ASPPA and Western Benefits Conference

Senior Pension Consultant
PenServ, Inc.
in NY

Senior Defined Benefit Data Analyst
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in MA

Plan Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in MA

Lead Mgr, RPS Product Management, Non-Qualified Business
T. Rowe Price
in MD

Lead Manager, RPS Business Development
T. Rowe Price
in MD

Employee Benefits Administrator
Keystone Benefits Group
in PA

Benefits Department Manager
IUPAT Industry Pension Fund
in MD

Benefits Attorney
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
in OR

Vice President - Financial Services
MAGIS Financial Partners, Inc.
in PA

Retirement Plan Sales
Retirement LLC
in OK

Regional Marketing Director
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
in CO

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Understanding the Paid Sick Leave Law
July 8, 2015 in MA
(Massachusetts Staffing Association)

Fundamentals of 401(k) and Other Qualified Plans - Kansas City
July 28, 2015 in KS
(SunGard Relius)

Safe Harbor 401(k) - Cincinnati
July 28, 2015 in OH
(SunGard Relius)

IRA Distributions
November 5, 2015 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

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[Official Guidance]

Text of GASB Statement No. 73, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions and Related Assets That Are Not within the Scope of GASB Statement 68, and Amendments to Certain Provisions of GASB Statements 67 and 68
140 pages. "This Statement establishes requirements for defined benefit pensions that are not within the scope of Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions, as well as for the assets accumulated for purposes of providing those pensions. In addition, it establishes requirements for defined contribution pensions that are not within the scope of Statement 68. It also amends certain provisions of Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, and Statement 68 for pension plans and pensions that are within their respective scopes. The requirements of this Statement extend the approach to accounting and financial reporting established in Statement 68 to all pensions, with modifications as necessary to reflect that for accounting and financial reporting purposes, any assets accumulated for pensions that are provided through pension plans that are not administered through trusts that meet the criteria specified in Statement 68 should not be considered pension plan assets." (Governmental Accounting Standards Board [GASB])  

[Advert.]

Advanced Investments Management from Wharton School and IFEBP

The Advanced Investments Management program is a 3½-day intensive program building upon investment management fundamentals. Register today to gain the tools you need to make informed investment decisions.

[Guidance Overview]

Prior-Period Adjustment in Transitioning to GASB Statement No. 68 (PDF)
5 pages. "[GASB] Statement No. 68 became effective for employer fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2014 ... Incorporating the requirements of Statement No. 68 will be a significant change to pension accounting and reporting by state and local governments. The purpose of this memo is to assist governmental employers that sponsor or contribute to a pension plan by providing an overview of the prior-period adjustment necessary to transition their financial statements from Statement No. 27 to Statement No. 68." (Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company)  

[Guidance Overview]

Prompt Correction of Elective Deferral Errors Is Now Less Expensive
"The previous correction method for these types of errors was for the plan sponsor to make a contribution to each affected participant's account equal to 50% of the missed deferral opportunity plus any missed employer matching contribution plus earnings. The new method eliminates or reduces the required contribution for the missed deferral opportunity when the error is caught and corrected quickly." (Pension Consultants, Inc.)  

[Guidance Overview]

Penalties Increase for Distribution Reporting Failures
"The [Trade Preferences Extension Act] increases the tiered penalties associated with failure to timely file information returns and payee statements required under IRC Sec. 6721 and 6722. This applies to failures for reporting distributions from retirement plans and IRAs on Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., and distributions of income to certain foreign persons on Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. The penalties apply to IRS filing failures and failures to furnish the correct statements (Copy B) to distribution recipients (payees)." (Ascensus)  

[Guidance Overview]

Law Expands Exemptions from Early Distribution Tax to Certain Federal Employees
"President Barack Obama has signed into law the Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act (H.R. 2146), which broadens the definition of 'qualified public safety employee' for purposes of exemption from the 10 percent additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans, and adds federal defined contribution (DC) plans to this exemption." (Ascensus)  

[Advert.]

Your input needed! GAO asking DC plan sponsors about eligibility and vesting requirements

This GAO survey examines why plan sponsors use certain eligibility and vesting requirements, how they may have changed the requirements, and how they communicate them to employees and participants. GAO estimates the survey will take about 15-20 minutes to complete; responses will be accepted until July 24th.

State Court Considers Fiduciary-Like Liability for 403(b) Non-ERISA Plans
"What school districts had never paid close attention to was their potential liability under non-ERISA, state-law-based legal claims, such as breach of contract, negligence, and other similar duties.... Though these discussions ... had always taken the nature of a nerdish argument between lawyers who really needed to get a life, a Wisconsin court has shown us that this could be a matter of very real concern to public schools.... What the [Wisconsin Court of Appeals] found was that an action alleging a failure to exercise ordinary care in the administration of a 403(b) plan, if proven, may entitle the Retirees to relief in state court." (Business of Benefits)  

PBGC Partition Rules Give Clear Guidance, Will Help Preserve Plans (PDF)
"The rules aren't burdensome and let endangered plans understand the procedures they must follow before the PBGC can use its authority to approve partitions, [said W. Andrew Douglass, of Polsinelli PC].... Thomas C. Nyhan, [Central States Pension Fund's] executive director, said the plan's trustees are currently reviewing the guidance and 'will be working expeditiously to develop a fair rescue plan. Once that has been completed, we will be filing that rescue plan with Treasury and notifying all of our pension fund participants. We expect for that to happen sometime this summer.' " (Bloomberg BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter, via Pension Rights Center)  

FASB to Address Net Pension Costs on Income Statements
"FASB members considered three modified alternatives for presenting net pension cost, with additional components such as service cost, interest cost and expected return on assets. The project will add service cost to the employer compensation costs already included in income statements. Cost components that are eligible to be capitalized would be limited to service cost. Companies would also have to disclose which other components are included, following guidelines that FASB officials are working on as part of a separate project on disclosure frameworks for defined benefit plans." (Pensions & Investments)  

Three Retirement Loopholes That Are Likely to Close
"President Obama's 2016 budget proposal suggests that future Roth conversions be limited to pre-tax money only, effectively killing most back-door Roths.... Most recent tax-related bills have included a provision to kill the stretch IRA and replace it with a law requiring beneficiaries other than spouses to withdraw the money within five years.... Obama's budget also proposed to eliminate 'aggressive' Social Security claiming strategies[.]" (TIME)  

Summary of the Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions: Q1 2015 (PDF)
"For the 100 largest public-employee pension systems in the country, cash and security holdings totaled $3,397.8 billion in the first quarter of 2015, surpassing the all-time high of $3,365.4 billion set in the second quarter of 2014. Compared to the same quarter in 2014, assets for these major public pension systems increased 5.0 percent from $3,237.5 billion." (U.S. Census Bureau)  

[Opinion]

It's Time to Bust the Myth That Assumptions Drive Pension Costs
"The woefully misguided -- and dangerous -- idea that assumptions drive costs leads decision-makers down a perilous path. Cost management is not achieved by 'managing' actuarial assumptions. Costs are determined by what actually happens, not by what we assume or predict will happen.... The cost of a pension plan, paid by making contributions over time, is a function of the pensions paid out and of the investment earnings of the fund. Period. Costs are not a function of assumptions." (Pensions & Investments)  

[Opinion]

What Fiduciary Advocates Can Learn from SCOTUS Ruling on Marriage
"The Administration's case for strengthening ERISA via the [DOL's] proposed conflict of interest rule is compelling. It quantifies the macro level harms in billions of dollars to millions of retirement account holders. Yet there is too little candid personal discussion from individual investors about their concerns. This silence is not because investors are unconcerned.... Deeply held views discourage open and personal discussion about personal finance just as discussion of sexual orientation was once considered taboo. Yet new attitudes have started to undermine old taboos." (Institute for the Fiduciary Standard)  

Text of SEC Memo: Extended Analysis of Potential Effect on Pay Ratio Disclosure of the Exclusion of Different Percentages of Employees (PDF)
"In [Table 1 of] the original analysis, Staff considered the exclusion of different percentages of employees.... [This report extends that analysis] to show the effects of excluding percentages greater than 20%, and up to 95% (in 5% increments).... In the original analysis, Staff considered the exclusion of different percentages of employees under two scenarios: Scenario I (all excluded observations are below the median) and Scenario II (all excluded observations are above the median). [This report extends] Table 1 to show the effects of excluding percentages of employees under three intermediate scenarios[.]" (Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC])  

Supreme Court Decision Provides New Financial Planning Opportunities
"The Supreme Court's decision creates several immediate new planning opportunities for same-sex married couples, particularly those who were previously married in another state but have been recently living in a state that did not recognize (or one of the 13 that outright banned) their marriage. Those couples will now be able to do everything from filing joint income tax returns, to benefit from the marital deduction for state estate and inheritance tax purposes, to get divorced if the couple decides to separate. In fact, for many such couples, a major planning issue will simply be unwinding the strategies previously in place to handle the fact that their marriage wasn't recognized, but are no longer necessary!" (Michael Kitces in Nerd's Eye View)  

Part-Time Private Industry Workers Less Likely to Have Access to Benefits in 2013
"In March 2013, nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of full-time private industry workers had access to retirement benefits, compared with just 37 percent of part-time workers. Similarly, 85 percent of full-time workers had access to health insurance through their employers, compared with only 24 percent of part-time workers. Full-time workers were also much more likely than part-time workers to have access to paid holidays, sick leave, and vacations." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS])  

Inspira Launches Update of The IRA Center
Inspira

Actuarial Standards Board to Hold Public Hearing Regarding Public Pension Issues July 9, 2015
American Academy of Actuaries

Sutherland Expands Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Depth with Addition of Counsel Allison Wielobob
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

Dover, Delaware, Agricultural Company and President Sued to Restore Employee and Employer Contributions to Retirement Plan
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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