ASPPA

Implementation Team Leader
Empower Retirement
in CO, MA, NJ, WI

Software Professional
The Retirement Plan Company
in ANY STATE

Sr. Relationship Manager
AIG
in CO, DC, FL, GA, MD, NJ, TX, VA

Senior Defined Contribution Consultant
Aon Hewitt
in CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, WA

Regulatory Services Specialist
OneAmerica Financial Partners
in IN

Retirement Relationship Manager
Alerus Financial
in MI, PA

Senior Retirement Account Administrator
Alerus Financial
in MN

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Ethics: A Continuous Process
September 17, 2015 in PA
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Greater Philadelphia)

DB Plan Update
September 23, 2015 in MO
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Gateway St. Louis)

Making Plan Committee Meetings Truly Work – Workshopping Real Problems with Real Solutions
September 29, 2015 WEBCAST
(EACH Enterprise)

Fundamentals of 401(k) and Other Qualified Plans
October 6, 2015 in NC
(SunGard Relius)

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[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Final Regs: Determination of Minimum Required Pension Contributions
"This document contains final regulations providing guidance on the determination of minimum required contributions for single-employer defined benefit pension plans. In addition, this document contains final regulations regarding the excise tax for failure to satisfy the minimum funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans.... These final regulations are generally similar to the proposed regulations, but a number of changes were made in response to comments received. In addition, the final regulations reflect certain changes made by WRERA, the CSEC Act, and HATFA. The final regulations also provide the IRS with flexibility to extend certain regulatory deadlines." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

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[Guidance Overview]

Detailed Voting Procedures Prescribed by IRS for Suspension of Benefits in Multiemployer Plan
"There must be a separate benefit package for each voter containing the voter's address and the individualized impact statement.... The regulations require voting to be collected and tabulated using an automated voting system that allows votes to be cast either electronically or through an interactive voice telephone system using a toll-free number." (Cheiron)  

How Pension Plans Can Adapt to a New Normal of Low Returns
"Whereas many pensions have embraced liability-driven investing in recent years, asset-liability mismatches remain. A rise in long-term bond yields would allow pension investors to close duration gaps at higher levels of funding. But what if it turns out that we're in an environment of lower yield and lower returns for longer than we expected? What if the slow rates of real and nominal growth we have experienced since the 2008-09 financial crisis are reflective of long-term secular trends?" (Institutional Investor)  

Assessing Fee Reasonableness, Step One: Validate the Fiduciary Organization Chart
"A plan's arrangements with [covered service providers (CSPs)] and the compensation it pays them are deemed 'unreasonable' unless [certain criteria are satisfied].... What if the disclosure is contrary to the [responsible plan fiduciary's (RPF's)] understand of the CSP's fiduciary status? ... A disagreement regarding the CSP's fiduciary status gives rise to a teachable moment for the investment committee.... Committees that feel strongly that they should only accept investment advice from an advisor that shares fiduciary responsibility with them will have to look elsewhere." (ERISA Fiduciary Administrators LLC)  

Pension Indicator, Updated as of August 31, 2015
"August did wipe out any gains that may have been earned thus far this year, but sponsors don't need to over-react, at least not yet anyway. The theme that keeps getting repeated across 'experts' is that the US economy is okay and these fluctuations may even be healthy because they were overdue." (Findley Davies)  

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Registration is open for the ERISA Workshop and the Advanced Plan Design Workshop. Other live seminars include: Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans, Advanced Cross-tested Plans, and Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans. Register Now.

How Do Inheritances Affect the National Retirement Risk Index?
"Taking away inheritances from households that have them reduces the NRRI by less than one percentage point. Inheritances could become more prevalent in the future due to unspent 401(k) balances, but increasing future inheritances has only a minimal effect. The reasons for the modest impact are: [1] the majority of households do not get an inheritance under either scenario; [2] for those who receive an inheritance, the amounts are relatively small; and [3] many with inheritances in the two scenarios are already well prepared, so either taking away or adding an inheritance does not put them 'at risk.' If the analysis is limited only to households with inheritances, the impact on the percentage at risk is more substantial." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

An IPS Is About Policy
"One way to think about this is: the [investment policy statement (IPS)] is largely about 'how' and 'why' and not about 'what.' What specific choices you are going to make about what goes into a client's portfolio and what will not be included will inevitably change. You don't want to have change the IPS every time that happens. The IPS should be broader and have longer term applicability." (fi360)  

Pension Pioneer U.S. Steel Joins Corporate Wave by Freezing DB Plan
"With its creation in 1901 by Andrew Carnegie ... U.S. Steel was one of the first corporations to offer a pension plan to its workforce ... But the real innovation came from how Mr. Carnegie financed the pension benefits. Mr. Carnegie provided initial funding for the plan to secure benefits, and pioneered the investing of pension assets and use of their investment earnings to pay retirement benefits. The approach became a model followed by other corporate pension plans and applied with increasing sophistication." (Pensions & Investments)  

How a Non-Working Spouse Can Prepare for Retirement
"While 58 percent of workers say they have a plan for retirement, just 41 percent of homemakers do. However, more homemakers aspire to save for retirement (27 percent) than workers (22 percent). There are some retirement benefits specifically for non-working spouses, including spousal IRAs and Social Security spousal payments." (U.S. News & World Report)  

Time for Retirees to Consider a Mid-Year Spending Adjustment?
"In light of recent equity market volatility, it may make sense to check the status of your accounts to see whether mid-year adjustments to your 2015 spending might be appropriate. This post will outline a simple way to do this and will illustrate the process with an example." (Ken Steiner, FSA Retired)  

The World's 300 Largest Pension Funds at Year End 2014
"[T]he world's top 300 pension funds now represent around 43% of global pension assets. Total assets of the world's largest 300 pension funds grew by over 3% in 2014 (compared to around 6% in 2013). By individual region North America had the highest five-year combined compound growth rate of around 8%." (Towers Watson)  

CalSTRS Rate Hike Brings Plan for Benefit Increase
"A long-sought CalSTRS rate increase, more than doubling the bite from school districts, is the reason given last week for a proposal to increase the lump-sum death benefit, unchanged in the last 13 years. The CalSTRS board, unlike most California public pensions, lacks the power to raise employer rates, needing legislation instead. But the board is authorized to make annual increases in the lump-sum death benefit to keep pace with inflation. Because the system is underfunded, the CalSTRS board has made no inflation adjustment in the death benefit since 2002. The board was told that it could have increased the death benefit by about 34.7 percent during the period." (Calpensions)  

Public Pension Funds Roll Back Return Targets
"New upheavals in global markets and a sustained period of low interest rates are forcing officials who manage retirements for nearly 20 million U.S. beneficiaries to abandon a long-held belief that stocks, bonds and other holdings would earn 8% each year, as well as expectations that those gains would fund hundreds of billions of dollars in liabilities.... More than two-thirds of state retirement systems have trimmed assumptions since 2008 ... On [September 4], the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third-largest public pension by assets, said it plans to drop its assumed returns to 7% from 7.5% after cutting a half-percentage point five years ago." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

Why Defined Benefit Pensions Are Important
"This fact sheet explains the role pensions play in the overall retirement security of American workers, retirees, and their families." (Pension Rights Center)  

Fed Agencies Closely Watching Independent Contractor vs. Employee Debate -- and Plan Sponsors Should, Too (PDF)
"If DOL, the states and IRS truly share information and coordinate compliance efforts as intended, it will not be long before employee benefit plans are targeted for independent contractor treatment.... Excluding eligible employees is a qualification issue that could lead to serious financial consequences for retirement plan sponsors." (ERISAdiagnostics, Inc.)  

ERISA Advisory Council to Hold Teleconference Meeting on September 30
"[T]he 178th open meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (also known as the ERISA Advisory Council) will be held as a teleconference on September 30, 2015.... The purpose of the open meeting is to discuss reports/recommendations for the Secretary of Labor on the issues of [1] Model Notices and Plan Sponsor Education on Lifetime Plan Participation and [2] Model Notices and Disclosures for Pension Risk Transfers." (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

How to Talk to Executives About Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
"Keep things simple.... A central point is tax deferral.... Plans can help with other life events.... Review plans in relationship to stock compensation.... Know distribution dates and options.... Consider a fixed-rate vehicle.... Gauge retirement replacement income.... Continuous communication is important." (CFO)  

PBGC, Sears Holdings Corp. Enter Into Plan Protection Arrangement
PBGC [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation]

National Business Group on Health Accepting Applications from Health Care Startups for Next Round of Health Innovations Forum
National Business Group on Health

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