P&I DC West 2015

Conversion Project Manager
LT Trust
in CO

Employee Benefits Attorney
Ice Miller LLP
in IN

Client Relations Manager
Benefit Consultants Group
in NJ

Retirement Plan Sales Manager
Benefit Consultants Group
in NJ

Plan Administrator - Junior or Trainee
QBI, LLC
in CA

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Telehealth Summit
October 15, 2015 in DC
(ERIC [ERISA Industry Committee])

What the New Proposed ‘Conflict of Interest’ Rule Means for Retirement Plans
October 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP])

Managing Your Withdrawal Liability Risks: What's Next for Employers Participating in Troubled Multiemployer Pension Funds?
October 21, 2015 WEBCAST
(Polsinelli)

Behavioral Economics—Reduce Health Care Costs and Increase Participation
October 22, 2015 WEBCAST
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP])

ACA Reporting Requirements: Is Your Company Ready for 2016 and 2017?
October 28, 2015 WEBCAST
(Midwest Business Group on Health)

ERISA Workshop
November 3, 2015 in NY
(SunGard Relius)

ERISA Workshop
November 5, 2015 in OH
(SunGard Relius)

Retirement Exchange
November 6, 2015 in IN
(ProCourse Fiduciary Advisors, LLC)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Draft Instructions for 2015 IRS Form 8955-SSA (PDF)
Dated Sept. 30, 2015. "The SSA no longer processes nonstandard pages 2. Report information about separated participants only on page 2 of Form 8955-SSA. If additional space is needed for separated participants, use additional pages 2 only. Do not add another page 1 of Form 8955-SSA, spreadsheets, or other nonstandard formats. A Form 8955-SSA need not be filed for a year if no information is required to be provided for that year by these instructions. Form 8955-SSA may be filed electronically through the FIRE system or on paper.... Certain filers, however, are required to file the 2015 Form 8955-SSA electronically." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[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.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Retirement News for Employers, September 30, 2015
Includes links to IRS information: [1] Set up a retirement plan; [2] IRS video on low-cost, low-maintenance, SEP, SIMPLEs and Payroll Deduction IRAs; [3] Deadlines for adopting 401(k), profit-sharing or other defined contribution pre-approved retirement plans; [4] Required minimum distributions; [5] Fix your 403(b) plan mistakes; [6] Form 5500-EZ Instructions; [7] Upcoming retirement plan deadlines; and [8] 401(k) plan loans. (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Co-Fiduciary Liability of 3(16) TPAs: 'I'm Outta Here' May Not Be Enough
"[W]hat are your responsibilities [as a TPA who has agreed to take on plan administrator responsibilities for a retirement plan covered by ERISA] if you become aware that the plan sponsor or trustee is proposing to take or has taken actions that harm the plan? ... [M]ere resignation is not sufficient if you are a fiduciary. In fact, only resigning may make you liable for the wrong-doing that you are attempting to forestall.... Perhaps the first thing you should do is put your client on notice that your interests may end up being adverse to your client's.... Second, you should be prepared to 'ring the bell' when there is a breach of duty by another fiduciary." (Ferenczy Benefits Law Center LLP)  

Major Changes in Mortality Tables Delayed Until 2017
"For lump sum distributions paid in 2016, the new mortality tables announced by the Society of Actuaries in October 2014 will not yet be used. When the new mortality tables are announced for 2017 or later, the liabilities of your Plan for lump sum purposes will increase by 4% to 10%. When Plan liabilities increase by 10%, for example, the unfunded liability can increase by a much larger amount ... In [one example], the new mortality increases the liability of the Plan by 10%, but increases the unfunded liability by over 100%. Lump sum benefits paid in 2016 will avoid this increase." (Markley Actuarial)  

Millennials Scared of the Market? Actions Don't Support It
"[Y]ounger investors are actually embracing stocks. They're doing so through the use of balanced funds such as target-date funds.... Perhaps millennials don't realize it, but their average equity exposure is very much in line as to what it should be at this stage of their investing program." (Vanguard)  

Latest Fidelity Survey: Four Secrets of Successful Plan Advisors
"To stand out among growing competition, advisors should consider adopting some of the habits of their successful counterparts: [1] Aligning with clients' areas of focus ... [2] Demonstrating value against clients' key success measures ... [3] Involving all plan sponsor functions: CEOs, CFOs and HR ... [4] Partnering with recordkeepers." (Fidelity)  

How Many Government Agencies Does It Take to Regulate a Retirement Plan?
"Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has introduced the Women's Pension Protection Act of 2015 (WPPA), which she said would strengthen consumer protections to safeguard retirement savings, improve access to retirement savings plans for long-term, part-time workers -- the majority of whom are women -- and help increase women's financial literacy." (National Association of Plan Advisors [NAPA])  

Developments of Interest to Sponsors of Multiemployer Retirement Plans, Q4 2015 (PDF)
Topics include: Ratio of benefit payments to contributions; Investment trends; Key developments and statistics; and Selected strategies for managing multiemployer retirement plans. (Segal Consulting)  

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

September 2015 Pension Finance Update
"September was a rough month for pension sponsors, capping a rough third quarter of 2015. Declining stock markets and lower interest rates hurt pension plans last month, eliminating gains from earlier this year for both model pension plans we track1. Plan A lost 4% during September and is now down almost 2% for the year, while Plan B dropped 2% last month and is now basically even for the year through September." (October Three Consulting)  

Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Pension Advances
Hearing held Sept. 30, 2015. Page includes video of the hearing with links to written testimony by [1] Dr. Louis Kroot, USN, Retired, and his wife Mrs. Kathie Kroot; [2] Steve Lord, Forensic Audit and Investigative Services, Government Accountability Office (GAO); [3] Stuart Rossman, National Consumer Law Center; [4] Kaycee Wolf, Arkansas Securities Department; and [5] Maria Walden, Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri. (Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate)  

GAO Testimony to Senate Special Committee Hearing on Pension Advances: Questionable Business Practices and the Federal Response
"This testimony summarizes GAO's June 2014 report and actions taken by [the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB)] and FTC in response to GAO's recommendations. In June 2014, GAO identified 38 pension advance companies and related marketing practices. GAO conducted a detailed nongeneralizable assessment of 19 of these companies.... GAO recommended that CFPB and FTC review the pension advance practices identified in that report and exercise oversight or enforcement as appropriate. GAO also recommended that CFPB coordinate with relevant agencies to increase consumer education about pension advances." (U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO])  

[Opinion]

ERIC Comment Letter to IRS on Determination Letter Program (PDF)
"The determination letter program has been in effect since 1944, and has been heavily relied on by plan sponsors, participants, service providers, investment providers and other affected parties. The sudden and unanticipated discontinuance of that program would represent a sea change in the regulation of tax-qualified retirement plans, with unpredictable results and a possible (further) decline in plan sponsorship." (The ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC])  

[Opinion]

Longtime Teachers' Pensions Are Well Earned
"Moving away from the argument that public pensions in general are too lavish ... [critics are] saying full-career employees get too much, at the expense of those who leave after only a decade or two.... The chief culprit, [critics say], is the back-loading of all defined-benefit plans: employees typically rack up retirement credits much more rapidly toward the end of their careers. The issue affects millions of Americans who have switched employers one or more times during their careers and therefore will end up holding the short end of the pension stick. That's not a bug in the system, but a feature." (Los Angeles Times)  

[Guidance Overview]

SEC Issues Proposed Clawback Regulations
"The new standards require listed companies to adopt and comply with policies that require the recovery, or 'clawback,' of erroneously paid incentive-based compensation to an executive officer where the benchmark to receive such compensation is based on financial information." (Reid and Riege, P.C.)  

Updated IRS Stock Compensation Audit Guide Provides Compliance Checklist
"[T]he IRS tells its auditors to determine whether: [1] stock was actually transferred; [2] stock options were transferred to a related person; [3] the purchase price was reduced for a note used to acquire employer stock; [4] elections were punctually made under IRC Section 83(b) and records verify these timely elections; [5] a substantial risk of forfeiture exists to delay vesting according to the facts and circumstances; and [6] dividends were paid on restricted stock." (myStockOptions.com)  

DOL Obtains Default Judgments Restoring Losses to Employee Retirement Plan of Madison-based IDS Sales & Engineering Inc.
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

DOL Sues Defunct Corporation in Wayne, Pennsylvania, to Distribute Nearly $1 Million in Assets from 401(k) Plan
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

OneAmerica Closes Acquisition of BMO’s U.S. Retirement Services Business
OneAmerica Financial Partners

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