Retirement Plan Services Associate
Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP
in VA

Senior Product Manager- Health Management
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association [NRECA]
in VA

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Transamerica
in TX

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Milliman
in TX

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Planning Solutions Group
in MD

Relationship Manager, Enrollment & Education
Guardian Life
in OR

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Benefits Administrators, LLC
in ANY STATE, IN, KY, OH

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Affordable Care Act: Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions and Information Reporting
August 11, 2015 WEBCAST
(IRS [Internal Revenue Service])

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[Guidance Overview]

EBSA's Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program: How to File an Application
"[EBSA] provides a model application form. A plan sponsor utilizes this form to report the plan, the transaction that was corrected, the correction amount, a description of the parties involved, when the breach occurred, and how the breach was corrected.... Late deferral deposits are considered a prohibited transaction and as such are subject to excise tax, unless a notice is provided to participants. There are three options to comply with final correction of the prohibited transaction[.]" (Belfint Lyons & Shuman, CPAs)  

[Advert.]

Feeling Left Out? It's Time to Get "Ahead of the Curve"

This October the nation's retirement industry elite will converge in our nation's capital to get "Ahead of the Curve" with insights from industry insiders, regulators, pundits and the nation's leading voices. It's ASPPA Annual. Join us.

No More Determination Letters? What's a Plan Sponsor to Do?
"The IRS should consider the following changes to preserve individually-designed plans: Modify its rule that a document defect found on audit goes automatically into the closing agreement program ... Modify its long-criticized rule that interim and discretionary amendments must be adopted by the end of the year in which they are effective or the plan sponsor's tax return deadline for that year.... Approve major modifications to a plan, such as conversion to another type of plan as if a new plan had been adopted at the effective date of the change.... Issue more model and sample language and add choices, similar to the way that adoption agreements can be used for different choices." (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP)  

It's a Myth That Assumptions Drive Pension Costs
"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. Real management of a pension plan involves setting the level of pensions and deciding how to invest the assets. The cost of the plan -- again, paid by making contributions over time -- is unaffected by assumptions. It is simply the sum total of the pension payments to plan members, offset by the pension fund's investment earnings." (The Terry Group)  

Derisking Your Defined Benefit Plan -- or Not
"80%-90% of plan sponsors are pleased with the risk management actions they have taken to date. What makes them pleased? ... What all of these plan sponsors did was to decrease future volatility in pension costs (however they choose to think of cost). For many, that truly was a good thing. But, at what cost? For some, that cost was significant. For others, it was not." (Benefits and Compensation with John Lowell)  

Multiemployer Pension Plan Woes Put Companies Under Pressure
"[A new report from Moody's] found 25%, or $80 billion, of multiemployer plan assets were wiped out in the financial crisis, bringing funding levels just above 50%, forcing assets to work twice as hard to keep up with obligations." (Pensions & Investments)  

Automatic Enrollment for 401(k) Plans: Not a Panacea
"[A]rticles have regularly extolled the virtues and almost every new retirement-related bill introduced in Congress has included some provision designed to encourage more widespread adoption of automatic enrollment. Unfortunately, with that much attention comes a certain amount of hype. In this article, we will attempt to separate hyperbole from helpful." (Markley Actuarial)  

Why Is Saving for Retirement So Hard?
"It would seem that while people intellectually 'understand' the benefits of a specific behavior, and they may even have some idea of how to get started, they have difficulty implementing their intentions. Too often, they struggle to take action, and when they do act, their behaviors are often half-hearted or ineffective.... When a practitioner encounters self-control bias, there are four primary topics on which advice can generally be given: [1] spending control, [2] lack of planning, [3] portfolio allocation, and [4] the benefits of discipline." (Morningstar Advisor)  

Text of the 2015 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds (PDF)
266 pages. "The Trustees project that the asset reserves of the OASI Trust Fund, together with continuing program income, will be adequate to cover program costs over the next 10 years under the intermediate assumptions. However, the projected reserves of the DI Trust Fund decline steadily from 40 percent of annual cost at the beginning of 2015 until the trust fund reserves are depleted in the fourth quarter of 2016.... Given the short time now remaining before projected DI Trust Fund reserve depletion, such legislation may now need to include some reallocation of resources between the two trust funds." (The Board of Trustees, Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds)  

Social Security Finances: Findings of the 2015 Trustees Report (PDF)
12 pages. "A temporary reallocation of the existing 6.2 percent tax rate would strengthen DI and equalize the OASI and DI trust funds so that both funds can pay all legislated benefits until 2034.... Over the next 19 years, Social Security is projected to be fully funded -- that is, its income and trust fund reserves can cover all scheduled payments.... Over the next 50 years, Social Security finances are projected to be 88 percent sufficient." (National Academy of Social Insurance [NASI])  

Teacher Retirement Plans: Case Studies in Washington and Ohio Show Importance of Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)
"Evidence from these two states suggests that teachers are unlikely to choose an alternative retirement plan design unless the state undertakes significant risk in the individual account portion of the plan. Furthermore, because research suggests that offering a choice could have adverse effects on teacher retention and quality, policymakers should proceed with caution before implementing a choice between a DB pension and a combined DB-DC plan." (National Institute on Retirement Security [NIRS])  

Public Pension Fund Trustees Press SEC for Private Equity Fee Disclosure
"A letter sent [July 21] to SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White by 13 state and municipal treasurers and comptrollers representing $1 trillion in public pension fund assets calls for an industrywide standard to give private equity limited partners more transparent and frequent information on fees and expenses." (Pensions & Investments)  

DOL Secretary Says Debate Over Fiduciary Definition Shifting from Whether to How
" 'As long as we don't lose sight of the North Star -- an enforceable best-interests commitment -- we are very flexible on the question of how to get this work done,' Mr. Perez said. 'This is about providing guardrails, not straitjackets.' " (Investment News)  

[Opinion]

SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher's Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Rule on Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duty (PDF)
"It is clear to me that the DOL rulemaking is a fait accompli and that the comment process is merely perfunctory, yet I feel compelled to weigh in on the Fiduciary Proposal because I am convinced that the rule, when finalized, will harm investors and the U.S. capital markets. The proposal is grounded in the misguided notion that charging fees based on the amount of assets under management is superior in every respect and for every investor to charging commission-based fees. It brazenly dismisses both suitability as a proper standard of care for brokers and the FINRA arbitration system as a mechanism to resolve disputes between financial professionals and their clients -- good for plaintiffs' lawyers, bad for investors." (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC])  

[Opinion]

Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Fiduciary Regs (PDF)
15 pages. "The Center disputes industry criticism that the rule is 'unworkable.' It appears that the Department of Labor has taken into account industry concerns in developing new principles-based prohibited transaction exemptions and in the careful structure and language of the proposed rule itself. The agency has threaded the regulatory needle to weave together a carefully-crafted proposal that should satisfy the majority of stakeholders." (Pension Rights Center)  

[Opinion]

PSCA Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Fiduciary Definition (PDF)
"[M]any concerns rest upon an overly broad reading of the Proposed Rule's scope. In clarifying that scope as limited to persons or entities rendering investment advice for a fee, it may be helpful if the final regulation includes additional examples or model language that sharpen s the distinction between investment 'recommendations' and mere 'neutral, informative descriptions' of plan or IRA operations, investment options or taxation." (Plan Sponsor Council of America [PSCA])  

[Opinion]

A Small Business Owner Tells Senators Why the Proposed Fiduciary Definition Will Hurt Her Employees
" 'Many of my employees cannot afford to pay for investment education separately and might be discouraged from investing in the plan at all if the company did not provide this benefit,' [Minnesota small business owner Darlene Miller told senators]. The worst consequence is the rule will drive financial advisers from serving small business customers, because of increased complexity and costs." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)  

[Opinion]

Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to IRS on Procedures for Recoupment of Benefits Paid in Error (PDF)
"[F]or situations where the plan made the error and participants were not at fault.... [1] [E]stablish a look-back period of three years or the plan's statute of limitations, whichever is less ... [2] No interest should be charged on overpayments when participants are not at fault ... [3] Limit the amount of reduction for the overpayment to 10 percent of the new and reduced benefit amount ...[4] Prohibit demands for lump-sum repayments ... [5] No recoupment from beneficiaries ... [The DOL should] require that all plans offer hardship waivers and provide specific guidance concerning the standards applicable to hardship waivers ... Retirees facing a recoupment action should be accorded the full rights associated with benefits appeals." (Pension Rights Center)  

[Guidance Overview]

A Plain English Guide to the Compensation Clawback Rules
"As accounting restatements occur relatively infrequently, and the severity is often modest, the proposed 'clawback' rules represent more of a 'check the box' compliance activity than a real enforcement threat. [Here is a brief summary of the rules:] When to comply? ... What compensation is covered? ... What executives are covered? ... What must be recovered? ... How is it recovered? ... When is a restatement required?" (Orrick)  

Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs: A Summary of the 2015 Annual Reports
"[T]he Trustees project [Disability Insurance] trust fund depletion late in 2016, the same year projected in the last Trustees Report.... After 2019, Treasury will redeem [Social Security] trust fund asset reserves to the extent that program cost exceeds tax revenue and interest earnings until depletion of total trust fund reserves in 2034, one year later than projected in last year's Trustees Report.... The Trustees project that the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be depleted in 2030, the same year projected in last year's report." (The Board of Trustees, Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds)  

Text of Federal District Court Opinion: Reasonableness of Hourly Fee Rate for Disability Claim Is Based on National Group of ERISA Practitioners, Not Local Attorneys
"[W]hen 'the subject matter of the litigation is one where the attorneys practicing it are highly specialized and the market for legal services in that area is a national market,' the relevant 'community' is not the local market area, but the community of practitioners in that subject matter ... ERISA is a specialized field with a limited number of attorneys who specialize in representing plaintiffs seeking disability benefits ... [One California attorney's] affidavit indicates that over thirty percent of his cases are outside of California.... [A second attorney] estimates that there are fewer than 150 attorneys nationwide who regularly litigate ERISA disability claims for plaintiffs ... [T]he Court concludes that a rate within the range asserted by the affiants is justified[.]" [Boxell v. The Plan for Group Ins. of Verizon Communications Inc., No. 1:13-CV-089 JD (N.D. Ind. July 21, 2015)] (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana)  

Maintained and Unmodified Since 1996, Severance Policy Plausibly an ERISA Plan
"In effect without revision since 1996, the medical center's written severance policy involved the kind of undertaking that came within the meaning of ERISA's 'any plan, fund, or program' language. To the court, the policy represented a decades-long commitment to provide severance benefits under a wide variety of circumstances; it required managerial discretion in its implementation and an individualized review whenever certain covered employees were terminated." [Okun v. Montefiore Medical Center, No. 13-3928 (2d Cir. July 17, 2015)] (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)  

[Opinion]

ACLI Comments to DOL on Proposed Fiduciary Regs and Prohibited Transaction Exemptions, and Regulatory Impact Analysis (PDF)
329 pages. "It is essential that revisions be made to the Proposal to: [1] Ensure that providers, plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, and IRA owners retain the freedom to define the nature and scope of their relationship.... [2] Preserve reasonable and customary commission-based practices ... [3] Be protective of the interests of savers and retirees through a workable rule that ... supports and encourages key educational activities when interests align. [4] Encourage access to a savings plan at work and provide the opportunity to learn about and access annuities, the sole means available in the market place by which retirees can secure income for life. [5] Ensure access to important workplace benefits such as life, disability income, long-term care, and other non-medical insurance products.... [6] Base the cost-benefit analysis on a careful examination of the impact of the rule on the availability of annuities and workplace benefit insurance products." (American Council of Life Insurers [ACLI])  

Unified Trust Hires Director Of Client Consulting
Unified Trust Company, NA

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