Retirement Plan Conversion Specialist Spectrum Pension Consultants, Inc. Tacoma WA / Telecommute
	Auditor (Pathways Recent Graduate) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC] Washington DC / Telecommute

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Where do we go from Here? Talking the Future of Retirement Policy
December 18, 2019 in IL
ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Chicago

Employment Law & Benefit Update
January 9, 2020 WEBCAST
EPIC

Cybersecurity: What You Don't Know - and Do - Will Hurt You
February 5, 2020 WEBCAST
ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries]

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[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Rev. Proc. 2020-10: Third Six-Year Remedial Amendment Cycle for Pre-Approved DB Plans (PDF)

"This revenue procedure provides that the third six-year remedial amendment cycle for pre-approved defined benefit plans begins on May 1, 2020, and ends on January 31, 2025. It further provides that the on-cycle submission period for providers to submit applications for opinion letters for pre-approved defined benefit plans begins on August 1, 2020, and ends on July 31, 2021"

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS PMTA-2019-12: Whether Section 7521 Applies to the Employee Plans and Exempt Organization Determination Process (PDF)

"[Code] section 7521 ... requires [IRS] employees in select circumstances to permit audio recording and provide taxpayers certain explanations of IRS procedures ... It is our conclusion that section 7521 does not apply to discussions pertaining to the EP and EO determination process because 7521 only applies to in-person interviews with a taxpayer relating to the determination or collection of any tax, and the EP and EO determination process is not related to the determination or collection of any tax. Any determination or collection of any tax would take place in a separate proceeding depending on the outcome of the EO and EP determination process." [Program Manager Technical Advice dated Oct. 18, 2019; published Dec. 16, 2019]

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Deadline Set for 401(k) Plan Amendments Due to New Hardship Rules

"For both individually designed qualified plans and 403(b) plans, Notice 2019-64 added the hardship distribution regulations to the 2019 list of Required Amendments and set a deadline of Dec. 31, 2021 for plans to adopt amendments consistent with the requirements of the final hardship distribution regulations."

RSM US

Rev. Proc. 2020-9 Addresses Interim Amendments for Pre-Approved Plans That Allow Hardship Distributions

"Amendments relating to hardship distribution provisions that are effective on or before January 1, 2020, are integral to the amendments required to comply with the final hardship regulation provisions concerning suspensions of contributions and representations of financial need. The deadline for adopting the interim amendments required as a result of the final regulations on hardship distributions is extended to December 31, 2021."

Thomson Reuters Practical Law

Surprisingly Few Participants Take Advantage of Expanded Access to Hardship Distributions

"PSCA found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents already have adopted the new hardship provisions. However, most (73%) reported no change in the number of hardship withdrawals since the new provisions were implemented."

Data 'Points'

Is Interest on Plan Loans Double-Taxed?

"Yes, the interest on a loan is always paid with after-tax dollars that did not qualify for a tax deduction ... And, yes, a participant must pay taxes on interest received from the plan whether it was interest from an investment or interest the participant paid on a plan loan monies ... But, are the same dollars 'double taxed'? No. Simply, these are different amounts -- loan interest the participant paid and earnings the participant received from investments."

Plan Sponsor Council of America [PSCA]

IRS and Treasury Question How to Expand Multiple Employer Plan Relief (PDF)

"The proposed regs, issued in July, aim to help employers joining an MEP by offering an exception to the unified plan rule.... But it's unclear how this exception would apply to section 403(b) plans set up for the employees of public schools and tax-exempt entities."

Groom Law Group

Reply Brief to Supreme Court by Defined Benefit Plan Participants in Suit for Breach of Fiduciary Duties (PDF)

"[A]ccording to respondents, defined-benefit participants are mere 'bystanders' to their own pension plans. That view leads to respondents' most striking concession: under their rule, defined-benefit plan participants can virtually never redress ERISA violations.... Respondents argue that the better understanding of Article III and ERISA is that U.S. Bank's shareholders should enforce ERISA's fiduciary duties rather than the plan participants whose interests are the subject of those duties." [Thole v. U.S. Bank, N.A., No. 16-1928 (8th Cir. Oct. 12, 2017; cert. pet. granted Jun. 28, 2019)]

Supreme Court of the United States

Mortality Projection: Making Reasonable Assumptions About Future Lifetimes (PDF)

"The objective of this paper is to present methods an individual actuary, and the public plan retirement boards they work with, can use to select a reasonable mortality projection assumption that: [1] Is appropriate for the purpose of budgeting predictable pension contributions; [2] Reflects the actuary's professional judgment; [3] Takes into account relevant historical data; [4] Reflects the actuary's (and other parties) estimate of future experience; [5] Has no significant bias."

Milliman

For Many CFOs, Pension Plans Are Millstones Around the Neck

"Amid the shifting environment, these funds now require much more principal to be invested in order to get the expected result at payout. The maintenance and administration of old-school defined benefit plans has consequently become increasingly unsustainable for companies to manage."

CFO

Hope for SECURE Act in Year-End Funding Package

"Hill staff worked throughout the weekend to put the finishing touches on the nearly $1.4 trillion spending bill for FY 2020, which will likely be the last 'legislative vehicle' for 2019 -- and things look promising for the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act to be attached to that spending bill."

National Association of Plan Advisors [NAPA]

How to Calculate Your Annual ESOP Share Release

"There are two methods in which the release of shares is calculated: The Principal-Only method (or Special Rule) and the Principal and Interest method (or General Rule). The Principal-Only method is much less common, as the loan must meet certain requirements in order to qualify to use it."

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates

Partial Plan Termination Upon Withdrawal of Currently Participating Employer?

"A 2-company controlled group is ending as of 12/31/2019. Both participate in a 401(k) plan together. The Participating Employer likely will voluntarily end its participation at the end of the year. They aren't ready to have a new plan of their own. The plan document (yes, I read it) is silent on this exact scenario. The participating employer MAY choose to set up a successor/spin off plan. But nothing in the document says they have to. I think the old rule was that the discontinuance of a participating employer doesn't necessarily create a partial plan termination or distributable event because the employees haven't terminated employment. But I thought there was a narrow circumstance where it could be considered a partial plan term and distributable? Am I imagining that?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

ERISA Plan Administrator's Address vs. Plan's Situs

"I've been told by a vendor that the address for an ERISA plan administrator must be in the same state as the plan situs. Is that correct?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

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Press Releases

EBRI and NAGDCA Form Public Retirement Research Lab
EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]

ConnectYourCare Announces Latest Version of BROKERcommand for a Better Benefits Experience
ConnectYourCare

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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

DOL Private Pension Plan Bulletin: Abstract of 2017 Form 5500 Annual Reports (PDF)
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]

Defined Contribution Benchmarking Survey
Deloitte

Supreme Court Ruling in Intel ERISA Statute of Limitations Suit Could Have Far-Reaching Implications
Groom Law Group