401(k) Relationship Manager
MVP Plan Administrators, Inc.
in NC

Senior Retirement Plan Administrator
Jack A. Cross & Associates, Inc.
in CA

Compliance Consultant
TPA Firm in St. Louis, MO
in ANY STATE, MO

Conversion Consultant
Aspire Financial Services LLC
in FL

Worksite Benefits Case Coordinator
Northwestern Benefit
in GA

Regional Sales Consultant
United Retirement Plan Consultants
in TX

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Pension De-Risking for Employee Benefit Sponsors: Avoiding Litigation and Enforcement Action
RECORDED
(Strafford)

Employer Only Roundtable: Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Private Exchanges
June 30, 2015 in IL
(Midwest Business Group on Health)

2015 San Antonio Mid-Sized Retirement & Healthcare Plan Management Conference
September 27, 2015 in TX
(University Conference Services)

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[Official Guidance]

Text of SEC National Exam Program Risk Alert: Retirement-Targeted Industry Reviews and Examinations Initiative (PDF)
"[SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE)] is launching a multi-year Retirement-Targeted Industry Reviews and Examinations (ReTIRE) Initiative.... OCIE, through the National Examination Program (NEP), will conduct examinations of SEC-registered investment advisers and broker-dealers (collectively, registrants) under the ReTIRE Initiative that will focus on certain higher-risk areas of registrants' sales, investment, and oversight processes, with particular emphasis on select areas where retail investors saving for retirement may be harmed.... NEP staff intends to focus on certain registered investment advisers and broker-dealers that provide services or sell investment products to retail investors. Examination focus areas include: reasonable basis for recommendations; conflicts of interest; supervision and compliance controls; and marketing and disclosure." (Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations [OCIE], U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC])  

[Advert.]

The Ultimate Retirement Professional Conference Experience

Limited travel budget? Let ASPPA bring the conference to you. Register for one of four ASPPA Regional conferences - Chicago, Boston, Cincinnati, or Philadelphia! We'll get you up to speed without the travel.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS and PBGC Issue Regulations under MPRA
"Notice of the application for a suspension of benefits is required to be provided to participants, beneficiaries of deceased participants, and alternate payees, and is not met simply by mailing to the last known address of an individual. A plan sponsor will have to make reasonable efforts to communicate with participants beyond the mailing to the last known address. The regulations set out the content of the notice. The notice may have to be revised once the final regulation is issued. After reasonable efforts, any participants or beneficiaries of deceased participants (eligible voters) who could not be located will be treated as voting 'no' in the same percentage as those who could be located." (Cheiron)  

[Guidance Overview]

PBGC Issues Interim Final Rule on Multiemployer Pension Plan Partitions Under MPRA
"As the PBGC discusses in the preamble to the rule, a significant minority of financially troubled multiemployer plans are projected to become insolvent over the next two decades. Plans that seek to maintain solvency may need to rely on the tools provided by MPRA, including plan partitions and suspension of benefits. As the preamble notes, most plans that will require a partition will also require a benefit suspension." (Practical Law Company)  

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Explanation, Worksheet (Alert Guidelines), and Deficiency Checksheet: Required Distributions (Rev. 4-2015) (PDF)
9 pages; this single PDF document includes Publication 7004, Form 8387, and Form 8399. Excerpt: "The purpose of ... this explanation is to assist the specialist in determining whether a plan satisfies the distribution requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(9), in accordance with the Final and Temporary regulations under section 401(a)(9)." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

IRS Guidance on Favorable Determination Letters for Individually Designed Plans Expected This Summer
"The IRS has informally communicated a possible halt, beginning in 2016, to the issuance of IRS determination letters for individually designed retirement plans except for new plans or terminating plans. A formal announcement with details and an opportunity for comment is expected this summer.... While there is no federally regulated requirement to have a favorable determination letter for each of your retirement plans, there are many good reasons for employers to seek them: Reliance on audit ... Approval of amendments to plan ... Due diligence for corporate restructuring transactions[.]" (Milliman Retirement Town Hall)  

[Advert.]

SPARK Forum - November 8-10, 2015 -- The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

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

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, But a 403(b) Plan Termination Checklist May Help
"What is contemplated -- deselection of a product vendor or a complete termination of the 403(b) plan? ... Is there sufficient authority to terminate the 403(b) plan?... Do all products under the 403(b) plan recognize 403(b) plan termination as a distributable event?... Must participant accounts vest upon plan termination?" (National Tax-Deferred Savings Association [NTSA])  

Non-ERISA 403(b)s: Is Lack of Regulatory Scrutiny a Good Thing?
"The lack of clear-cut guidance to clearly mark the difference between 403(b) plans that do or do not fall under ERISA can make life difficult for plan sponsors, who are told it will be decided on a case-by-case basis.... While the guidelines may seem unclear, ... generally they are: [1] Plan sponsors cannot monitor investments or be involved in the hardship and loan approval process. [2] They can provide data on loans, but cannot actively approve the loans or hardship withdrawals. [3] Plan sponsors cannot be involved in fee reviews. They can look at the fees but cannot say that fees are too high[.]" (PLANSPONSOR)  

Dynamic Investment Policy Statement -- A Plan for Action
"[A] dynamic investment policy statement (that is, one that is responsive to a plan's funded status) is fundamental in guiding the investment policy committee through glide-path implementation. In the process, it's important to keep in mind the following points ... [1] Pension risk/return objectives can dramatically shift with a plan's funding level. [2] Implementation of a glide-path strategy is dependent upon the methodical changing of a plan's asset allocation at certain key points. [3] Time spent early on 'hard coding' the glide-path implementation will pay off later. [4] Be prepared for implementation derailers." (Vanguard)  

Fiduciary Rule Grilled on Capitol Hill
"Labor Secretary Perez was just about the only witness called to a recent Congressional hearing to actually defend the DOL's fiduciary redefinition effort.... Each side skillfully outlined dire-sounding warnings about the rule's taking effect or not taking effect, but little additional clarity was produced about the most likely impacts of the new fiduciary rule language." (PLANSPONSOR)  

Why Poorly Performing Funds Remain in 401(k) Plans
"A recent analysis of [SEC] 401(k) data from 1998 to 2009 ... found that there is significant favoritism toward affiliated funds in 401(k) plans.... [W]hen a 401(k) plan deletes an affiliated fund, there's a 96 percent chance a new affiliated fund is added to the plan during the same year. When an unaffiliated fund is removed from the plan, there's only a 43 percent chance that it will be replaced with a new fund from the same service provider." (U.S. News & World Report)  

Ten Economic Facts About Financial Well-Being in Retirement (PDF)
24 pages. "[I]ndividual economic security is a cornerstone of our nation's long-term prosperity. Achieving financial well-being in retirement is an important component of that goal. In that spirit [the authors] offer this framing document to bring attention to trends in Americans' financial security and preparedness for retirement.... The Challenges of Preparing for Retirement ... How Americans Save ... Challenges for the Future." (The Brookings Institution)  

Financial Planning Software of the Past, Present, and Future: Calculation, Collaboration and Continuous Planning
"Imagine a holistic personal financial management (PFM) solution for clients, that simultaneously operates as financial planning software for the advisor, all continuously updated from external data flows, making it feasible for the advisor and client to see the milestones and recommendations that have already been accomplished, and whether the client is on track in progressing towards goals of the future." (Michael Kitces in Nerd's Eye View)  

How to be Certain You Won't Outlive Your Income
"[P]ortfolios overly weighted in 'safe' investments are likely to exhaust their assets well before today's life expectancy.... [A] portfolio invested in 100% fixed or short term vehicles would be exhausted within 25 years base on a 5% draw down rate; whereas a portfolio with just 20% allocated in stocks would last another five years. A properly diversified portfolio of 50% stocks, 40% bonds and 10% in short term vehicles, would last indefinitely." (Asset Strategy Advisors)  

Ratcheting the 4% Rule for Saner Retirement Spending
"[T]he real issue and opportunity with the 4% rule is figuring out when it's 'safe' to spend more, and when it's necessary to stick with the original plan.... In all the historical scenarios where the retiree finished with less than their starting principal, real returns in the portfolio were always 'horrible' in the first decade of retirement -- a phenomenon that has been dubbed the 'sequence of return' risk. And the common thread to those scenarios is that the portfolio never got materially ahead of its starting point." (MarketWatch)  

Top CEOs Make 300 Times More Than Typical Workers: Pay Growth Surpasses Stock Gains and Wage Growth of Top 0.1 Percent
"The chief executive officers of America's largest firms earn three times more than they did 20 years ago and at least 10 times more than 30 years ago, big gains even relative to other very-high-wage earners. These extraordinary pay increases have had spillover effects in pulling up the pay of other executives and managers, who constitute a larger group of workers than is commonly recognized. Consequently, the growth of CEO and executive compensation overall was a major factor driving the doubling of the income shares of the top 1 percent and top 0.1 percent of U.S. households from 1979 to 2007[.]" (Economic Policy Institute)  

Healthstat Celebrates Customer Achievement In Healthiest Employer Award
Healthstat

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