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Retirement Plans Newsletter
September 28, 2021
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► 4 New Job Opportunities
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[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Proposed Regs and Hearing Notice: Enrolled Agent Special Enrollment Examination and the ERPA Special Enrollment Examination
"The proposed regulations increase the amount of the user fee for each part of the special enrollment examination for enrolled agents (EA SEE). The proposed regulations also remove the user fee for the special enrollment examination for enrolled retirement plan agents (ERPA SEE) because the IRS no longer offers the ERPA SEE or new enrollment as an enrolled retirement plan agent." MORE >>
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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[Sponsor]
ERISApedia.com – Operational Benchmark Reports
Show clients/prospects your value add with our best in class Operational Benchmark Reports. To get a free Benchmark Report email or call Maureen Pesek (mpesek@erisapedia.com / 612-444-3665)
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Ninth Circuit Joins Fourth Circuit in Holding That Equitable Estoppel Is Barred Where Use Would Contradict Express Terms of ESOP
"The Ninth Circuit ... explained that ... [if the ESOP's trustee] is correct that the ESOP overpaid for the company stock sold to it by Mr. Kemper, then applying equitable estoppel would require the ESOP to pay greater than the fair market value of the shares on their date of purchase. This would contravene the express terms of the ESOP, which requires that the shares be purchased at fair market value on the date of purchase." [Wong v. Flynn-Kerper, No. 19-56289 (9th Cir. Jun. 7, 2021)] MORE >>
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
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District Court Dismisses Investment and Recordkeeping Fee Claims Against 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries
"The court first rejected plaintiff's claim that the [plan sponsor and the retirement plan committee appointed by the plan sponsor] should have offered a passively managed target date suite in lieu of a more expensive and underperforming actively managed target date suite because 'actively managed funds and passively managed funds are not ideal comparators.' ... [T]he court also disposed of plaintiff's claims that, as a whole, the plan's investment options were too expensive and that the plan's recordkeeping fees were too high." [Smith v. CommonSpirit Health, No. 20-095 (E.D. Ky. Sept. 8, 2021)] MORE >>
Proskauer
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Who Is Liable for TPA or Recordkeeper Mistakes?
"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 >>
Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM]; membership may be required to view article
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PBGC Improves Multiemployer Outlook Due to ARPA
"Because the new projections show a continued high likelihood of insolvency at some point in the future, the report concludes that current premium levels ... would not support an increase in the multiemployer benefit guarantee level at this time. Given the significant uncertainty related to the impact of SFA on the projected solvency of plans, as well as the risk of insolvency of plans not eligible to receive SFA, the five-year report says, it is difficult to determine at this time what corresponding changes in PBGC's Multiemployer Program will be necessary to maintain long-term solvency." MORE >>
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]
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Strategies for Roth IRAs
"While most advice encourages investors to avoid touching their Roth IRA for as long as possible, there are several strategies to maximize its utility. Three strategies include using a Roth IRA as a 'savings account,' reducing taxable accounts, and providing relief for early retirees." MORE >>
Kiplinger
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Unexpected Retirement: What If Retirement Happens Sooner Than You Planned?
"[Y]ounger Americans (Gen Y) on average expect to be able to retire by age 59.... Baby Boomers on average, identify their target retirement age as 68. But as the past eighteen months have clearly underscored, sometimes even the best laid plans go awry. As employees and executives plan for retirement, they should concurrently plan for the possibility that unexpected retirement can, and does, affect millions of American workers." MORE >>
Fulcrum Partners LLC
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[Opinion]
The Forces Shaping Retirement in the 2020s
"The era of trading a long career for a pension, a gold watch and afternoons on the golf course ended long ago. In its place, today's retirees face growing financial pressure from multiple directions ... The remedies for these financial pressures can sometimes exacerbate economic divisions. Retirement for the middle or working class is changing more than retirement for the wealthy." MORE >>
Kiplinger
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Benefits in General |
Preview of 2021-2022 Compensation, Retirement and Benefits Trends Survey
"Salary increases are on the rebound, approaching 3% for executive and salaried exempt employees, and above 3% for the hourly non-exempt workforce.... Companies are implementing, or considering implementing, increased health and welfare benefits for employees. Among retirement plans, financial wellness programs are on the rise." MORE >>
Newport Group
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Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans |
House Ways and Means Proposes Accelerating Changes to Section 162(m)
"Under the proposal, the term 'applicable employee remuneration' would expressly include performance-based compensation, commissions, post-termination compensation and beneficiary payments, thus clarifying the type of compensation that counts toward the $1 million compensation limit on deductibility. The proposal also would clarify that 'applicable employee remuneration' includes compensation for services to a publicly held company even if not directly paid by such company." MORE >>
Shearman & Sterling LLP
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ESG Targets Gain Foothold in Executive Incentive Plans
"[O]ne-in-four U.K. companies have added ESG metrics to long-term incentive programs.... [O]verall, only about one-third of [U.S.] public companies have followed suit. And in the United States, ESG targets are most often part of bonus pay." MORE >>
CFO
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Employee Benefits Jobs |
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Selected New Discussions |
How Do Insurance Policy Cash Values Affect the Required Minimum Distribution from a Profit Sharing Plan?
"Are cash values in a profit sharing plan used in the calculation of a required minimum distribution? I have paid my PS58 costs each year."
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Can Cost of Fidelity Bond Be Assessed to Plan?
"Can the cost of the ERISA fidelity bond be assessed to the plan (from forfeiture) and/or participants?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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401(k) Plan Is Irreparable, Owner Wants to Bail
"401(k) plan is in awful shape, so owner, whose business is in just as bad shape, has asked to terminate it. As far as I can tell he is simply not going to resolve everything and just wants to give the participants whatever balance they can. He also has no intent of paying fees related to VCP and VFCP corrections. So I've basically been asked for help so that participants can get balances paid out. I know the typical response is run, run for your life-- but I've never believed that is truly a solution, nor does that benefit the non-owner participants. Curious as to any thoughts about this."
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Change in Plan Sponsorship from One Controlled Group Member to Another
"Controlled group situation. The entity within the controlled group that sponsors the retirement plan is being sold. Client wants to 'transfer' the sponsorship of the plan to one of the remaining entities within the group. How would we handle the change in the EIN of the sponsor of the plan when filing the 5500?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Press Releases |
K&L Gates Adds New York Partner to Benefits, ESOPs and Executive Compensation Practice
K&L Gates
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The Standard Introduces Accelerate for Small Retirement Plans
The Standard
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Vanguard to Lower Investor Costs by an Estimated $190 Million Through Enhancements to Its Target Retirement Series
Vanguard
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Webcasts and Conferences (Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation) |
What You Should Know About: Profit-Sharing Plans
RECORDED
IRS [Internal Revenue Service]
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
Identifying Exemptions to the Prohibited Transaction Rules (PDF)
Fox Rothschild LLP and Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, via LexisNexis Practical Guidance
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IRS Issues Reminder on Application of Section 415(c) Limit to 403(b) Plans
Morgan Lewis
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A Deeper Dive Into the Build Back Better Act: IRA Provisions
Robert Richter, via American Retirement Association [ARA]
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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