Assistant Plan Administrator
Mid-Atlantic Pension Specialists, Inc.
in PA

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Freedman Benefits Group
in MI

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Altigro Pension Services, Inc.
in NJ

Senior Plan Administrator
My Benefits, LLC
in GA

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[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2018-56: Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves, and Segment Rates Applicable for June 2018 (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) ... 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]

TCJA's Defaulted Loan Extended Rollover Rules Have a Serious Technical Glitch

"Effective January 1 of this year was the right of participants to an extended period to rollover their defaulted loan amount, if the default arose following unemployment or the termination of a plan. The statute has a fundamental flaw: it confuses the rules related to the taxation of the loan with the distribution rules related to defaulted loans. The practical effect of this confusion is that it is virtually impossible to effectively use."
Business of Benefits

[Guidance Overview]

Why Fiduciary Status Still Matters in a Post-Fiduciary Rule World: Broker-Dealer Compensation and Prohibited Transactions

"The Fifth Circuit's ruling will vacate the Rule in toto, which means that all of the new prohibited transaction exemptions disappear as well ... Many [broker-dealers] will still be fiduciaries under the 1975 Rule, but the variable or third-party compensation they received while relying on the BIC Exemption will no longer be permitted. Even though they were fully complying with the DOL Fiduciary Rule and the BIC Exemption, there may not be another exemption they can use once the 5th Circuit decision goes into effect."
Drinker Biddle

About That SEC Best Interest Rule

"Regulation Best Interest makes clear that it would apply only to stand-alone broker/dealers, which currently account for about 30% of all broker/dealers. The other 70% of broker/dealers are dually registered; that is, they are RIAs, as well. This larger group wouldn't be subject to Regulation Best Interest at all."
W. Scott Simon, in Morningstar Advisor

My Husband Made Me Do It: IRS Approves Reason for Waiving 60-Day IRA Rollover Deadline

"In PLR 201822033, the fact that the funds were sitting in the account uninvested and never used is a plus. But, the excuse of missing the deadline because she relied on her husband and had a 'misinformed belief' about the rules is not typical for approval."
Appleby Retirement Dictionary

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Pension Funding Index June 2018

"In May, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans worsened by $2 billion ... The deficit rose to $141 billion from $139 billion at the end of April due to a decrease in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities. As of May 31, the funded ratio was unchanged from 91.6% seen at the end of April."
Milliman

[Opinion]

ARA Recommendations for IRS 2018-2019 Priority Guidance Plan (PDF)

"ARA recommends that the Retirement Benefit items listed [in this letter] be included on the 2018-2019 Guidance Priority Plan, in the following order of priority ... [1] Update and expand EPCRS ... [2] Guidance regarding the aggregation rules for affiliated service groups under Section 414(m) ... [3] Determination letter program ... [4] Church plan issues ... [5] Mid-year changes to safe harbor plans ... [6] Missing participants ... [7] Merger and acquisition issues ... [8] Lifetime income guidance ... [and seven more items]."
American Retirement Association [ARA]

[Guidance Overview]

Chaotic Rollout for European Data Privacy Regs Raises Questions for Benefit Plan Administrators

"GDPR's obligations could be triggered ... if information is processed while a U.S. participant is travelling in the European Union... Some basic steps that could be taken to comply include determining whether the plan covers any individuals who are located in the European Union, determining whether the plan possesses any data that it does not need to provide benefits, and possibly blocking European IP addresses from accessing plan websites without consent ... US benefit plan data controllers and processors may begin to see GDPR-related privacy agreement requests from EU entities."
Groom Law Group

BenefitsLink Announces 'Simple Search' Engine -- Easier to Use, Better Results

Now easier and greatly improved -- our Simple Search engine quickly finds answers for you, intelligently parsing 20+ years of expertly curated links about benefit plan compliance, administration and design. Just enter a word, phrase or sentence in the box at the top right side of the menu of any web page and click the button. You'll get many more matches than before. No special syntax is needed; it basically works like Google. And you can bookmark this new page for easy access on your web browser:
https://benefitslink.com/simple-search
BenefitsLink

Required Aggregation of Two Plans for Top-Heavy Testing

Employer sponsors two plans. One is a cross-tested profit sharing plan with a 1-year service requirement; the other plan is a 401(k) plan with immediate entry. Each plan can pass coverage testing independently and the profit sharing plan can pass 401(a)(4) testing with and without including deferrals. The PS plan is top-heavy with key employees participating. The 401(k) plan is not top-heavy since key employees do not make deferrals and do not have account balances in the plan; but the key employees are not specifically excluded from participation. Because the 401(k) plan doesn't specifically exclude key employees from participation, must the plans be aggregated for top-heavy purposes thus requiring top-heavy/minimum gateway contributions for employees with less than one year of service? If so, would amending the 401(k) plan to exclude keys employees from participation change the answer?
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Press Releases

Financial Advisors Suspect Abuse Of Older Investors On A Regular Basis
Insured Retirement Institute [IRI]

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