|
|
Employee Benefits Jobs
|
|
Webcasts and Conferences
|
|
Subscribe Now to This Newsletter (free)
We also
publish the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter (free):
Subscribe Now
|
|
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Tax Preparedness Series: Most Retirees Need to Take Required Retirement Plan Distributions by Dec. 31
"The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers born before July 1, 1945, that they generally must receive payments from their individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and workplace retirement plans by Dec. 31.... An IRA trustee must either report the amount of the RMD to the IRA owner or offer to calculate it for the owner. Often, the trustee shows the RMD amount on Form 5498 in Box 12b. For a 2015 RMD, this amount is on the 2014 Form 5498 normally issued to the owner during January 2015."
(Internal Revenue Service [IRS])
|
[Advert.]
Stay Current with ERISA & Earn 2 CE Credits!
Don't let your knowledge of ERISA become outdated! Receive the latest regulatory updates vital to all retirement plan professionals. Join ERISA expert, John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. November 12th. Click here to register now!
|
[Guidance Overview]
Railroad Retirement Board Wage Bases, Tax Rates for 2016
"As there is no cost-of-living increase in 2016, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board has announced that the taxable earnings base for Tier I retirees will remain $118,500 in 2016. The taxable earnings base for RRB Tier II retirees will be $88,200 in 2016, also unchanged from 2015."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
|
Society of Actuaries Issues Updated Mortality Improvement Scale
"The impact of adopting the MP-2015 scale on pension and postretirement welfare benefit obligations is expected to be approximately 2% less than obligations measured using the RP-2014 tables. However, for plan sponsors that developed their own individualized mortality tables, based upon their specific mortality experience, the MP-2015 scales will further support their assumption and adjustment to the respective benefit obligation."
(Schneider Downs)
|
SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2014
"About 8.3 million people received federally administered payments in December 2014. The average monthly payment in December 2014 was $532. Total payments for the year were almost $55 billion, including more than $3 billion in federally administered state supplementation."
(U.S. Social Security Administration [SSA])
|
|
|
Six Steps to Bring Financial Wellness to the Workplace
47 presentation slides. "[1] Understand the financial landscape. [2] Define financial wellness for your organization. [3] Lean on best practices. [4] Explore established and emerging solutions. [5] Overcome challenges. [6] Build a business case."
(Benz Communications and State Street Global Advisors, via American Benefits Council)
|
100 Largest CEO Retirement Accounts Equal 41% of American Families' Total Retirement Savings
"The 100 largest CEO retirement accounts, worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal the total retirement account savings of 41% of American families, said a new report ... If converted to an annuity at age 65, CEO nest eggs, worth more than $49.3 million on average, would generate a $277,686 monthly retirement check for life ... In contrast, nearly half of all working age Americans do not have access to a retirement plan at work. The median 401(k) balance was $18,433 at the end of 2013, enough to generate a $104 monthly retirement check for life[.]"
(Pensions & Investments)
|
U.S. District Court Judge Agrees to Monitor Jacksonville Pension Reform Deal
"U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard ... [will] oversee a recently enacted pension reform deal between the [city of Jacksonville, FL] and the Police and Fire Pension Fund. The lengthy pension agreement includes requirements for the city to make extra payments totaling $350 million over 13 years to the pension fund, above and beyond the minimum amounts that would be required by law."
(jacksonville.com)
|
NYC Pension Approves Hiring Adviser to Weigh Climate Change Risk
"New York City's $55 billion civil-employees' pension approved hiring a consultant to evaluate the risk climate change poses to its investments, seeking to avoid losses that could result from the ripple effects of rising temperatures. The retirement systems' board ... also directed the Bureau of Asset Management in the Comptroller's office to measure and disclose the 'carbon footprint' of the portfolio[.]"
(Bloomberg)
|
[Opinion]
The New Holiday Season Tradition: PBGC Premium Increases
"High per-participant premiums encourage sponsors to reduce headcount by annuity buyouts or lump sum payments; high variable rate premiums encourage putting money into the plan (even if the corporation must borrow to do so); and both force plan sponsors to once again ask themselves if this whole DB thing is really such a good idea at all. And with every plan sponsor who takes steps to reduce their premiums, more pressure is put on the remaining premium base."
(Russell Investments)
|
[Opinion]
The Debt Ceiling Deal -- This Is Just Sad
"PBGC's 'deficit' (itself a questionable index of PBGC's financial condition) is not, and for 10 years has not been, the product of underwriting losses (that is, inadequate premiums vs. claims). The deficit is the result of: [1] the failure of PBGC to hedge against declines in interest rates ... and [2] a chaotic, incoherent and constantly changing investment policy.... The actual result of these premium increases is that premium revenue will go down, as sponsors bail out of the DB system because of ... premium increases."
(money vs. time)
|
[Opinion]
Testimony on Behalf of American Benefits Council to Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Retirement Plan Options for Small Businesses
"For workers without access to a workplace retirement plan, 57.8% work for companies with fewer than 100 employees.... [We] must expand access by encouraging more small businesses to establish workplace retirement plans and multiple employer plans (MEPs) should serve a key role.... [E]ffective incentives are needed to encourage small plan formation with particular emphasis on encouraging adoption of progressive automatic feature designs."
(The Principal Financial Group, for American Benefits Council)
|
[Opinion]
AARP Comments to Treasury on myRA (PDF)
"AARP strongly urges the Department to permit savers to maintain their My RA accounts after achieving $15,000 or 30 years of savings.... [A]lternatively, Treasury should consider offering or transferring accounts to a similar Government program, such as its inflation protected TIPS or I-Bonds.... Another program addition we recommend would be to permit and encourage employer plan cash-outs of small accounts (under $5000) into a MyRA.... Treasury must ensure strong spousal, beneficiary and other protections ... Key consumer protections ... should be provided to all MyRA account holders."
(AARP)
|
[Opinion]
IRI Response to Sen. Warren: Lifetime Income Strategies Benefit 30 Million American Savers
"The current regulatory framework requires these products to benefit the consumer and meet his or her needs.... Annuities offer consumers the ability to secure guaranteed lifetime income that will last throughout all their retirement years....[N]ine in 10 annuity owners are satisfied with their annuity-based investment, and very few complaints are filed with regulators each year."
(Insured Retirement Institute [IRI])
|
|
Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
|
Trends in Executive Compensation at the S&P/TSX 60
"The general trend for the last three years has been for modest growth in actual and target pay, although actual senior executive pay fell slightly from 2013 to 2014. Performance share units (PSUs) continue to increase as a proportion of long term incentive compensation, with a solid majority of companies using relative total shareholder return (TSR) as the performance measure in their long-term plans. However, compensation committees continue to grapple with finding appropriate peer groups and setting three year PSU targets."
(Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC)
|
GM Offers UAW Bigger Bonuses, Health Care Gains for Second Tier Workers
"The second-tier workers will get the same health care under this agreement as the senior workers, giving them full dental and vision coverage with no deductible or co-insurance.... The GM deal also offers $60,000 to certain members who retire between Feb. 1 and May 1, the union said."
(Bloomberg)
|
|
Press Releases
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional useful links:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
Phone (407) 644-4146
Fax (407) 644-2151
Lois Baker, J.D., President
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
Copyright 2015
BenefitsLink.com, Inc. — but feel free to forward this
newsletter without further permission from us, if you do not
modify the newsletter in any way (including this lower
portion).
All materials contained in this newsletter are
protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed,
published or broadcast without the prior written
permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of
third party materials, the owner of that content. You
may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or
other notice from copies of the content.
Links to websites other than those owned by
BenefitsLink.com, Inc. are offered as a service to
readers. The editorial staff of BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
was not involved in their production and is not
responsible for their content.
We are proud of our
Privacy Policy.
Thanks for reading this newsletter!
|
