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Integra Employer Health
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Pension Consultants, Inc.
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ICMA-RC
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The Retirement Plan Company
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Basic IRA Training
August 12, 2015 WEBCAST
(Wolters Kluwer)

Simplified Employee Pensions Training
August 13, 2015 WEBCAST
(Wolters Kluwer)

DOL Audit Quality Report: What's a Plan to Do?
August 13, 2015 WEBCAST
(American Bar Association [ABA])

1094-C/1095-C Reporting Education
August 26, 2015 WEBCAST
(North Carolina Association of Health Underwriters [NCAHU])

Top 10 HIPAA Compliance Issues: Tackling the Most Likely Issues to Land You in Hot Water
October 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(MentorHealth)

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[Official Guidance]

DOL Public Hearing Agenda: Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
The agenda covers three days of public hearings scheduled for August 11, 12 and 13, 2015, including the names and affiliations of the persons who will be participating in each of the 25 three-person panels. (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

[Advert.]

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[Guidance Overview]

IRS Announces Major Changes to Determination Letter Program
"Cycle E and Cycle A plan sponsors should still submit timely determination letter requests for those plans.... Plan sponsors with individually designed plans should consider the Announcement and subsequent IRS guidance in deciding on a course of action. When determination letters are no longer effective, sponsors of individually designed plans may decide to seek expert opinions that plan terms comply with Section 401(a) of the Code." (McDermott Will & Emery)  

Square Peg QLACs Can't Seem to Fit in 401(k) Fiduciary Round Hole
"Initially the idea of guaranteed income -- the primary promise of QLACs -- sounded quite enticing.... The devil, however, is in the details, and it is those details that go a long way towards explaining why these alleged income-oriented saviors remain unpopular with plan sponsors.... [O]ne of the main impediments to QLACs is they aren't portable.... [F]or the cost of the QLAC, the retirement saver had a very high probability of meeting or exceeding the income stream with a very good chance of recovering the full initial investment." (Fiduciary News)  

How to Blend Active and Passive Options in Your 401(k) Plan
"When selecting active funds ... Look for broad market mandates.... Use actively managed funds for asset classes difficult to index.... Plan participants should be aware that they need to hold active funds through a full market cycle.... Select passive options for efficient asset classes.... Use passive options when good active options aren't available." (Lawton Retirement Plan Consultants)  

Four Steps to Fiduciary Success for Retirement Plan Committees
"[1] Have a clear appointment process of one or more committees, and specify the relationship to the company's board of directors and executive management team or officers. [2] Structure the committee sensibly, including appropriate size, membership, designated responsibilities, and frequency of meetings. [3] Appoint qualified committee members and ensure appropriate ongoing training. [4] Document all committee actions and decisions." (Vanguard)  

[Advert.]

Now is a great time to join Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)

WEB members represent more than 25 professions and 30 areas of expertise within the pension and benefits industry-including administrators, consultants, attorneys, accountants, investment managers, communications experts and benefits managers. Join today.

Even Casual Conversations Might Trigger Application of Fiduciary Rule to Fixed Annuity Advisors
"When agents talk to clients about fixed annuities, it's a bit like a first or second date. The conversation, filled with highs and lows and fast and slows and ebbs and flows, sometimes moves quickly and at other times lurches to a halt. But now the DOL is asking agents to sign the equivalent of a prenup outlining the parameters of the fiduciary responsibility and where commissions are coming from. For sellers of fixed annuities ... this isn't how annuity conversations take place. Agents don't sit across the table and robotically run through their clients' 'financial Miranda' rights." (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

What I Learned About My 401(k): A Twenty-Something's Guide
"[F]ind out how much of your income your company will match.... Set up automatic increases.... Don't be afraid of stocks.... Know what it's costing you.... Think before you quit." (CNNMoney.com)  

Change in Average 401(k) Account Balances from January 1, 2014 Through August 1, 2015 (PDF)
This report shows the change in average 401(k) account balances, grouped by age and tenure, from January 1, 2014 through August 1, 2015, counting only those participants who had an account balance at the end of 2013. (Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI])  

Pension Finance Update, July 2015
"Falling interest rates during July increased pension liabilities, producing losses during the month, although both model pension plans ... remain ahead for the year. Plan A lost 2% last month but remains up 5% for the year, while Plan B dropped 1% during July but remains up 2% so far in 2015." [Plan A is a traditional plan (duration 12 at 5.5%) with a 60/40 asset allocation, while Plan B is a cash balance plan (duration 9 at 5.5%) with a 20/80 allocation with a greater emphasis on corporate and long-?duration bonds.] (October Three Consulting)  

U.S. Public Pensions Earn 3.4% for Worst Showing Since 2012
"U.S. state and local-government pensions are coming off their weakest investment performance in three years, weighed down by losses in international stocks and weak bond returns ... The pensions logged median increases of about 3.4 percent for the 12 months ended June 30 ... For the public pensions, which typically target returns of 7 percent or greater, it was the slimmest gain since they earned about 1.5 percent in fiscal 2012. Plans with assets greater than $5 billion performed best, reporting median jumps of 3.6 percent[.]" (Bloomberg)  

California Pension Initiative Has Significant Savings, Costs
"The official analysis of a proposed public pension initiative issued last week said 'likely large savings' in retirement benefits would be offset by pressure for higher pay and other costs. But the analysis does not estimate whether it would be a net gain or loss for government employers. The initiative would open the door for what supporters of state and local government pensions have long feared -- a switch to 401(k)-style individual investment retirement plans widely used by private-sector employers to avoid long-term debt and investment risk." (Calpensions)  

[Opinion]

The End of the 401(k)?
"The 401(k) has become a feeding trough for financial institutions and service providers that routinely rip off participants. Why? Not because of the fees, but because participants don't know how to use them -- and no one is willing to take responsibility for guidance.... Where did companies go wrong? Ironically, it started with fiduciary concerns about their liability for investment returns if they, the employers, invested on the employees' behalf. To solve the problem of liability, companies chose to give their employees self-direction, rather than take responsibility for performance. They had a choice and took the easy one." (ThinkAdvisor)  

[Opinion]

Despite Slight Improvement, We Need to Fix Social Security Now
"Policymakers have spent decades putting together alternative packages of tax increases and benefit cuts. All the options are known. But ... agreeing on a complicated combination of cuts and tax increases seems unlikely. So let's just go ahead and raise the tax rate by 1 percentage point each on employees and employers and raise the taxable earnings base to about $230,000 so that it covers about 90 percent of earnings. That should do the trick for the next 75 years.... If employer plans start to provide meaningful retirement income, we can make cuts in Social Security benefits down the road." (Alicia Munnell, in MarketWatch)  

Being Prepared Can Make Independent CPA ERISA Audit Less Onerous (PDF)
"ERISA requires that certain ... [plan sponsors] must engage an Independent Qualified Public Accountant on behalf of the plan's participants to audit the plan financials prepared by the plan sponsor. This is generally referred to as an ERISA audit.... This column will briefly outline what you can expect when the auditor arrives, and some of the issues noted in the [AICPA] Audit Risk Alert." (ERISAdiagnostics, Inc. via Thompson Pension Plan Fix-It Handbook)  

Goldman Sachs Asset Management Launches New R6 Share Class for Retirement Clients
Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Morneau Shepell Completes Acquisition of U.S. Health and Welfare Benefits Administration Business of Ceridian
Morneau Shepell Inc.

Guardian Launches Enhanced 401(k) Website for Retirement Readiness
Guardian

401(k) Specialist Magazine Inaugural Issue Features Bogle, Robbins and Thaler
401(k) Specialist Magazine

Society of Actuaries and LIMRA Announce Strategic Research Partnership
LIMRA

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