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CHOICE Act Targets Fiduciary Rule, Dodd-Frank Rollback
"Passage of the CHOICE Act by the House Financial Services Committee could signal a further blow to conflict of interest regulations adopted by the Obama administration.... The legislation is sweeping and would undo or replace much of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms adopted by Democrats when they held significant majorities in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis."
planadviser
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401(k) Regaining Importance as Future Income Source
"Half of nonretirees expect 401(k) to be a major income source in retirement. This is up from a low of 42% in April 2009, but still below earlier highs. Planned reliance on Social Security is near 17-year high."
Gallup
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Connecticut Senate to Consider Narrower 403(b) Disclosure Bill
"[T]he amended bill ... [requires] that 'any company that administers' a 403(b) plan offered by a political subdivision (and not administered by the state itself) must disclose in writing, upon enrollment, and annually thereafter: the fee ratio and return, net of fees, for each investment under the retirement plan; and the fees paid to any person who, for compensation, engages in the business of providing investment advice to participants in the retirement plan either directly or through publications or writings."
National Tax-Deferred Savings Association [NTSA]
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State and Local Government Pensions at the Crossroads
"Underfunding, questionable investment decisions, imperfect assumptions on future market returns, declining interest rates, and the structure of defined benefit plans have created a fiscal crisis for many public pension funds. The implementation of several recent GASB pronouncements has made these problems more apparent and distinct to the public. The authors examine the current reporting challenges, describe the approaches taken by some governments, and suggest their own potential solutions."
The CPA Journal
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[Advert.]
The WBC - Regulatory Rollercoaster: Are You Ready for the Ride?

The Western Benefits Conference is the only Annual, Multi-day, Comprehensive Employee Benefits Conference west of the Rockies. Highly interactive sessions, Thought leaders, Practical industry leading ideas, Networking, Valuable CE credits – and more!
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CalSTRS Employer Contributions Are Doubling, But Is That Enough?
"The 2014 legislation freezes rates paid by school districts at 20.5 percent of pay, after they more than double to 19.1 percent by the end of this decade. But ... the state rate can continue to increase up to 0.5 percent of pay each year.... Actuaries said CalSTRS, only 64 percent funded last June, is still on track to reach 100 percent funding by 2046. Whether CalSTRS remains on the path to full funding ... will largely depend on whether the state pays enough under the new plan."
Calpensions
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[Opinion]
The Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2017
"KOPPA would create a Legacy Fund in the PBGC. Underfunded multiemployer pension plans would apply to receive money from the Legacy Fund to pay retirees the benefits they earned. When an application is accepted, the money provided by the Legacy Fund is combined with employer contributions and investment income and should be sufficient enough to enable plans in the even worst financial shape ... to cover benefit costs on a year-to-year basis.... The Legacy Fund created by KOPPA would be funded by partially repealing two tax breaks that only benefit wealthy individuals."
Pension Rights Center
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[Opinion]
Is the Thrift Savings Plan Shortchanging U.S. Government Workers?
"While literally hundreds of factors have been discovered, only a handful have both withstood academic scrutiny and are 'investable' at a fairly low cost.... Yet, the Thrift Savings Plan has no funds that take advantage of these factors and this academic research. The result? Underperformance of a portfolio that uses only the TSP funds, relative to what could be achieved, is likely to occur by 1% to 2% a year (or greater) over most 10-20 year periods of time."
Ron A. Rhoades, JD, CFP
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[Advert.]
Online Learning Course: 401(k) Plan Structure
![Sponsored by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP] Sponsored by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]](https://benefitslink.com/bnrs/2016/IFEBP_401kstructure_online_top.jpg)
This course looks at the many aspects to consider when structuring a 401(k) plan. Topics include salary deferral limits and catch-up contributions, matching and profit-sharing contributions, nondiscrimination testing and safe harbors.
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[Opinion]
Puerto Rico: Pay-As-You-Exit
"The asset value (now called fiduciary net position) is negative, liabilities are valued at $32.7 billion, and annual payouts to 126,742 retirees total about $1.6 billion not including the $194 million cost of the bonds to make those payments. Yet when we get to the pages on the calculation of the contribution it comes down to ... [a] contribution of one-third of the benefits actually being paid out!"
Burypensions
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Benefits in General
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Canadian Court Dismisses ERISA 'Controlled Group' Claim
"The decision holds that an ERISA controlled group claim fails because the claim raises a question of corporate personality -- namely, whether corporate separateness may be disregarded to impose a plan sponsor's liability on its affiliates -- and that the law of the place of incorporation, rather than US law, applies to such questions. Because the laws of the places of incorporation, British Columbia and Alberta, do not include ERISA, and because ERISA's controlled group provisions were the sole basis for liability, the claim fails. The decision creates an important guide to the limits of controlled group liability in Canada, and potentially in other jurisdictions guided by the decision." [Walter Energy Canada Holdings, Inc. (Re), 2017 BCSC
709, May 1, 2017]
Latham & Watkins
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David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
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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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