BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter for June 27, 2017

Primer on Withdrawal Liability
"Withdrawal liability has become a particularly significant issue due to a confluence of factors, including the impact of the recession, historically low interest rates, and changing workforce demographics. This primer is intended to introduce the reader to the basic rules governing the assessment and collection of withdrawal liability and their application in certain situations."
Jackson Lewis P.C., via Association of Corporate Counsel

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The Power of Simplicity: Improving the Rate of Saving by Participants
"One way to combat decision fatigue is to take away the need for a decision in the first place. Make a choice 'automatic.' ... Retirement plan investors who received a personalized 'Save More' message with a one-click option to take action on their Vanguard account homepage were 139% more likely to increase their savings rate than those who didn't get the savings nudge. A different message, sent to participants who weren't saving enough to obtain their employer's full matching contributions, had an even stronger impact."
Vanguard

What Every Investment Committee Member Needs to Know
"Fiduciary responsibility -- what does it mean to do the right thing? ... How to construct a successful investment committee ... Diverse committees achieve better decisions than less diversified ones ... Focus on what you can control -- the investing fundamentals."
Vanguard

LPL Bars Brokers from 401(k) Rollover Advice
"LPL Financial's hybrid advisors will no longer be able to make 401(k) rollover recommendations when acting as brokers, InvestmentNews reports. The move will expose advisors and LPL to less risk under the [DOL's] fiduciary rule, which treats rollover recommendations as fiduciary advice and went into partial effect June 9, according to the publication. LPL's hybrid advisors will still be able to recommend rollovers if that advice is limited to their company's advice side of the business and meets certain conditions, according to an internal memo seen by InvestmentNews."
Financial Advisor IQ

Most Nevada Financial Planners Become Fiduciaries Per State Law on July 1
"On July 1, 2017, nearly all of those providing financial planning services, or holding out as financial planners, to clients located in Nevada, or those investment advisers and registered representatives who are located in Nevada, become subject to fiduciary duties as defined by Nevada state law.... The Nevada law also authorizes the Administrator of Securities 'to adopt regulations defining or excluding acts, practices or courses of business as violations of that fiduciary duty and prescribing means to prevent violations of that fiduciary duty.' ... The rule making by the Administrator of Securities will be crucial in order to preserve a bona fide fiduciary standard upon financial planners in Nevada."
Ron A. Rhoades, JD, CFP

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Executive Compensation
and Nonqualified Plans

New York Appellate Court Issues Decision on Executive Compensation Order and Regs
"[T]he four-Justice majority concluded that 'limit on administrative costs and executive compensation paid for by state funds and state-authorized payments, [does not] violate the separation of powers doctrine.' In contrast, the Court said that DOH exceeded its authority by imposing the soft cap and restricting executive compensation paid from non-state dollars.... As a result, there is now a conflict between the Appellate Division's Third Department and Second Department, which previously upheld Governor Cuomo's Executive Order and DOH's implementing regulations." [LeadingAge New York, Inc. v. Shah No. 523308 (N.Y. App. Div. June 22, 2017)]
Greenberg Traurig

Discussions on
the BenefitsLink Message Boards

Canadian Company Considers Starting a 401(k) Plan for U.S.-Based Employees
"Canadian based company has a few U.S.-based employees who are salespeople in various locations. The company would like to provide benefits to these employees that are basically the same as those provided already to their Canadian employees, and is considering starting a 401(k) plan, which of course would be fairly small. Assuming the company has an EIN, is this feasible?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Overfunded DB Plan Replaced by 401(k) But Sole Owner-Participant Dies While Suspense Account Still in Effect
"Mr. Smith had a one-participant DB Plan which was overfunded. The plan was terminated in 2014; all assets were transferred into a 401(k) Plan as a qualified replacement plan. The overfunded amount was credited to a suspense account. In 2015, a portion of the suspense account was allocated to Mr. Smith with the intent of allocating all of the suspense account within 7 plan years. Mr. Smith only paid himself once per year, on December 31. Contributions and suspense account allocations were based on that single pay date. Mr. Smith died in 2016. He had not taken any pay, therefore no allocation from the suspense account could be made. Therefore any remaining amounts in the suspense account are subject to the 50% reversion tax. Is this correct?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Safe Harbor Plan Merges Into Non-Safe Harbor Plan Mid-Year
"Both plans, run by corporations, operate on a calendar year basis. Corporation A has a safe harbor 401(k) plan. Corporation B has a non-safe harbor 401(k) plan. B buys A's assets, and all of A's employees come to work for B. Corporation B wants to assume the assets and liabilities of A's plan, and merge A's plan into its own plan while still preserving the safe harbor status of A's plan for the year. Is there any way to do this? I think corporation A's plan could be TERMINATED, and thus preserve safe harbor status, but I don't see how it would work in a merger of the plans."
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Press Releases

PSCA 60th Annual Survey Open
PSCA [Plan Sponsor Council of America]

Voya Offers Employers a New Way to Measure the Health of Retirement Plans with 'Check-Up Report'
Voya Financial

View All Press Releases

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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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