Employee Benefits Attorney
Wiggin and Dana LLP
in CT

Senior Pension Administrator
CBIZ
in PA

Senior Consulting Actuary, Health & Benefits
Retirement Plan Services Organization
in PA

Financial Services Representative (FSR) Team Lead
eRIA
in WI

401(k) Account Manager
Alliance Benefit Group of Illinois
in IL, Telecommute

Trust Accountant
The MandMarblestone Group, llc
in PA

ERISA Audit Senior Associate
CBIZ MHM
in MO

Team Lead, Pension Ops
Nationwide
in OH

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Plan Year 2017 Agent and Broker Registration and Training
September 16, 2016 WEBCAST
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS]

Top QDRO Mistakes Attorneys Make - and How to Avoid Them!
December 14, 2016 WEBCAST
National Business Institute

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[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2016-54: Update for Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves and Segment Rates, September 2016 (PDF)
"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates used under Section 417(e)(3), and the 24-month average segment rates under Section 430(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, this notice provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities under Section 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II) as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate under Section 431(c)(6)(E)(ii)(I)."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Advert.]

PDS - Support You Can Count On

Are you a McKay Hochman customer? Visit us at booth #426 at the ASPPA Conference in Washington DC on Oct. 23-25 or call us at 1-800-333-PLAN or visit www.pdsdocs.com for more information about the replacement products and services we can provide.

Text of Sixth Circuit Opinion Affirming Summary Judgment for Employee Under Equitable Estoppel, Fiduciary Breach and Anti-Cutback Rule (PDF)
19 pages. "After working for ten years at a Bridgestone plant in Canada, Andre Deschamps transferred to a Bridgestone facility in the United States.... [U]pon receiving assurances from members of Bridgestone's management team that he would keep his ten years of pension credit, Deschamps accepted the position. For over a decade, Deschamps received various written materials confirming that his date of service for pension purposes would be August 8, 1983.... In 2010, Deschamps discovered that Bridgestone had changed his service date to August 1, 1993, the date he began working at the American plant." [Deschamps v. Bridgestone Americas, Inc. Salaried Employees Pension Plan, No. 15-6112 (6th Cir. Sept. 12, 2016)]
United States Court of Appeal for the Sixth District

Reminder to File Determination Letter Applications
"Plans whose plan sponsor's EIN ends in a 1 or a 6 are subject to Cycle A and must be submitted to the IRS no later than January 31, 2017. In addition ... plan sponsors who are members of a controlled group or affiliated service group may elect Cycle A as their remedial amendment cycle regardless of the last digit of their EIN."
Winston & Strawn LLP

Senators Introduce Small Business Employee Retirement Savings Act
"The Small Business Employee Retirement Savings Act increases the retirement plan start up tax credit to $5,000, incentivizes auto enrollment, and removes restrictions to increase employee participation in retirement plans."
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)

How Does Student Debt Affect Early-Career Retirement Saving?
"The estimated relationship between student debt and participating in a retirement plan ... is small and statistically insignificant ... Contrary to expectations, individuals with a large loan balance who were offered a plan are more likely to accept it, though the estimated relationship is small. Some evidence indicates that bachelor's degree-holders who have student loans have lower retirement assets at age 30, though the estimates are statistically insignificant, and retirement assets levels are unrelated to the size of their student loan balances."
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

[Advert.]

Help the Pension Rights Center celebrate 40 years of work

Celebrate the Pension Rights Center's 40th anniversary by helping it continue its work to protect and promote the retirement security for American workers, retirees and their families.

The Life Cycle Model, Replacement Rates, and Retirement Income Adequacy
"A replacement rate calculation more consistent with the life cycle model would compare retirement income to an average of real earnings calculated over a significant number of years. Such an approach would find substantially higher replacement rates for the typical retiree."
Andrew G. Biggs, American Enterprise Institute, via SSRN

SEC Provides Free Online Financial Planning Tools
Tools at the SEC's Investor.gov web site include: 401(k) and IRA Minimum Distribution Calculator; Compound Interest Calculator and Savings Goal Calculator; Social Security Retirement Estimator; Retirement Ballpark Estimator; Mutual Fund Analyzer; 529 Expense Analyzer; and a link to a searchable database of investment advisers who have filed Form ADV.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Calif. Governor Signs Bill to Boost Pension Fund Fee Disclosure
"Private equity and hedge funds must disclose the fees they charge to California's public pension funds under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) Sept. 14. [The law] is intended to boost transparency about investment costs for [CalPERS and CalSTRS]. The new law also applies to city and county retirement systems, the University of California Retirement System and other independent public retirement systems."
Bloomberg BNA

Changes to Form 5500: Lessons from the Life of a Beta Fish
"[T]he compilation of industrywide data can provide helpful information to plan sponsors looking to benchmark their plan design against others.... [T]ransparency into any individual plan could also produce an entirely different outcome. For example, ... the IRS and DOL could use the Form 5500 data for targeted enforcement of plans with compliance issues noted on the form. It wouldn't be surprising for these plans to be subject to future audits."
Vanguard

[Guidance Overview]

Rules for Posting an SPD on Company's Intranet Website
"The [DOL] provides a safe harbor for electronic disclosure of plan documents including the use of an intranet. The safe harbor sets forth general requirements for all electronic disclosures and additional requirements for recipients that do not have computer access at work."
Kushner & Company

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Expands Plan Compliance Relief for Louisiana Floods (PDF)
"The DOL's news release makes allowances for delays in providing blackout notices as well as processing participant contributions, loan repayments, health plan benefit claims and COBRA elections."
Xerox HR Services

Amazonian Benefits: Swipe, Click, Enroll
"[M]obile apps are the future -- if not the present -- of consumerism. It's rapidly becoming commonplace for people to use apps to shop for cars, do their taxes and even apply for a mortgage. If your employees can use apps for those traditionally complex processes, wouldn't it only make sense for them to be able to use apps to enroll in their benefits?"
Benefitfocus

Epstein Becker Green Welcomes Employee Benefits Attorney Christopher A. McMican
Epstein Becker & Green

American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Invites Professors and Law School Placement Officers to Encourage Students to Contact ACEBC Members and Participate in Student Writing Competition
American College of Employee Benefits Counsel

Laura and John Arnold Foundation Seeks Letters of Interest for Research Projects Focused on Public Retirement Policy
Laura and John Arnold Foundation [LJAF]

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