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[Guidance Overview]
Interesting Angles on the DOL's Fiduciary Rule, Part 44
"For the rest of this year -- the 'transition period'-- most firms will use the Best Interest Contract Exemption.... Transition BICE requires that the entity and the adviser only comply with the Impartial Conduct Standards (ICS) [which] has 3 components: the best interest standard of care, only reasonable compensation, and no materially misleading statements. In effect the best interest standard of care brings the ERISA prudent man rule and duty of loyalty to IRAs. As a result, advisers and their supervisory entities need to educate themselves on the requirements of a prudent process with a duty of loyalty to the IRA owner."
FredReish.com
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401(k) Plan Fees: The Wrong Choices Could Land You in Court
"Before determining if their plan fees are reasonable, employers need to ... answer a number of critical questions including: [1] What am I buying? [2] How much does it cost (investment, administrative and advisory services)? [3] Who is going to pay (participants and employers)? [4] How are they going to pay? [5] What model is best for us?"
CFO Daily News
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Advisory Firm Dodges ERISA Suit Against BB&T
"In the underlying complaint, the advisory firm was lumped together with the plan sponsor/recordkeeper and accused of permitting fiduciary breaches under ERISA.... The court concluded 'there are no facts alleged that as to the particular breaches of fiduciary duty alleged, Cardinal did any specific thing.... [T]he plaintiffs have essentially alleged nothing more than that Cardinal gave BB&T general investment advice.' "
planadviser
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Public Pension Reporting and Disclosure: The Current State of Practice, and Examples of What Works Well
"[1] A majority of systems follow GFOA reporting standards in producing their Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, with nearly half of the sample also developing a plain language annual financial report; [2] Virtually all of the systems develop an actuarial valuation (annually), an experience study (at an average of every five years), and have a funding policy produced by the system and/or established in state statute; [3] Active engagement with key stakeholders is a hallmark of systems with robust communications and reporting initiatives; [4] Leveraging social media and/or establishing advisory committees has helped systems garner detailed feedback from their stakeholders."
Center for State & Local Government Excellence
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Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
"Four doctors (obstetricians) jointly own a professional corporation that's a normal medical practice. It bills patients and pays a salary to the doctors and staff. But each doctor also gets paid by a local hospital solely for being on call for services at the hospital, getting an annual Form 1099 with respect to that income. If a doctor delivers a baby at the hospital while on call, the professional corporation bills the patient. Can an individual physician adopt a SEP based on his or her hospital income, and also participate in a 401(k) sponsored by the professional corporation?"
S. Derrin Watson, on BenefitsLink
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[Advert.]
Things Have Changed – Are You Up-To-Date?

Keep up to date on the latest rules and regulations with the ERISA Outline Book, THE resource for information on qualified plans. Choose from two great formats; hardcopy or online, including access to a fully searchable and cross-referenced website.
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[Opinion]
American Benefits Council Letter to PBGC Urging Review of Early Warning Program
"Suggested changes to the program ... [1] Suspend the program for six months while it is evaluated and reformed.... [2] Reform the criteria for the program.... [3] Obtain board of directors approval for large plan involuntary terminations based on long-run loss determinations.... [4] Provide safe harbors from the Early Warning Program.... [5] Reform the 'sanctions' under the program.... [6] Preclude PBGC from intervening in company businesses without statutory authorization.... [7] Cease publicizing Early Warning Program agreements."
American Benefits Council
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Benefits in General
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Overall Public/Private Sector Compensation Gap Has Widened, CBO Finds
"The cost of providing benefits for federal civilian workers from 2011-2015 was estimated to be 47 percent higher on average than for comparable private sector employees. CBO said the biggest factor in the difference in the cost of benefits from was that much of the federal workforce still falls under systems that include a defined benefit pension, a concept that has largely disappeared in the private sector. And due to the uncertain nature of future costs of pension plans, cost differences in the realm of benefits are 'difficult to quantify,' analysts said[.]"
Government Executive
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Discussions on the BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Can One Retirement Plan Loan Money to Another Retirement Plan?
"Employer has two retirement plans. Can one plan lend money to the other as an investment? (DB Plan wants to lend to PS Plan so that the PS plan then has funds to use to make an investment in a parcel of land. We'd rather not have the DB plan make the investment directly, due to annual valuation issues for the parcel.)"
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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 2017 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. 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 those materials. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notices from copies of the content.
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