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401k/DC Plan Administrator
Lebenson Actuarial Services
in NV

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Professional Services Company
in DC

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John Hancock
in OR

Plan Administration Department Manager
MidAmerica Administrative & Retirement Solutions, Inc.
in FL

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Participant Restrictions Under IRC §436 AFTAP Rules
RECORDED
(ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries [ACOPA])

Aging Securely: An Actuarial Forum on Financial and Health Care Retirement Challenges
October 23, 2015 in DC
(American Academy of Actuaries)

HIPAA and Group Health Plans: 8 Things Employers Need to Know
October 28, 2015 in NC
(Hill, Chesson & Woody)

ASPPA Annual Conference Recap
November 10, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Greater Twin Cities)

Stay Up to Date on ERISA's Latest Developments!
November 12, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASC Institute)

Effective ESOP Administrative Committees
November 17, 2015 WEBCAST
(National Center for Employee Ownership [NCEO])

Changes, Challenges & Choices – Corporate Health & Wealth Benefit Plans
November 18, 2015 in IL
(James M. Moyna. CPA, PC)

ECFC Annual Conference - Advocacy, Advancement & Action
March 16, 2016 in DC
(ECFC [Employers Council on Flexible Compensation])

NAPA 401(k) Summit - Many Voices, One Vision
April 17, 2016 in TN
(National Association of Plan Advisors [NAPA])

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Text of PBGC Submission of Information Collection for OMB Review and Comment Request: Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Submitted to PBGC (PDF)
"PBGC is not making any substantive revisions to the current QDRO booklet. PBGC is adding text to clarify how separate interest orders are administered by PBGC and to explain how PBGC apportions adjustments required by ERISA's Title IV limitations on benefits between an alternate payee and a participant, as well as the consequences of such adjustments on each party. PBGC is also making other simplifying and clarifying changes to the QDRO booklet.... PBGC is requesting that OMB extend approval of the collection of information for three years." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC])  

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[Guidance Overview]

Employee or Independent Contractor: Why It Matters for Retirement Plans
"[T]he correction of employment misclassification issues by the IRS/DOL has historically led to newly classified employees making claims for retroactive benefits under employee benefit plans. For many types of retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, the inclusion of proper plan language that would exclude independent contractors, even if they are later determined to be employees of the company, has often served as a valid defense to such claims. However, 403(b) plans are unique as to who can be excluded from the plan from an elective deferral standpoint. And 457(b) plans, though they can include independent contractors, have some unique issues of their own." (Cammack Retirement Group)  

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Tax Forum Transcript: SEP and SIMPLE IRA Plans -- Avoiding Pitfalls (PDF)
32 pages. "What [this presentation will] do today is take you on a tour of both plans, providing to you the similarities and differences when it comes time to choose and establish one of these plans. Then the tour will continue to discuss about the participation requirements of both plans. And finally, as the title suggests, we'll get into the pitfalls or the recurring errors that we find in our examinations of these plans. [The presenter will] describe each error and then share with you how to find, fix, and avoid these common errors." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

2016 Limits for Retirement Plans, Social Security: No Changes Expected
"IRS will soon release limits applicable to retirement plans for various purposes in 2016, based on the 0.11% increase in CPI-U between the third quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2015. Based on this tiny increase, we expect no increases in key 2016 limits. [A table summarizes] calculations for 2016, along with values for 2015 and 2014 ... The increase in national average wages also drives some key amounts used in calculating PBGC premiums. Relevant amounts for 2016 (along with 2015 and 2014) are summarized[.]" (October Three Consulting)  

Proposal Should Help States Duck ERISA, Borzi Says
"Proposed rules expected by the end of the year should help states that want to take an 'avoid ERISA' approach in developing and implementing their initiatives for expanding retirement coverage to private-sector workers, said Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary for [EBSA].... The proposal will include a provision allowing certain types of payroll deductions for automatic enrollment individual retirement accounts -- or a safe harbor -- that 'more directly addresses some of the issues the states have raised with us,' because the current safe harbor in DOL regulations calls into question some of the things states have been doing, Borzi said." (Bloomberg BNA)  

IRS: Look to Web, Not Email, for Help
"The IRS will not backtrack on its recent decision to stop answering questions by email and no longer forward questions sent to IRS Customer Account Services, Commissioner of the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division Sunita Lough said ... Instead of one-on-one communication, Lough said, the IRS is working to improve its website to better provide answers to questions." (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA])  

New PBGC Director Discusses Initiatives
"W. Thomas Reeder, the newly confirmed director of the [PBGC] ... [said] that the agency is very focused on multiemployer plans right now.... Aside from that, ... the PBGC is looking for ways to simplify defined benefit (DB) plan calculations. He encouraged suggestions from the [retirement plan] industry. The agency is also close to making a proposal for a missing participants program, and 'we are considering extending it to other plans,' Reeder said. 'The program will be an alternative to setting up individual retirement accounts for missing participants.' " (PLANSPONSOR)  

Selecting 401(k) Service Providers: Determine the Professional Help You Need Before You Shop
"Services offered by 401k providers can vary dramatically in breadth, depth and price. This variability makes it difficult for 401k sponsors to match appropriate services to plan needs. Many small business 401k plans pay for superfluous services participants do not use. These excess services are often expensive, dragging down participant investment returns and creating potential personal fiduciary liability for the 401k sponsor." (Employee Fiduciary)  

How Does the Probability of a 'Successful' Retirement Differ Between Participants in Final-Average Defined Benefit Plans and Voluntary Enrollment 401(k) Plans? (PDF)
17 pages. "Using baseline assumptions ... it appears that the [DB] plan has a higher probability of achieving a real replacement (when combined with Social Security payments) of 60 percent than the voluntary enrollment (VE) 401(k) plans for the first three income quartiles. If a 70 percent replacement rate is used as a threshold, participants in the third-and fourth-income quartiles have a much higher probability of success with the 401(k) plans than the DB plans. When the threshold is set at a higher ... replacement rate of 80 percent, the 401(k) plans have a much higher probability of success than the counterfactual DB plans for all groups except for the lowest-income quartile[.]" (Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI])  

The 401(k) Crisis Is Getting Worse
"Those most vulnerable include both millennials at startups and managers in their 40s and 50s who've gone from corporate jobs with benefits to small businesses without them.... 'The current 401(k) system was designed for a workplace that doesn't exist for most people: lifetime careers at big corporations that offer benefits,' says Teresa Ghilarducci, an economist at the New School who researches retirement policies. 'Saving consistently -- which you need to do for just a modest retirement income -- isn't remotely likely.' " (Bloomberg)  

A New Lawsuit Over Fund Fees
"Whether by lawsuit or redemptions, institutional pressures or advisor decisions, high-cost funds are under pressure as never before. Every week, another fund (or series of funds) cuts its expense ratio, as assets flow from pricier fare to index funds and institutional share classes. This squeeze on asset-based fees has been quietly accompanied by a steep decline in the flat fees charged by 401(k) administrators." (Morningstar Advisor)  

White House Nominates Two SEC Commissioners
"Hester Peirce and Lisa Fairfax were nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as SEC commissioners ... Ms. Peirce is a senior research fellow and director of the Financial Markets Working Group at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.... Ms. Fairfax is a professor at George Washington University Law School[.]" (Pensions & Investments)  

Required Minimum Distributions and the Roth Recharacterization Issue
"When you have an IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year, you generally use the prior year-end IRA account balance to calculate the RMD. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule and Roth recharacterizations are one of them." (Slott Report)  

[Guidance Overview]

A Look at the Additional Disclosures Required to Take Advantage of Optional Provisions in the CEO Pay Ratio Rule (PDF)
"[C]omplying with the rule will require companies to take the following steps: [1] Inventory their global workforce. [2] Identify the median employee. [3] Calculate the CEO's and median employee's annual total compensation for purposes of the disclosure. [4] Disclose the ratio and supporting information in the company's annual proxy.... As companies prepare for the new disclosure requirements, they will likely consider whether to take advantage of some of these options and will need to weigh the benefits of doing so against the potential disadvantages associated with the additional disclosures that would be required." (Towers Watson)  

Obergefell Decision Creates Unexpected (and Perhaps Unintended) Consequences
"Given that same-sex marriage is now a fundamental right, there is a less compelling argument (some might argue no compelling argument) for employers to provide benefits for relationships that are less formal than marriage. Employers are now re-thinking whether their health insurance plans should provide coverage to domestic partnerships. Employers also are re-thinking whether they should allow employees to use their sick leave benefits to care for persons in relationships that have not been formalized in marriage. Since marriage now is available for same-sex relationships, some employers are narrowing the reach of these benefit plans and sick leave policies to only 'spouses' and omitting less formally defined relationships." (InsideCounsel)  

NAGDCA Celebrates Annual National Retirement Security Week, October 18-24, 2015
NAGDCA [National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.]

Congratulations to the 2015 Recipients of DCIIA’s and Pensions & Investments’ Innovator Award
Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association [DCIIA]

Changing Employee Health and Cost Trends Using an Innovative Approach to Care Management
Cammack Health

The Principal Launches Guaranteed Income Option for Plan Participants
Principal Financial Group

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez to Host News Conference on Economically Targeted Investments by Retirement Plans
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

DOL Recovers over $130K for Former Employees of Oxford Holdings Inc. after Fiduciary Fails to Remit Employee 401(k) Contributions
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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