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Retirement Plans Newsletter March 21, 2019 |
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Jobs
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Webcasts, Conferences Forfeitures, Suspense and ERISA Spending Accounts, Oh My!
Lessons Retirement Plan Players Can Learn from Litigation
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Discussions |
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
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Senior Retirement Plan Administrator|
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Takes Step Towards De-Risking Retiree Lump Sum Windows "Plan Sponsors should tread carefully, being sure to consider whether the particular facts connected with a proposed window would create concerns under other qualified plan rules such as nondiscrimination requirements under the Code. In addition, plan sponsors should be aware that this guidance from the IRS will not prevent the DOL from pursuing any perceived violations of fiduciary duty with respect to the implementation of such an offering."
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[Advert.]
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Benefits of a Retirement Managed Account (PDF) 12 pages. "[T]he potential long-term benefits of more personalized strategies such as retirement managed accounts (RMAs) may outweigh the advantages of target date funds in some situations.... RMAs have four distinct benefits: [1] Influence investor behavior; [2] Encourage increased saving rates; [3] Provide personalized and appropriate diversification; [4] Help provide lifetime income."
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Understanding the Importance of Recent 403(b) ERISA Settlements "[T]aken together, these settlements highlight the peculiar staying power of 403(b) ERISA cases even in uncharted waters.... If the 403(b) excessive fee litigation continues along a trajectory similar to its 401(k) predecessors, then we can expect the recent 403(b) settlements to usher in a new volley of suits brought against institutions overseeing slightly smaller retirement plans than the billion-dollar-plus plans at issue in the first wave of 403(b) cases."
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How 401(k) Auditors Move People "Auditors are the ones that see the overall operations of the plan, being able to see the forest through the trees. The third-party administrator sees what they are given from the plan sponsor, and the plan sponsor sees what is received from the third-party administrator. Many times, with this, the right hand does not see what the left hand is doing. Auditors investigate the greater detail from both parties, as well as the transactions taking place in the actual trust of the plan."
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More Than Half of IRAs Owned by Those Aged 60 or Older Grew from 2012-2015 (PDF) "80.8 percent of all Traditional and Roth IRAs in 2012 were still open in 2015 rather than closed or depleted. Of the accounts still open, 68.0 percent had higher balances by the end of 2015. The EBRI IRA Database tracked 6.1 million Traditional IRAs and 1.4 million Roth IRAs owned by those ages 60 or older -- ages at which owners are most often in their retirement years.... Only when owners reached ages 85 or older did a significantly higher percentage of accounts fail to have a positive balance after three years, either due to depletion or account closure."
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14 pages. "The Social Security full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which workers can first claim full Social Security retired-worker benefits.... Under legislation enacted in 1983, the FRA is increasing gradually from 65 to 67 over a 22-year period (for those reaching age 62 between 2000 and 2022).... Currently, the FRA is 66 and 6 months for workers who become eligible for retirement benefits in 2019 (i.e., workers born in 1957)." [Report R44670, updated March 7, 2019]
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Benefits in General |
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[Guidance Overview]
"The Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 requires EBSA to adjust ERISA's civil monetary penalties annually for inflation. ERISA monetary penalties assessed by a court (e.g., sections 502(c)(1) and (3)) rather than EBSA are not adjusted for inflation under the 2015 Inflation Act.... The table [in this Fact Sheet] shows the penalty amounts enforceable by EBSA for penalties assessed after January 22, 2019 for violations occurring after November 2, 2015."
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Executive Compensation |
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2019 Federal Budget Includes Proposed Changes to Tax Treatment of Stock Options "The government has proposed to limit the preferred tax treatment for stock options.... The proposed rule will only affect employees of 'large, long-established, mature firms'. The Budget does not define these companies but has indicated that start-ups and 'rapidly growing businesses' will be exempt. $200,000 of options granted each year will remain eligible for preferred tax treatment at the time they are exercised."
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Selected Discussions |
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ACA Premium Refunds Count as 'Compensation'? When an employer's group medical plan does not utilize at least 80% of the premiums for healthcare in a given year, the insurance company must provide a "refund" to the employer. This "refund" is then allocated to those employees who paid insurance premiums, and it is reported as taxable income on W-2. Is this "refund" received by the employee included in plan compensation the year the refund is received?
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Beneficiary Determination: Who's Your Daddy? Participant "P" dies with no beneficiary designation. There is no spouse. Participant had two children, son "S" and daughter "D." S and D have both been located, but they have added a twist. S and D both acknowledge that P is the father of both children, but D's birth certificate does not name the father. My understanding is that D would not be a beneficiary unless she establishes paternity through the courts. D does not want to go through the trouble for her share of an account that is worth about $10K. If S makes a claim and the plan pays him the full amount of Ps account, the plan should be in the clear, right?
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Participant Requests Addition of ESG Asset Class What is a prudent response to a participant who is "formally" requesting their employer add an ESG fund to the 401k lineup so they can invest in alignment with their moral principles?
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Press Releases |
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Old Mutual Wealth Tailored Funds Portfolio First Investment Manager in South Africa Certified for Fiduciary Excellence
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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue |
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DCIIA Custom Target Date Fund Survey (PDF)
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Why Rollover IRAs May Be a Bad Idea
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Small Business 401(k) Plan Design Study: What 3,975 401(k) Plans Are Doing
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Connect
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BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
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David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587. Copyright 2019 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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