[Guidance Overview]

Year-End Regulatory Relief for Investment Advisors: DOL Further Delays Enforcement of PTE 2020-02

"Citing practical difficulties caused by the year-end timing, the DOL has extended its non-enforcement policy for compliance with PTE 2020-02 to January 31, 2022, for all requirements other than the specific documentation and disclosure requirements for rollover recommendations. For the documentation and disclosures for rollovers, the non-enforcement policy has been extended to June 30, 2022."  MORE >>

Bradley

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Grants New Extension of Investment Advice Rulemaking

"For the period from Dec. 21, 2021 through Jan. 31, 2022, the DOL will not pursue prohibited transactions claims against investment advice fiduciaries who are working diligently and in good faith to comply with the Impartial Conduct Standards ... for transactions that are exempted in PTE 2020-02, nor will the DOL treat such fiduciaries as violating the applicable prohibited transaction rules. The DOL will not enforce the specific documentation and disclosure requirements for rollovers in PTE 2020-02 through June 30, 2022. All other requirements of the exemption, however, will be subject to full enforcement as of Feb. 1, 2022."  MORE >>

Stradley Ronon

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Guidance Regarding ARPA Multiemployer Plan Relief Rules

"IRS Notice 2021-57 ... gives plan sponsors a roadmap for electing relief. Highlights of the notice include: [1] Freeze elections ... [2] Extension elections ... [3] Special funding rules."  MORE >>

Morgan Lewis

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Lifts Barriers to Help Address Labor Shortage Due to COVID-19

"The new IRS guidance clarifies for employers that now find themselves needing to rehire retirees due to unforeseen circumstances imposed by the COVID-19-related labor shortage that they can do so without concern about plan disqualification."  MORE >>

Ogletree Deakins

Surviving a DOL Cybersecurity Audit (PDF)

"Whether a fiduciary has been highly engaged with cybersecurity or not, the following outlines a fiduciary action plan: [1] Get informed.... [2] Get expert support, if needed.... [3] Data flow & storage.... [4] Assess fiduciary conduct to date.... [5] Develop and implement a service provider cybersecurity strategy.... [6] Document the activities." [See also: Cybersecurity Preparedness Checklist for Plan Fiduciaries.]  MORE >>

Keightley & Ashner LLP, via Bloomberg Law

Cybersecurity Preparedness Checklist for Plan Fiduciaries (PDF)

"Fiduciaries should complete [this] checklist for each service provider ... To the extent questions in this checklist are answered in the negative, consideration should be given to potential changes in policy, procedures, contract terms and/or monitoring[.]" [Also see: Surviving a DOL Cybersecurity Audit]  MORE >>

Keightley & Ashner LLP, via Bloomberg Law

Morningstar Finds ESG Funds Are More Expensive Than Conventional Funds

"The asset-weighted average expense ratio for passive funds fell to 0.12% in 2020 from 0.13% in 2019 ... Active funds ... also had a decline in fees from 0.65% in 2019 to 0.62% in 2020.... The study found a higher asset-weighted average expense ratio for environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds (0.61%) compared with their traditional peers (0.41%)."  MORE >>

planadviser

Estimate of the Financial Effects on Social Security of the 'Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust' Act (PDF)

33 pages. "[E]nactment of these provisions would extend the ability of the OASDI program to pay scheduled benefits in full and on time, by moving the date of projected depletion of the combined OASI and DI Trust Fund reserves from 2034 under current law to 2038 ... In addition, because the payroll tax provision is not temporary, the level of benefits that would be payable would be increased in all years after projected trust fund reserve depletion in 2038."  MORE >>

Office of the Chief Actuary, U.S. Social Security Administration [SSA]

Variable Annuities Propel Total Annuity Sales to Double-Digit Growth in Third Quarter 2021

"Total variable annuity (VA) sales were $30.7 billion in the third quarter, up 28% from prior year. VA sales represented 49% of the total annuity market in the third quarter, the highest level since first quarter 2018. In the first three quarters of 2021, total VA sales were $93.4 billion, 32% higher than prior year."  MORE >>

LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute® [SRI]

Job Satisfaction and Retirement Savings

"Extant work demonstrates that individuals with lower job satisfaction plan to retire earlier which should lead to an increase likelihood of stock market participation.... Even when controlling for standard covariates (e.g., wealth, income, age, gender), lower job satisfaction is strongly associated with lower stock market participation."  MORE >>

Scott Jones, via SSRN

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Disaster Relief Notice MS-2021-03, for Victims of Hurricane Ida in Mississippi

"Victims of Hurricane Ida that began August 28, 2021 now have until January 3, 2022, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments ... Individuals and households affected by remnants of Hurricane Ida that reside or have a business in Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Franklin, George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Pearl River, Pike, Simpson, Walthall, Wayne, and Wilkinson counties qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

FASB Issues Accounting Standards Update to Simplify Valuation of Private Company Stock Options

"Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2021-07 ... amends Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 718, 'Compensation -- Stock Compensation' to simplify the determination of the fair value of a private company stock option or other stock-settled award on the grant date or date the award is modified. The ASU allows private companies to elect a practical expedient to determine the current price of a share underlying a stock option or other stock-settled award using the reasonable application of a reasonable valuation method."  MORE >>

Thomson Reuters Practical Law

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404(c) Protection for Plan That Provides Brokerage Accounts Only?

"Can participant accounts be protected under 404(c) where the only investment vehicle is brokerage accounts (i.e., the trustees offer no suggested funds designed to satisfy the requirement that diverse asset classes be available)?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Participant Retiring, Wants Rollover -- Pay RMD First?

"A participant is retiring. He's not an owner, so he didn't need to take an RMD. Must he take one before a rollover of his account balance into an IRA? The goal is to pay him out before year-end. We don't want to miss an RMD if one is required."

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Reducing Future Accruals Under a DB Plan

"A DB plan had a benefit formula of 6% per year of participation for the first year of the plan. For the second year (takeover for second year), we want to use 3% for each year of participation (of course with a 204(h) notice). However, we want the accrual for this second year to be 3% of comp for this year of participation, without reducing the current accrual due to the benefits earned for the first year -- meaning the total benefit at the end of the second year will be the 6% of comp accrual for the first year plus the 3% of comp accrual for the second year. Based on this, would the following be an appropriate language for the plan document as the plan benefit formula? 'For 12/31/2021 year 6% of average comp, and for 12/31/2022 and future years, 3% of average compensation, WITHOUT WEARAWAY.'"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

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ASPPA Honors Nova 401(k)’s Craig Hoffman

Nova 401(k) Associates

MDsave Launches Transformative Healthcare Purchasing Platform Designed Specifically for Employers

MDsave

► View More Press Releases

Enrolling in a Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan: What Participants Need to Do Now!

November 2, 2021 WEBCAST

Fulcrum Partners, a OneDigital Company

Introduction to 401(k) Plans for Plan Sponsors

December 2, 2021 WEBCAST

Nova 401(k) Associates

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Updating Your 401(k) Plan's Safe Harbor Notice

Faegre Drinker

DOL Extends Temporary Enforcement Policy for Conflicted Fiduciaries, Delays Rollover Enforcement

Eversheds Sutherland

Feeling Like a Yo-Yo? Latest Swing in ESG Investments and ERISA's Fiduciary Duties

Seyfarth