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Retirement Plans Newsletter
May 13, 2021
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► 6 New Job Opportunities
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[Guidance Overview]
New York City Adopts Mandatory Auto-IRA Program
"[T]he default employee contribution rate will be 5%, which employees could opt out of at any time or adjust down or up to the annual IRA maximum. Savings in the plan will be portable, allowing employees to continue to contribute or roll over their accounts into other retirement savings plans when they switch jobs. " MORE >>
American Retirement Association [ARA]
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[Guidance Overview]
GASB 97 Has Been Released: What's New, What to Do, and What You Need to Know
"With the issuance of GASB 97, the board stated that it believes Section 457 plans could indeed be pensions. Therefore, Section 457 plans which fit the definition of a pension trigger the same reporting requirements of any other pension plan." MORE >>
Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC
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Updated Guidance on Managing Missing Participants
"It's tempting to think that a small, vested balance probably won't make much difference in a participant's financial life so why worry if a small-balance participant drops off the radar? That approach is problematic, however, because plans have both fiduciary requirements and practical motivations to make timely delivery of vested benefits." MORE >>
WealthManagement.com
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Plans with ESG Options See Larger Contribution Rates
"Of those who said their DC plan did not offer ESG investment options or did not know, 69% said they would or might increase their overall contribution rate if they were offered ESG options. Only 31% said they would not." MORE >>
PLANSPONSOR; free registration may be required
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Consolidation Isn't the Answer for Public Employee Pension Funds, Says New Research
"Public pension funds that merge with their peers have historically hailed it as a smart way to cut costs and achieve economies of scale. But the strategy of consolidating funds, particularly for large ones, is not yielding the benefits it once once did ... In fact, for some funds, the economies of scale they are achieving is 'rather mediocre'[.]" MORE >>
Institutional Investor
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Social Security COLA Likely to Jump to 4.5% in 2022
"The Kiplinger Letter is forecasting that the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits for 2022 will be 4.5%, the biggest jump since 2008, when benefits rose 5.8%.... [T]he Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group, projects that the annual cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 will be 4.7%[.]" MORE >>
Kiplinger
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DOL Secretary Walsh Lonely at Top Without Deputies to Advance Labor Agenda
"[EBSA] pumped the brakes earlier this year on a series of late-term Trump regulations ... Now, decisions on whether to advance new regulations to replace rules affecting fiduciary guidance, sustainable investing, and other policy areas likely depend on a Senate-confirmed assistant secretary ... A nomination hasn't been announced." MORE >>
Bloomberg Law
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[Opinion]
Multiemployer Pension Plans Await ARPA 2.0
"While the ARPA, in its present form, is certainly well-intentioned and a promising start, ... it requires further clarification and/or modification if it is to succeed in its goal of helping troubled pension plans achieve solvency." MORE >>
NEPC
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Benefits in General |
Permanent Changes on the Job Due to the Pandemic
"Virtual meetings are opening up the marketplace.... The pandemic (and Zoom revolution) may be killing off the traditional wholesaling model.... Advisory firms are taking the opportunity to hire anywhere, and also to reduce home office space.... Advisory firms may be permanently more efficient as a result of the pandemic.... Virtual meetings may be slightly less personal than in-person meetings, but that has been more than made up for by greater frequency of contact." MORE >>
Bob Veres in Inside Information
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Soaring Retirement Healthcare Price Tag Calls for Some Careful Planning
"[R]etirees do not need all that money at the start of retirement, because in fact they will spend it across a retirement of 20 or more years.... Eighty percent of the dollars in Fidelity's forecast will be spent on Medicare Part B and D premiums and the program's cost-sharing provisions, including co-payments, coinsurance and deductibles." MORE >>
Reuters
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[Opinion]
Second Opinion(s) on Health Cost 'Coverage' During Retirement
"Ultimately, these types of projections serve to remind us that health care costs need to be contemplated as a part of retirement expenses -- and that, at the extremes, those costs can quickly wipe out funds set aside for living expenses.... [We] should keep in mind that those attention-grabbing lump sum numbers are, at best, an estimate that attempts to put a framework around a very specific aspect of retirement spending--one that for the vast majority won't come due all at once, but over decades, one that may well not emerge until much later in retirement, one that may never ever arise in that projected magnitude." MORE >>
Nevin Adams, Esq., via American Retirement Association [ARA]
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Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans |
Retaining Key Talent When There's a Rush to Retire
"Filling lower-level jobs left open by post-pandemic workplace transitions is a challenge. But what if your organization loses some of its key talent to early retirement? How well can your company function if multiple top executives all find the idea of an early exit very appealing? Creatively designed nonqualified deferred compensation plans (NQDC) serve the objectives both of employers and executives in a variety of ways." MORE >>
Fulcrum Partners LLC
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Employee Benefits Jobs |
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Selected New Discussions |
Solo 401(k) Established But Not Funded
"I have a prospective client who established a Solo 401k for him and his wife last year. He did not fund it. Turns out he has a part-time employee who was eligible. There is no hours or service requirement. Document preparer said that's the default when completing documents. He doesn't mind paying a safe match contribution to the employee, but the issue is that she was not offered the opportunity to defer. But how do we correct for the missed deferral opportunity when nobody deferred? Is it possible to correct the original plan document to align with the client's intention? Retroactive amendment? Can we just pretend the plan never happened since it was funded or filed with the IRS? (Just kidding.)"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Can an ERISA Plan Invest in a Medical Marijuana Company?
"What are your thoughts on whether an ERISA plan can participate in a private equity fund that invests in a medical marijuana processing company?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Press Releases |
ICARE and Global Health Metrics Pioneer Health Risk Assessment Tool for Addiction Awareness
International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education [ICARE]
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Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon Prime Are Offering Customers New Ways to Save Money and Understand Prescription Medication Costs
Amazon
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Pentegra Introduces Fiduciary Scorecard™ to Measure Plan Success
Pentegra Retirement Services
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Wellbeats Named Best Overall Fitness Technology Company in 2021 MedTech Breakthrough Awards Program
Wellbeats
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Webcasts and Conferences (Retirement Plans or Exec Comp) |
Retirement Confidence Since COVID: Workplace Retirement Savings Plans and Retiree Spending
May 18, 2021 WEBCAST
EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]
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FASB / ASC 715: An Overview of Accounting for (Small) Defined Benefit Pension Plans
July 21, 2021 WEBCAST
American Society of Enrolled Actuaries [ASEA]
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
Don't Look Now, But Is That a New SECURE Act on the Horizon?
Seyfarth
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SECURE 2.0 Reported Out of House Ways and Means Committee with Unanimous Bipartisan Support
October Three Consulting
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The Littler Annual Employer Survey 2021 (PDF)
Littler
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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