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Is Rate Review the Answer to Lower Health Insurance Premiums?
RECORDED
(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

FMLA, ADA and Beyond: Current Leave and Accommodation Issues
December 2, 2015 in TX
(Littler Mendelson)

It’s The End of 2015 – What’s Your ACA Compliance Status?
December 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(Tango Health)

New Trustees Institute
February 15, 2016 in FL
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP])

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Today's Discussions on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

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Helping Your 401(k) Participants Manage Risk
"Ameriprise recently conducted a survey of investors ... with regard to their views on risk. The survey sample can be considered a good representation of almost any group of investors, including those in your 401(k) plan. Using the survey results, Ameriprise classified investors into four categories.... Risk Avoiders would benefit most from your employee education sessions focused on diversification.... [Risk Mitigators] would benefit significantly from your employee education sessions focused on sticking with an investment plan.... Risk Managers will probably never attend your investment education sessions.... Send [Risk Embracers] directly to the investment advisor that works with your 401(k) plan for one-on-one meetings." (Lawton Retirement Plan Consultants)  

[Advert.]

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The DOL's Proposed Fiduciary Rule and Plan Sponsors
"While there is uncertainty around the future of the rule and its final provisions, there are a few best practices that retirement plan decision-makers can consider now. [1] Clarify fiduciary roles ... [2] Take a fresh look at the investment line-up ... [3] Re-evaluate your approach to participant communication and disclosures." (Manning & Napier)  

Can Robo-Advisors Really Be Fiduciaries?
"The 'linchpin' of investment advisor regulation, [said SEC Commissioner Kara Stein], 'is the fiduciary duty' ... But what does a fiduciary duty 'even look like or mean for a robo-advisor?' Stein wondered. 'The idea of a robotic entity that automatically generates investment advice certainly bumps up against what we would traditionally think of as a fiduciary.' Can robo-advisors 'be neatly placed within our existing laws,' she asked, 'or do we need certain tweaks and revisions?' " (ThinkAdvisor)  

Multi-Level LDI Benchmarking (PDF)
12 pages. "When selecting liability-hedging benchmarks in an LDI context, plan sponsors often find their priorities conflicted between two competing primary goals, those being strong degrees of [1] liability matching, and [2] investability.... [In] most cases, two separate 'levels' of benchmarks are appropriate, those being at the [1] plan level, and [2] investment manager level.... [T]his tiered methodology has proven supportive of the achievement of sensible liability hedging aims, while improving the ability of plan sponsors to meet a variety of practical plan goals, including improved investment governance and simplified performance attribution." (Standish)  

The Finer Points of LDI Benchmarking (PDF)
"[P]lan sponsors should employ a liability-based benchmark in order to assess how their overall investment strategy is performing relative to the liability return.... [O]ne or multiple benchmarks among a range of investable benchmark approaches should be utilized for the primary purpose of assessing manager performance.... [There are] four key decisions that sponsors often face: [1] Corporate or credit index; [2] Treasury or government index; [3] Market, blend, or custom benchmark; [4] Active management risk level." (Standish)  

[Advert.]

Send your clients an interactive greeting card – on us.

Each year the GSM Marketing Creative Team designs an interactive holiday ecard. We customize it for any company to use with absolutely no fee to us. The "cost" is a donation to the food bank or shelter in your town. That's it! Preview the card here and join the Holiday Card Project.

Don't Overlook Foreign Tax Withholding in IRAs and 401(k)s
"Many foreign governments mandate the withholding of income taxes from dividend payments made to non-residents.... [If] you hold the foreign equity in a tax-deferred account, there is no current U.S. income tax liability on those dividends, therefore you cannot take a credit for the foreign tax withholdings. In addition, the IRS regards your IRA (or 401(k)) as a separate entity (separate from you as an individual taxpayer) ... Bottom line: You can usually consider any foreign taxes withheld from your IRA/401(k) dividends as permanent, unrecoverable losses." (Seeking Alpha; free registration may be required)  

Eight Things to Know About a Special Spousal Rule That Allows Smaller RMDs
"If your spouse is your sole beneficiary for 2015 and is more than 10 years younger than you, you may use the Joint Life Expectancy Table to calculate your RMD for 2015, instead of the Uniform Lifetime Table.... If you have more than one primary beneficiary listed on your IRA, you must use the Uniform Table and not the Joint Life Expectancy Table.... If you change beneficiaries during the year, you may not use the Joint Life Expectancy Table.... Your IRA custodian ... is permitted to use the Uniform Lifetime Table for all reporting of RMDs to IRA owners. Be aware that an amount reported to you may, therefore, be more than your actual 2015 RMD." (Slott Report)  

Five Ways to Increase Your Near-Term Retirement Spending Budget
"Find part-time work or other sources of income.... Defer commencement of Social Security and/or purchase immediate or deferred annuities.... Use more aggressive assumptions.... Use more aggressive assumptions only for non-essential expenses.... Increase your budget by X%." (Ken Steiner, FSA Retired)  

Forensics and the Future of a Connecticut Pension Plan
"Connecticut's State Employees Retirement System faces a large unfunded liability, despite recent efforts by the State to fund. A significant source of the liability is the 'legacy debt' built up before the State began pre-funding its pensions in the 1970s. More recently, inadequate contributions, low investment returns (since 2000), and early retirement incentives have added to the problem. A promising approach for addressing the funding problem is to provide more breathing room in exchange for a real and sustained commitment to funding by: separately funding the legacy debt over multiple generations; while funding ongoing benefits using a stricter method for calculating required contributions, and reducing the long-term assumed return on plan assets." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

State-Run Retirement Plans: An Overview
"Through its guidance, the DOL has identified 4 different types of state legislation. We could see more depending on the creativity of state legislatures. Here is the current landscape: State-administered IRAs with automatic enrollment.... State run prototype plans ... State-run Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs) ... State Marketplaces." (Dorsey ERISA)  

[Opinion]

Are State-Run Plans the First Step Towards Nationalized Retirement?
"Now that the DOL has begun to aggressively push for state-run retirement plans for private employees, perhaps it is time to assess what this actually means to retirement savers. Specifically, these types of plans have long been outlawed by ERISA. Removing the ERISA mandates, as proposed by the DOL, removes protections to retirement savers they would otherwise enjoy. Worse, creating a spaghetti-code of state-based retirement regulations risks turning what, for many people, has been a relatively stable and consistent retirement system, into a Frankenstein monster that evokes the worst of our national health care system." (Fiduciary News)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL's New Disability Claim Rules Add to a Plan Administrator's Duties Under Welfare and Retirement Benefit Plans
"These new proposed disability claim rules attempt to preserve all defenses available to benefit plans prior to ERISA benefit litigation.... These proposed rules would apply to any disability-based ERISA benefit claim, whether the claim arises under a welfare plan (e.g., a long-term or short-term disability plan) or a retirement plan (e.g., a disability retirement benefit under a pension plan).... The rules would require that plans not make hiring, compensation, promotion or termination decisions based upon a claim adjudicator candidate's propensity for denying disability benefits. Plans would also need to review a medical expert's professional qualifications rather than his/her reputation for outcomes in contested cases." (McDermott Will & Emery)  

Interpleader Can Prevent Overpaying for Death Benefits
"If two or more parties are claiming to be the rightful beneficiary of a deceased participant's benefit, one option is to review all the facts and make a determination applying the plan's terms through its claims procedures. The risk of this approach is that if the administrator makes a decision that is overturned on review by a court, the plan could end up paying twice. A second option is for plan administrators to preemptively file an interpleader action. A plan can file an interpleader action as a plaintiff in a case, name the disputing beneficiaries as defendants, and then tender the benefit to the court and let the court resolve who is the rightful owner. A recent case illustrates how choosing between these forums can mean drastic differences in determining who receives the benefit." [Jenkins-Dyer v. Drayton, No. 2:13-CV-02489-JAR (D. Kan. Sept. 25, 2015)] (Thompson SmartHR Manager)  

Honda Motor Co. Raises Retirement Age to 65 for Japanese Workers
"Other proposed changes ... include a shift to child care and nursing allowances, rather than family allowances ... Honda also plans to introduce a work-from-home and partial-workday system, and adopt a salary and bonus structure that widens the pay gap between higher and lower performers. The moves could position Honda as one of the Japan's most aggressive companies seeking programs and policies to help deal with a population that is aging at the fastest pace in the developed world." (Pensions & Investments)  

Triple-S Management Corporation Settles HHS Charges by Agreeing to $3.5 Million HIPAA Settlement
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Ascensus Celebrates Grand Opening of Cranbury, New Jersey, Office Location
Ascensus

Morneau Shepell Acquires Bensinger, DuPont & Associates
Morneau Shepell Inc.

Wells Fargo to Offer Personalized Investment Solution for 401(k) Plan Participants
Wells Fargo

House Subcommittee to Discuss Principles for Protecting Workers’ Retirement Security
U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

Towers Watson Names Executive Compensation Practice Leader in Seattle
Towers Watson

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