Retirement Plans Newsletter

February 2, 2021

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[Guidance Overview]

Puerto Rico Allows Rollovers from Government Plan to Private Employer Plans

"On January 20, 2021, the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury [Hacienda] issued Administrative Determination No. 21-01 (AD 21-01), which provides that lump-sum distributions from the retirement plan for Puerto Rico government employees are eligible for direct and indirect rollovers into Puerto Rico-qualified retirement plans maintained by private-sector employers. In practice, however, this determination is unlikely to have much of an impact on the operation of private-sector employer plans." Icon to read more

Ogletree Deakins

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Sponsored by ASC


[Guidance Overview]

No More Missing Pieces: DOL Issues Guidance on Missing Participants

"Plan sponsors or fiduciaries should: [1] prepare or update written plan procedures ... to include the 'best practices' set forth in the DOL guidance; [2] review the DOL's new 'red flag' checklist, and take action to eliminate any red flag items that could apply; [3] confirm that plan recordkeepers and third-party administrators are implementing and following the plan's procedures ... [4] clean up data and file feeds to their recordkeeper/third-party administrator; [5] contact participants (both current and terminated/retired) and beneficiaries on a periodic basis to confirm or update their contact information." Icon to read more

Sidley Austin LLP

Lost and Found: Claiming Behavior in Abandoned Retirement Accounts

"[In] 2016, Americans held an estimated 70,000 unclaimed retirement accounts totaling $38 million.... [In] Massachusetts, where owners must initiate claims, only 3.4% of unclaimed retirement accounts reported in 2016 were 'reclaimed' within two years; in Wisconsin, where the state auto-matches unclaimed funds with owners using Social Security matches, a striking 67% of funds were reclaimed in that same time period.... [A] failure to consolidate accounts -- an action that could prevent them from becoming unclaimed -- arises in part due to plan defaults and rollover difficulties." Icon to read more

Center for Financial Security, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Plan Sponsors Aren't Warming Up to Provisions of the SECURE Act

"Just 5% of plan sponsors surveyed said they already allow employees to withdraw up to $5,000 from their retirement plan accounts for the birth or adoption of a child, while 15% said they were very interested in the provision.... Only 1% of plan sponsors surveyed said they are very interested in joining a pooled employer plan (PEP), and only 4% are moderately interested. The rest indicated they are not at all interested in joining a PEP." Icon to read more

PLANSPONSOR; free registration may be required

Interest in Personalized Advice Managed Accounts Likely to Increase

"The shift to remote work has undeniably led to an increase in the use of managed accounts in defined contribution (DC) plans. Interactions between investment experts and participants that used to be in person have moved online ... likely hindering engagement levels in retirement plans in general.... Swift personal changes in the era of COVID-19, including layoffs, furloughs and the financial insecurity that followed, also led to a higher demand for personalized coaching.... As COVID-19 uproots the lives of many, some younger investors are searching for options that no longer just take their age into account." Icon to read more

planadviser

The Fiduciary Perils of Selling Short

"[T]he act of short-selling supplies a critical support to the capital markets.... By paying attention to the short interest in publicly-traded companies, securities analysts can get a better idea of the true value of those stocks.... [T]here are situations when it does make sense to sell short that are consistent with one's fiduciary duty. Still, the dangers are there and it's best to proceed into this financial minefield only with the most expert of advice." Icon to read more

Fiduciary News; free registration required

A New Start to an Elusive Rule for Plan Investments?

"The fiduciary standard was the ideal at the center of the Obama-era [DOL's] Conflict of Interest Rule, so much so that it was known as the fiduciary rule. It was struck down in court, and the Trump administration put together another rule that is not altogether loved by anyone. Will the Biden administration scrap that one as well and resurrect the fiduciary approach? Or is the Trump rule a new starting point?" Icon to read more

InsuranceNewsNet.com

Millennials' Readiness for Retirement: A 2019 Update

"New data for 2019 show that Millennials are catching up in the labor market and in getting married and buying houses. However, despite also having similar retirement saving, Millennials' huge student debt burden still leaves them well behind prior cohorts in wealth accumulation. This slower wealth buildup is of particular concern as Millennials will need more than prior cohorts due to longer lifespans and less support from Social Security." Icon to read more

Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Committee Chairmen Introduce Multiemployer Pension Plan Reform in House

"The multiemployer plan provisions of EPPRA focus on preserving the currently failing multiemployer pension system.... [T]he most significant proposed change ... would be a new partition program ... [which] seeks to achieve three main goals: [1] Improve the funded status of certain multiemployer pensions by partitioning off a portion of those plans to the PBGC; [2] Save the multiemployer fund of the PBGC with a bailout aimed at those partitions from the General Fund of the US Treasury; and [3] Save a remaining, better funded and therefore more stable multiemployer pension fund system, encouraging greater employer participation in these funds and with it, creation of more union jobs." Icon to read more

October Three Consulting

FAS87 ASC715 Discount Rates and Moody's Rates, January 29, 2021

An unofficial monthly report of the Moody's Daily Long-term Corporate Bond Yield Averages and Moody's Daily Treasury Yield Averages (used as benchmarks by some corporate pension plans). Icon to read more

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Benefits in General

Tips for Including Benefits When Onboarding New Employees

"[1] Consult with your onboarding team.... [2] Showcase your benefits in offer letters.... [3] Create a benefits-focused email for onboarding new employees.... [4] Ensure that initial training discusses company perks.... [5] Produce customized visuals.... [6] Outline the transition for family members.... [7] Immediately educate on the ACA.... [8] Highlight and encourage enrollment in your wellness and other benefits programs." Icon to read more

Tango Health

Executive Compensation
and Nonqualified Plans

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Finalizes Regs for Section 4960 Excise Tax on Executive Compensation Paid by Tax-Exempt Entities

"The IRS has rejected requests to grandfather amounts paid under agreements that were in effect before Section 4960 was passed.... [T]he Treasury and IRS rejected requests to count only remuneration paid by an ATEO for services provided to the ATEO.... Under the Final Regulations, every ATEO must have its own list of covered employees.... [If] an individual is employed by more than one related ATEO, he or she could be a covered employee of more than one ATEO.... Treasury and the IRS rejected requests to take deferred compensation into account for purposes of Section 4960 when the applicable amounts are included in income." Icon to read more

Proskauer

Selected Discussions
on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

► It's easy to sign up and participate in discussions! Post answers, ask questions, create custom feeds and views. Join your peers (and potential referral sources or customers)—there is no charge.

Contributions Based on Compensation Over the Limit -- Keep Accepting But Count as After-Tax?

"The payroll system for this client capped the compensation at the annual of $285,000 for 2020. Instead of contributions stopping because the compensation limit was met, the contributions are still deducted but as after-tax. Wouldn't the client had to have something in the document allowing for after-tax contributions in order for this to happen?" Icon to read more

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Press Releases

Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

The New E-Delivery Rule: The Price of Simplification
Fred Reish, Bruce Ashton and Stephen Pennartz, via American Retirement Association [ARA]

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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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