New! View All ARPA News and Resources

New! View All ARPA Webcasts

BenefitsLink.com logo
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com logo

Retirement Plans Newsletter

March 24, 2021

6 Jobs Today

 

[Guidance Overview]

Exceptional Usefulness and Quality icon Single-Employer Pension Plan Funding Relief: An Explanation for Non-Actuaries (PDF)

"ARPA provides two forms of general funding relief: enhanced interest rate stabilization and extended amortization of funding shortfalls. This will provide many employers with flexibility to smooth out funding obligations over longer time periods -- flexibility that may be needed to avoid disruptive cost-cutting measures and, for some employers, to ensure the very survival of both the employer and the pension plan."  MORE >>

Keightley & Ashner LLP

[Sponsor]

Don’t Miss a Restatement Deadline Ever Again!

Missing a plan document restatement can be a costly mistake. Reduce your risk! Discover how ASC’s CRMW software automatically tracks your restatement deadlines. Plus ASC’s CRMW and Plan Document System work together to share data. Learn More!

Sponsored by ASC

[Guidance Overview]

Upcoming Deadline icon Stimulus DB Funding Relief: Plan Sponsor Decisions Needed Now

"Single-employer defined benefit plan interest rate stabilization and funding relief included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) presents DB sponsors with a number of short-run decisions."  MORE >>

October Three Consulting

[Guidance Overview]

Broker-Dealer Services to Plans and IRAs: Impact of the DOL Fiduciary Advice Exemption

"The PTE will likely affect the business of broker-dealers that regularly make investment recommendations to IRA owners, as well as retirement plans and their participants ... [B]roker-dealers need to re-evaluate whether and when they (and their investment professionals) may be fiduciaries, and ... need to develop compliant practices, policies and procedures."  MORE >>

Faegre Drinker

[Guidance Overview]

What's the 5-Year Rule for IRA and Qualified Plan Beneficiaries?

"[An] inherited retirement assets must be fully distributed by the end of the 5th year, following the year the participant (owner of an IRA or account under an employer plan) dies.... [D]istributions are optional for years one through four. The applicability of the five-year rule depends on when the account was inherited."  MORE >>

Appleby Retirement Dictionary

Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of Fidelity 'Infrastructure Fee' Lawsuit

"Fidelity describes the fee as compensation for the costs of maintaining the platform. But the plaintiffs alleged the fee is a 'pay-to-play' charge for access to Fidelity's retirement plan investors that violates Fidelity's ERISA fiduciary duties.... The appellate court, like the lower court, rejected all of the plaintiffs' theories for fiduciary status[.]" [In re Fidelity ERISA Fee Litigation, Wong v. FMR LLC, No. 20-1286 (1st Cir. Mar. 5, 2021)]  MORE >>

Mercer

Financial Advisor Designations and What They Mean

"There are over 100 different financial advisor certifications, so it can be confusing to determine what these letters mean, and which advisor might be best for you based on these qualifications.... [Here are] some of the most common financial designations and what they mean for you."  MORE >>

Wealthspire Advisors

Impact of COVID on Higher Education Retirement Plans

"39% think their employees are 'very prepared' for retirement 87% think the COVID-19 pandemic will have a significant impact on their employees' retirement readiness 41% have already reduced or stopped their employer contribution as a result of COVID-19 19% of plan sponsors report an average contribution rate of more than 6%"  MORE >>

Voya

Marylanders Concerned About State's Ability to Fund State Employee Pensions

"63 percent of Marylanders agree that reducing the estimated $500 million in annual fees paid to the fund's investment management firms is the best way to close the shortfall.... [N]early half of voters (48%) support shifting future state employees to 401(k) style retirement accounts[.]"  MORE >>

Maryland Public Policy Institute

[Opinion]

How the COVID Relief Bill Saves Union Pensions

"The rescue is aimed at the roughly one in 10 multiemployer pension plans that are running out of money to pay benefits.... [CBO] estimates the rescue would cost about $86 billion. About 185 union pension plans are likely to receive assistance, but the number could be as high as 336."  MORE >>

Northwest Labor Press

[Opinion]

Stimulus Wrongly Bails Out Underfunded Multiemployer and Public Employee Plans

"Not only is this uncharted territory, but the bailout plan will result in what economists refer to as 'moral hazard.' ... By having taxpayers protect unions from the results of poor management, it discourages them from embracing reforms."  MORE >>

Orange County Register

[Opinion]

Money — But No Lasting Fixes — for Multiemployer Pension Plans

"[T]he package sidesteps action on needed structural reforms that, to date, have been impossible to enact through a bipartisan approach. In essence, the money contained in the latest stimulus bill is a fix -- some call it a bailout -- for troubled plans, and provides only a temporary reprieve for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp."  MORE >>

Pensions & Investments

[Opinion]

Retirement Plan Trends from a Recovering Economy (PDF)

"Employers and employees realizing the disadvantages of savings account plans will welcome the efficiency of bona fide pension plans that benefit the older, longer-service employees who have contributed the most to building a business."  MORE >>

H.C. Foster & Company

Benefits in General

Jury Trials in ERISA Cases in the Eleventh Circuit?

"[T]he court denied John Hancock's motion [to strike the jury trial demand]. The court stated at the outset that the issue had not yet been decided by the Eleventh Circuit ... and further found that there were district court decisions on both sides of the issue within the circuit." [Romano v. John Hancock Life Ins. Co., No. 19-21147 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 12, 2021) ]  MORE >>

Kantor & Kantor

Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans

Exceptional Usefulness and Quality icon Tax-Return Errors to Avoid with Employee Stock Purchase Plans

"[1] Paying tax too early on the discount.... [2] Not filing Form 8949 after an immediate sale of ESPP shares at purchase.... [3] Directly using what appears as the cost basis on your Form 1099-B.... [4] Paying the wrong tax on the discount.... [5] Using the wrong price when there is no lookback.... [6] Paying tax twice on the discount."  MORE >>

Bruce Brumberg, JD, via Forbes; subscription may be required

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as DC/DB Retirement Plan Administrator
for Steidle Pension Solutions View job as DC/DB Retirement Plan Administrator
for Steidle Pension Solutions

DC/DB Retirement Plan Administrator

Steidle Pension Solutions

Telecommute / NJ / PA

View job as Retirement Planner Consultant
for Heller Wealth Management

Retirement Planner Consultant

Heller Wealth Management

Melville NY

View job as Inside Sales Specialist - Retirement - 401k
for Newport

Inside Sales Specialist - Retirement - 401k

Newport

Charlotte NC

View job as Account Services Rep (Entry-Level)
for Newport

Account Services Rep (Entry-Level)

Newport

La Crosse WI

View job as Plan Documents Administrator
for Associated Pension Consultants

Plan Documents Administrator

Associated Pension Consultants

Telecommute

View job as Defined Benefit / Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Qualified Plan Administrators, Inc.

Defined Benefit / Defined Contribution Plan Administrator

Qualified Plan Administrators, Inc.

Telecommute / Greensboro NC

Selected New Discussions

20% Was Withheld But Not Sent to IRS Until Subsequent Plan Year

"Terminated employee in DC Plan elected a lump sum. 20% was withheld as required. The 20% sat in the plan until the following plan year when it was sent to the IRS. The 80% that the employee received as a lump sum was shown on the 5500-SF in the year it was received. The 20% withholding was shown on the following year's 5500-SF (because it sat in the plan assets until the following plan year). Are there potential penalties for this? Can this be rectified?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Press Releases

Veteran to Help OneAmerica®Boost East Coast Sales Territory Presence

OneAmerica

Former EBSA Official Wilson Rejoins Groom Law Group

Groom Law Group

Husch Blackwell Launches COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Generator

Husch Blackwell

Wharton Advisors Corporation Teams up with The Wealth Engineering Family of Companies

WealthEngineering

Webcasts and Conferences

Unfinished Business: Guidance and Questions Under the SECURE Act

April 8, 2021 WEBCAST

ERIC [ERISA Industry Committee]

Trends in Fee Benchmarking for Plan Sponsors

April 14, 2021 WEBCAST

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors

2021 is Bringing More Change than We Expected: What You Need to Know about What’s Going on in Washington DC

April 22, 2021 WEBCAST

Western Pension & Benefits Council - Orange County Chapter

Savings Considerations for Minorities in America

April 29, 2021 WEBCAST

EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

IRS Draft Instructions for Form 5310: Application for Determination for Terminating Plan (PDF)

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Emerging Theories of Liability in ERISA Litigation and Lessons Learned for Plan Fiduciaries (PDF)

Trucker Huss

Comparison of Retirement Programs Available to Church and Church-Related Employers (PDF)

Ice Miller LLP

Unsubscribe  |   Change Email Address

Search Past Issues   |   Privacy Policy

Submit an Article   |   Contact Us   |   Advertise Here

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.

BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

Links to web sites other than BenefitsLink.com and EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com are offered as a service to our readers. We are not involved in their production and are not responsible for their content.