[Guidance Overview]

Form 5500 Clarification... Better Late Than Never

"[D]oes a plan that was adopted after the end of the 2020 but effective for 2020 (and for which there were no plan assets as of December 31, 2020) need to file a Form 5500 for the 2020 year?.... [S]ix days after the normal Form 5500 deadline for calendar year 2020 plans, [the IRS answered] 'no, you do not need to file a form.' This applies to Forms 5500, 5500-SF, and 5500-EZ.... If you filed a Form 5558 for such a plan, it is not clear whether a subsequent failure to file a related Form 5500 will cause the IRS to follow up."  MORE >>

Ferenczy Benefits Law Center

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SPARK Forum - November 7-9, 2021 -- The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

3 days packed with actionable insights for advisors, recordkeepers and plan providers. Explore latest trends, strategies and ideas to lead through disruption. Join the retirement event with the most senior audience and network with purpose. Register Now.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Publishes Updated Version of EPCRS

"The revised EPCRS provides two new correction methods defined benefit plans may use to address overpayments. The Funding Exception Method is available to both single employer and multiemployer plans, while the Contribution Credit Correction Method is only available to single employer plans.... [T]he guidance now permits plan sponsors to seek recoupment of an overpayment by entering into an installment agreement with the recipient of the overpayment."  MORE >>

Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.

Seventh Circuit Revives State Law Claims Against Executives Acting as 'Dual-Hat' Fiduciaries

"The Court reasoned that ERISA did not preempt state law corporate claims against executives who serve dual roles as both corporate fiduciaries and ERISA fiduciaries because such state claims did not interfere with how Congress intended ERISA fiduciary duties to operate ... Also important to the Panel was the concept that as to these state-law claims, Plaintiffs were not circumventing ERISA's remedial scheme.... The exclusive benefit rule's preemptive force ... protected the Trust Company's retained independent appraiser against state-law liability." [Halperin v. Richards, No. 20-2793 (7th Cir. Jul. 28, 2021)]  MORE >>

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Withdrawal Liability: Real Property Presumed a Trade or Business

"[The court opinion explains] there is a rebuttable presumption that leasing real property to a withdrawing employer is a trade or business. It had no trouble disposing of the brothers' attempts to rebut the presumption and affirming the district court's judgment in favor of the Local 705 Pension Fund." [Local 705 Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters Pension Fund v. Pitello, No. 20-2142 (7th Cir. Jul. 7, 2021)]  MORE >>

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Who Is Responsible for Plan Mistakes? Benefits of Outsourcing Plan Administration

"Because they rely on their vendors to operate their plans, plan sponsors may mistakenly think that their recordkeeper is the legal plan administrator responsible to fix these mistakes. To understand why administrative responsibility has not been legally delegated to their recordkeepers, plan sponsors need to review their service agreements."  MORE >>

Cohen & Buckmann, P.C.

How Important Are Beneficiary Forms?

"Participants who are auto-enrolled into the company's 401(k) plan may miss declaring a beneficiary since they do not really enroll themselves into the plan. Plan sponsors who auto-enroll their participants should request workers to complete a beneficiary designation form as part of the auto enrollment process."  MORE >>

Retirement Management Services, LLC

Taking Stock: One Corporate Plan's Journey of Terminating Its Pension

"As the plan sponsor enters the final stretch of terminating its defined benefit plan, our client needed to consolidate the plan's liability-hedging managers into a single manager to simplify implementation, further refine the liability hedge, and potentially allow for an asset-in-kind transfer. Subsequently, the focus shifted to selecting an insurance company for the final transaction."  MORE >>

NEPC

Congress Aims to Raise Limits for Catch-Up Contributions

"[A] House bill [would] allow savers aged 62, 63, or 64 to make catch-up contributions totaling up to $10,000 for a 401(k), up from $6,500.... [T]hat bill would also eliminate the pre-tax aspect of those contributions, effectively bumping them into the Roth category.... The Senate bill ... would allow for $10,000 catch-ups to 401(k) plans for savers 60 and older. Those contributions would also be eligible to go in tax-free so savers can reap an immediate tax break."  MORE >>

USA TODAY

The QLAC Delaying Strategy for RMDs

"A [qualified longevity annuity contract (QLAC)] allows for a transfer of traditional IRA funds to be used to purchase an annuity.... [T]he amount that has been transferred to buy the QLAC doesn't have any required minimum distributions until the predetermined payout date for the annuity--the latest being when the person reaches age 85.... [A] married couple could each set up their own QLAC and assign their spouse as a joint annuitant, which would double [these] results."  MORE >>

EisnerAmper

Enrolled Actuaries Program Booklet (PDF)

36 pages, Jul. 19, 2021. Includes Pension EA-2 (Segment F), Nov. 2021; Basic EA-1, May 2022; and Pension EA-2 (Segment L), May 2022  MORE >>

American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA]; Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries [JBEA]; Society of Actuaries

Text of ASOP No. 4: Measuring Pension Obligations and Determining Pension Plan Costs or Contributions (Third Exposure Draft)

"One of the suggestions made by the Pension Task Force was the calculation and disclosure of a solvency value for all valuations of pension plans done for funding purposes. This disclosure was referred to as an investment risk defeasement measure in the first exposure draft and a low-default-risk obligation measure in this and the second exposure draft. The ASB believes that the calculation and disclosure of this measure provides appropriate, useful information for the intended user regarding the funded status of a pension plan."  MORE >>

Actuarial Standards Board, American Academy of Actuaries

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Amend Plan to Prospectively Exclude Employee Group Currently Covered by Plan?

"Can a plan be amended say effective 1/1/2022 to prospectively (2022 and later years) exclude employees who previously met eligible and were covered under the plan?"

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NWPS Continues to Add to Its Business Development Team with Another Industry Professional: Timothy Loehr CPFA

NWPS

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IRS Updates the EPCRS Correction Program

August 19, 2021 WEBCAST

ASC

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IRS Cancels 5500 Filing Requirement for Certain Plans Adopted After 2020 Year-End

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Potential Changes to the U.S. Retirement System Are on the Horizon

Schneider Downs

Pros and Cons of Pooled Employer Plans

Venable LLP