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[Guidance Overview]
"The final regulations incorporate statutory changes under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA). The final regulations also provide simplified methods for calculating withdrawal liability."
Thomson Reuters Practical Law
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"Remote employees are 7.4% less likely to use the plan default investment in target-date funds, and 1.3% more likely to use managed accounts, seeking personalized advice. While some of these changes may be due to demographic differences, the effects persist even after controlling for demographics. Participants who use managed accounts tend to save more for retirement, ... despite the use of managed accounts options historically having been relatively low."
401(k) Specialist
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"The year 2020 brought a lot of unexpected togetherness to families and couples. While there have been some positive perks to spending so much time together, it has also added additional stress to relationships. Retirement Plans should ensure they are ready in case the pandemic also leads to an increase in QDROs.... A model QDRO can be very helpful to participants while at the same time facilitating a smoother review process for the Plan administrator. "
Holland & Hart LLP
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"Given these minor retirement provisions, the Coronavirus Relief Bill is likely more notable for what was NOT included, rather than what was -- namely, the extension to any CARES Act deadlines for coronavirus-related distributions, loan repayments, and waivers of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). With none of these deadlines extended past year-end, plan participants can no longer take advantage of CARES Act features in 2021."
Cammack Retirement Group
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Benefits in General
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[Official Guidance]
30 pages. "This rule implements the 2021 annual inflation adjustments, as required by the Inflation Adjustment Act, for civil monetary penalties assessed or enforced by the Department, including H-2B civil monetary penalties. The Inflation Adjustment Act provides that the increased penalty levels apply to any penalties assessed after the effective date of the increase.... The cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2021, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for the month of October 2020, not seasonally adjusted, is 1.01182. In order to compute the 2021 annual adjustment, the Department multiplied the most recent penalty amount for each applicable penalty by the multiplier, 1.01182, and rounded to the nearest dollar. This resulted in increases to all but four of the penalties administered by the Department." [Includes table of effective dates, penalty amounts for
employee benefit plan provisions administered by EBSA, and FMLA penalties administered by WHD.]
U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]
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[Guidance Overview]
"[This article] is an overview of the law's key provisions affecting pension, welfare and fringe benefit programs."
Mintz
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[Guidance Overview]
"[T]his legislation makes the most significant changes to health plans since the [ACA], offers employers and employees additional flexibility for cafeteria plan benefits, and provides additional retirement plan relief.... Action steps for employers include: [1] Coordinate with insurers and/or third-party administrators of health plans to ensure compliance with the surprise billing rules; [2] Request ERISA Section 408(b)(2) disclosures from health plan brokers and consultants, and review those disclosures for reasonableness ... [3] Decide whether to offer some or all of the cafeteria plan and FSA relief ... [4] Evaluate whether layoffs implemented during the pandemic caused a partial plan termination; and [5] Decide whether to offer a qualified disaster distribution or loan option."
Spencer Fane
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[Guidance Overview]
"Initially, the new standards were to apply to audits of plan years ending on or after December 15, 2020, which means they would apply to 2020 plan year audits performed in 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AICPA changed the effective date of the standards to plan years ending after December 15, 2021, extending the implementation of the standards for one year. Plan sponsors of plans subject to ERISA should be aware of the new responsibilities the standards impose on auditors, as these changes also indirectly create new responsibilities for plan sponsors."
Greensfelder
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"Are my delegations of authority accurate and up to date? ... Do I need a committee charter for my ERISA fiduciary committee? ... Do I have to have a committee? How many committees do I need? ... How often should my committee meet? ... Should I have minutes of the committee meetings? If so, what should they contain? ... What is the function of an ERISA appeals committee (or subcommittee), and how should one operate? ... How does my employer's board fulfill its ERISA fiduciary duty to monitor the activities of the committees? ... Should committee members get training on fiduciary duties?"
Winston & Strawn LLP, via Defined Contribution Insights
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"A federal credit union wants to offer its executives a non-qualified plan. As a tax-exempt employer, they had inquired about creating a 457(b) plan. After an initial discussion regarding the deferral limits applicable to 457(b) plans, they wanted to explore either 457(f) or 409A. During my research, I have come across discussions regarding the issue of how FCU's should be classified (PLR 200430013 and IRS Notice 2005-58) and that effect on what type of NQ plan they can sponsor. It's not clear to me whether or not this issue has been resolved, particularly if the plan is just now being created. Can a FCU create and sponsor a new plan under 457(b)? 457(f)? 409A? If so, is there a good reference source for guidance on the best options available?"
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587. Copyright 2021 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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