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Retirement Plans Newsletter May 4, 2018 |
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Jobs |
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Webcasts, Conferences Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
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Discussions |
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
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Client Service Manager|
[Official Guidance]
"In consultation with the [DOL and the PBGC], Treasury has determined that the Plan is eligible to reduce benefits under MPRA and that your application satisfies the requirements of subparagraphs (C), (D), (E), and (F) of |
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[Advert.]
Findley Davies | BPS&M is now Findley
We make the complex world of retirement, benefits, human capital and M&A simpler for organizations across the nation. Learn how! |
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Applying the Test of Prudence to Fee Benchmarking and Competitive Bidding (PDF) "The primary weakness is that benchmarking data represents pooled experience, the accuracy and completeness of which goes unverified. Further, there is no assurance that ... plans represented by the data have themselves independently established that investment-related fees, compensation and expenses are fair and reasonable.... [T]he only way to reliably test what is 'reasonable' for a plan and a service, whether it be investment advisory, recordkeeping and administration, trusteeship and custody, is to determine and compare what competing providers would charge."
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DOL's Fiduciary Rule is Finally Dead, or Is It? "Plan sponsors who signed new service agreements proposed by plan service providers in response to the fiduciary rule may have more choices available to them now.... If a plan sponsor did not sign one of the proposed updated service agreements, it may still want to consider if it wants to investigate whether other terms may now be available as part of periodic due diligence to determine if its service providers continue to be prudent selections[.]"
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Retirement Plan Disclosures Are Hot Topic for ERISA Advisory Council "The Council offers four key recommendations: [1] 'Quick Reference Guide' in lieu of SPDs and SMMs.... [2] Simplified annual funding notice ... [3] [R]eplace the summary annual report with a half-page 'filing communication' informing participants how to access the plan's most recently-filed Form 5500.... [4] [A]llow plans to more easily deliver mandatory communications to participants and beneficiaries electronically."
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MetLife Issues Multipronged Plan to Find Missing Annuitants "The actions come in the wake of a $510 million charge in the fourth quarter related to a group of 13,500 annuitants going back many years.... Two senior company executives have left since the incident around the missing annuitants issue came to light."
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[Advert.]
For over 20 years, we've helped employers find the best-informed candidates to fill their benefits job openings -- learn more! |
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Closed MEPs Offer Efficiencies and Benefits to Not-For-Profit 403(b) Plans "[T]he efficiencies MEPs provide to 403(b) plans include: [1] Use of independent, renowned professionals; [2] Complete transparency and objectivity; [3] Reduce administrative burden; [4] Economies of scale; and [5] De-risk plans, i.e. balances complexity of choice with scale; ensures payroll data is clean; provides consistent communication to adopting members and participants; maintains one fund menu of independently selected/managed fund (no conflicts); and delegates authority to mitigate risk."
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Colorado Pension Reform Bill Shifts Higher Contributions to Employers "As amended by the House, ... on July 1, and again on July 1, 2019, the monthly employer contribution to PERA on behalf of members would increase by 1 percentage point of employees' salaries. When both increases are fully implemented, the total contribution would be 12.15% of salary for most employers contributing to PERA, 14.85% for employers who employ state troopers, and 15.66% for contributing judicial employers."
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L.A. Police Chief Calls for Change to Controversial Retirement Program "Police and firefighters who have reached the age of 50, and have at least 25 years' experience, can enter the program, which allows them to keep working and collecting their salaries while also collecting their pensions -- up to 90% of their salary -- for five years. DROP has cost the city more than $1.6 billion in extra, early pension checks, ... more than $220 million of which went to employees on injury leaves or out sick."
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[Opinion]
Why the Financial Engines/Edelman Deal Could End 401(k) Rollovers "[R]obo-advisor platforms are recognizing that technology is better as a means to augment human advisors than compete against them.... [R]etirees will increasingly no longer need to find an advisor at retirement, as they'll just continue with the advisor they have had all along with their existing 401(k) plan.... [T]he entire market opportunity for independent financial advisors to grab 401(k) rollovers for unaffiliated consumers that don't have an advisor, may begin to vanish."
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Benefits in General |
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"The court found that the ancillary rights granted or obligations imposed upon the VSP participants (a knowledge transfer requirement, restrictive covenant, non-disparagement provision, and right to reapply) did not make the VSP an ERISA plan because there was a time-limited obligation, it did not implicate ongoing administration, and it required passive and ministerial observation." [Girardot v. The Chemours Company, No. 17-1894 (3d Cir. Apr. 30, 2018)]
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California Rewrites the Independent Contractor Test: What Your Business Needs to Do Now to Pass It "Our colleagues in Massachusetts, who have been living with the ABC test since 2004, tell us that the rubber meets the road with the second prong of this test. It is often a tough call as to whether a worker's services are in the employer's 'usual business,' particularly for specialized functions such as marketing or human resources that a company may need to run its business, but may or may not be considered essential to its core business."
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The Benefits of Working for a Small Business "Among the most frequently offered benefits were paid time off work, with vacation and holidays available to 67 percent and 68 percent of workers, respectively. Slightly more than half of workers (51 percent) in small businesses were given the opportunity to participate in a medical plan through their company. Defined contribution plans, such as 401(k)-style plans, were available to 47 percent of workers in small businesses while access to defined benefit plans, like pension plans, was lower at 7 percent."
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Executive Compensation |
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IPOs and Spin-Offs: Take a Fresh Look at Purpose and Executive Compensation "[T]he role of [executive compensation] in an IPO is to realign the interests of management from the purpose of one set of owners to that of another, as expressed through the firm's mission, strategy, and objectives. This shift in strategy and mission -- and how that is reflected in executive pay -- is as important to articulate and get right as the long checklist of legal and regulatory steps that must be taken for a successful IPO."
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Selected Discussions |
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Affiliated Service Group A-Org Test: When Can LLC Be an FSO? For the A-org test, if the purported FSO is an LLC that has elected to be taxed as a corporation and that is not a professional service corporation (or a professional service LLC), would it fail to be an FSO as a "corporation" that is not a professional service corporation since it is being treated as a corporation for tax purposes? Or would it have to actually be incorporated under state law (and not just treated as a corporation for tax purposes) to be considered a corporation for purposes of this rule?
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Press Releases |
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Beacon Wealth Consultants Unveils 401k Plan With Faith-Based Investment Models
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IRI Retirement Fact Book 2018 Connects Retirement Risk, Concepts with Products, Solutions, & Professional Guidance
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Connect
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BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
(407) 644-4146
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 2018 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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