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[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2016-61: Update for Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves and Segment Rates, October 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]
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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Allows Self-Certification for Late Rollover Contributions
"Retirement plan administrators may accept late rollover contributions from taxpayers who self-certify that they qualify for a waiver of the 60-day rule. Plan sponsors may need to update their communications about rollovers to reflect the new IRS waiver procedures. The self-certification applies only to the 60-day requirement, not to other requirements for a valid rollover."
Willis Towers Watson
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IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities FY 2017 Work Plan (PDF)
24 pages. Dated Sept. 28, 2016; published online Oct. 17, 2016. "In FY 2017, EP will continue to: [1] develop, maintain and refine a comprehensive collection of enforcement strategies that identify and focus efforts on addressing retirement plan non-compliance; [2] leverage existing programs and learned best practices to enhance voluntary compliance; and, [3] address and eliminate fraudulent and abusive schemes that undermine the retirement system."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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Deutsche Bank Can't Shake 401(k) Fee Lawsuit
"The suit, filed on behalf of a proposed class of about 20,000 employees, claims Deutsche Bank directed more than $300 million of its workers' retirement savings toward an in-house index fund that carried fees 11 times higher than a comparable fund offered by Vanguard, with those fees going 'directly into Deutsche Bank's pocket.' In allowing most of the workers' claims to proceed, the New York-based judge said on Oct. 13 that the workers plausibly alleged that the bank's process for choosing plan investments was 'tainted by failure of effort, or competence, or loyalty.' "
Bloomberg BNA
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[Advert.]
Target Date Funds: What You Need to Know
October 21 webinar, with Joan Neri of Drinker Biddle. Learn what distinguishes a custom target date fund from an off-the-shelf target date fund. Learn about prudent processes for selecting target date funds to minimize fiduciary risk.
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Plans Face Cyber Threats to Crucial Data
"[T]here are specific issues to defined contribution plans when it comes to cybersecurity, mainly related to those plans' adherence to [ERISA] ... The question of whether ERISA exempts plans from the 47 separate cybersecurity notification laws among states and the District of Columbia has not yet been dealt with[.]"
Pensions & Investments
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Plans Ask About Cybersecurity Insurance -- But Not for Them
"Whether DC plans have cyberinsurance coverage generally depends on their size, as the average 401(k) plan has fewer than 100 participants ... DC plan sponsor executives need to be aware that 'their fiduciary responsibility extends to their obligation and responsibility to secure data and information.' "
Pensions & Investments
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Enhancing DC Plan Design: How Plan Sponsors Can Improve Plan Outcomes
"Keys to success: [1] Automatically enroll all employees, not just new hires; [2] Execute automatic enrollment annually for non-participants, rather than just a one-time sweep; [3] Kick-start savings by starting the default contribution rate at 6%, rather than at the typical rate of 3%; [4] Set a default automatic increase rate of 2%, rather than the typical rate of 1% to help ensure participants quickly reach an appropriate savings rate."
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
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When It Comes to Retirement Distributions, 401(k)s Lack Valuable Flexibility
"There's a key area where IRAs have a clear advantage over 401(k)s: in-retirement distributions. Simply put, investors who decide to leave money in their company retirement plans and draw from them to meet their living expenses typically have much less flexibility and control over withdrawals."
Morningstar
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Did You Hire a 401(k) Fiduciary or a Broker?
"Knowing whether your 401(k) advisor is actually an advisor or simply a broker commissioned to sell investment (or insurance) products will help you decide whether your advisor is truly acting in your best interest. [The authors have] compiled a simple checklist to help you evaluate whether your advisor is a 401(k) fiduciary or a broker, an important step in determining how prepared you are to meeting the new [DOL] Fiduciary Rule."
ForUsAll
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Many RIAs May Need to Reach for Even Higher Standard
"[A]voiding conflicts of interest means more than simply not selling commission-generating products.... [Advisors] will need to invest time and money into more robust processes and documentation in our advisory tasks, as broken into three categories: [1] Pre-Investing, [2] Investing and [3] Advice ... [A]ll of the financial services [advisors] provide can impact and overlap between retirement and non-retirement accounts."
Morningstar Advisor
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[Opinion]
Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to Treasury Department on Application for Benefits Suspension Submitted by Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Plan (PDF)
"[We] urge the Treasury Department to reject the application ... on the ground that it does not satisfy the relevant statutory criteria for approval of the application. Specifically: [1] The application does not demonstrate that the proposed cuts will ensure that the plan will remain solvent for 30 years; [2] The application fails to show that the plan's trustees have taken all reasonable steps to avoid insolvency; [3] The proposed benefit suspensions are not equitably distributed across the participant and beneficiary population; and [4] The notice provided to participants was not written in a manner so as to be understood by the average plan participant."
Pension Rights Center
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BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
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Lois Baker, J.D., President
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587. Copyright 2016 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials
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