggest that the new law may offer a 'useful model' for other pension plans facing imminent distress. In other words, what happens to multis will happen to everyone, and the only ones to benefit are the corporations, the trustees, and the hedge funds. Is that the America we want?" (Karen Friedman, of the Pension Rights Center)  

Proposed Accounting Standards Update on Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting
An Exposure Draft, dated June 8. Comments are due by August 14. "The areas for simplification in this proposed Update involve several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. Some of the areas for simplification apply only to nonpublic entities." (Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB])  

QBE Accident & Health: Expands Group Critical Illness Product for Self-Funded Employers
QBE

TRA Continues to Expand to Support Growth
The Retirement Advantage [TRA]

DWC ERISA Consultants, LLC is Certified to Industry Best Practices
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

Mercer Launches the Mercer Pension Risk Exchange – Innovative Solution to Streamline and Support Buyout Process
Mercer

ProCourse Announces New Louisville Office
ProCourse Fiduciary Advisors, LLC

View All Press Releases