ESOP and 401(k) Administrator
Primark Benefits
in CA

Pension Administrator
Primark Benefits
in CA

Transactions Specialist
BlueStar Retirement Services
in FL

Pension Administrator
Retirement Strategies, Inc.
in GA

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

Department of Labor Fiduciary Definition Proposal: What’s Next?
June 18, 2015 WEBCAST
(LIMRA)

Health Care Exchanges: More than a Simple Swap Is a Private Health Care Exchange Right for Your Organization?
June 24, 2015 WEBCAST
(Ropes & Gray)

Flexible Spending Account Trends for 2015
July 16, 2015 WEBCAST
(Evolution1)

Safe Harbor 401(k) - St. Louis
July 16, 2015 in MO
(SunGard Relius)

Advanced Cross-Tested Plans: Adding More Tools - St. Louis
July 17, 2015 in MO
(SunGard Relius)

25th Annual IRA Academy
August 7, 2015 in DC
(PenServ Plan Services, Inc.)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

IRS VCP Submission Kit: Failure to Make Timely Required Contributions to a Money Purchase or Target Benefit Plan
"This kit is for plan sponsors who failed to make timely required contributions to money purchase pension plans (MPP) or target benefit pension plans (defined contribution plans). The topics covered include: [1] Background; [2] Items to submit; [3] Completing Form 8950; [4] Completing Form 8951; [5] Completing Form 2848 or 8821; [6] Completing Form 14568; [7] Figuring your VCP fee; [8] Mailing your VCP submission; [9] What happens next; [10] FAQs; and [11] Additional resources." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

The hottest trend in pensions made easy with DATAIR!

DOUBLE, even triple, the benefits your clients could receive over new comparability designs! Increase your opportunity for new revenue while also protecting against revenue lost to competitors! Call us at 888-328-2474 with any questions!

Second Circuit Upholds Judicial 'Reformation' of Pension Plan (PDF)
"This is the second time that the Second Circuit has ruled on this case.... The latest opinion is notable for its holding that contract, as well as trust, principles could inform the availability of reformation, and for its conclusion that the elements of contract reformation had been established based on generalized circumstantial evidence of a unilateral mistake by the entire plaintiff class." [Amara v. CIGNA Corp., No. 13-447-cv (L) (2d Cir. Dec. 23, 2014)] (Steptoe & Johnson LLP, via Employee Benefit Plan Review)  

Ever-Increasing Duties for Plan Sponsors: Hardship Distributions and Investment Monitoring
"In its latest newsletter to employers, the IRS acknowledged that self-certification is an acceptable means of showing that a plan distribution was the sole way to alleviate the hardship. However, the Service also noted that the plan participant may leave his or her employment at a future date. In that situation, self-certification cannot be relied upon to show the nature of the hardship in the event of a plan audit in the future. As a result, the IRS is urging plan sponsors to retain their documentation and distribution records in paper or electronic format." (EisnerAmper)  

Building on What Works: A Proposal to Modernize Retirement Savings
"This paper proposes two related reforms that build on evidence about how to increase retirement savings by increasing the benefits and decreasing the costs to employers of helping their employees save.... [1] combining all of the various types of retirement accounts into a single Universal Retirement Saving Account.... [2] replacing part of the individual tax subsidy for retirement savings with large tax credits directed to employers who help workers save." (The Brookings Institution)  

Do Retired Americans Annuitize Too Little? Trends in the Share of Annuitized Income
"Despite the shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, there is little evidence that the annuity-like income share of total income has fallen for aged families -- and, in particular, for low-income aged families -- over the past three decades. This basic result remains unchanged when we consider more comprehensive income definitions and when we focus on aged families with retired heads of family. Nonetheless, many middle- and high-income aged families would experience a sizeable increase in monthly income if they annuitized their wealth." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

Until Divorce Do Our Plan Benefits Part
"[T]he Second Circuit ruled that a posthumously entered QDRO can retroactively assign retirement plan assets to a participant's former spouse, even where the second (and current) spouse had a claim to survivor benefits under the plan.... [E]ven though the marital settlement agreement did not constitute a QDRO, the Second Court found that the later-issued court orders did qualify as QDROs with respect to the three identified plans. Therefore, even though the current wife was the named beneficiary under all the plans, she was only entitled to benefit under the fourth, unnamed plan." [Yale-New Haven Hosp. v. Nicholls, No. 13-4725-cv (2nd Cir. June 4, 2015)] (Bloomberg BNA)  

House HELP Subcommittee Hearing: Restricting Access to Financial Advice -- Evaluating the Costs and Consequences for Working Families and Retirees
Includes written testimony from the Honorable Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of Labor; Jack Haley; Dean Harman, CFP; Dennis Kelleher; Kent Mason; and Brian Reid, Ph.D. (Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives)  

Kenneth Feinberg to Oversee Cuts in Multiemployer Pension Plans
"The Treasury Department ... [has] named Kenneth R. Feinberg to oversee a new program to allow certain pension plans to cut retirees' benefits if that is the only way to keep them from running out of money.... Mr. Feinberg said he was accepting the appointment on a pro bono basis.... Mr. Feinberg previously served as a special master for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, sorting out disputes over whether bailed-out financial institutions were improperly rewarding their executives with taxpayer dollars. He also oversaw compensation programs for people harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Boston Marathon bombings and the 2001 terrorist attacks." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

[Opinion]

Dear 'Financial Consultant': Do You Really Act in My 'Best Interests'?
['Conflict of interest' questions, in the form of a letter to a financial consultant.] "Can you answer these questions for me? Also, can you put your answers in writing? ... [1] Do you possess the legal obligation to act in my 'best interests'? ... [2] With respect to each conflict of interest you may possess ... please explain to me how you have, in the past, ensured that you have observed [listed] procedures to properly manage each conflict of interest in order to ensure that no harm comes to me: ... [3] With respect to each conflict of interest you may possess ... is each transaction you recommended that I undertake ... also 'substantively fair' to me, as is required under a true fiduciary 'best interests' standard? ... [4] What are the total fees and costs associated with each investment product I have purchased as a result of your recommendations.... [5] Please set forth the compensation received by your firm as a result of any recommendation from you which I have implemented.... [6] Please also set forth whether you received any material compensation as a result of your recommendations to me." (Ron Rhoades)  

[Opinion]

Tibble: Hard to Argue With, But Fiduciaries Are on Defensive
"[T]he Supreme Court's decision -- that a fiduciary's duties cover not only the selection of investments, but also their regular review -- is likely to have added to fiduciaries' uneasiness. Not because of the requirement to monitor: if I'd asked a random fiduciary last week whether they thought they had an obligation to keep an eye on their investments, I don't think many would have said 'no', or even 'only until the Statute of Limitations kicks in'. Rather, it's that here is one more aspect of the fiduciary's role which is now in a state of flux: it will take some time to lock down exactly what the required review process is expected to involve." (Russell Investments)  

One-Third of U.S. Companies to Change Pay-for-Performance
"33% of respondents expect the pay-for-performance disclosure rule will fundamentally change their approach to executive pay disclosure. More than half of the respondents (55%) expect to do more than the minimum that would be required under the SEC proposal: 37% plan to disclose additional information and analyses to help tell their pay-for-performance story, while 18% will perform and may disclose additional pay-for-performance analyses." (Towers Watson)  

HighRoads Receives Patent for Compliance Communications Portal
HighRoads

National Business Coalition on Health Launches National Risk Solution Purchasing Programs
National Business Coalition on Health [NBCH]

National Business Coalition on Health Elects New Board Officers
National Business Coalition on Health [NBCH]

One-Third of U.S. Companies Expect to Fundamentally Change Pay-For-Performance Disclosures, Towers Watson Poll Finds
Towers Watson

Robert Westbrooks Appointed PBGC Inspector General
PBGC [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation]

View All Press Releases