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Retirement Plans Newsletter
November 9, 2021
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5 New Job Opportunities
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[Guidance Overview]
2021 Retirement Plan Year-End Amendments and Operational Compliance
"[This checklist] provides an overview ... to help plan sponsors [1] determine the need to adopt plan amendments before year-end, [2] ensure operational compliance with changes in law, [3] evaluate the implications of potential future plan changes, and
[4] take appropriate action/next steps." MORE >>
Groom Law Group
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[Sponsor]
ASC’s Explanation of the IRS New Revenue Procedures – Free Webcast!
Join John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., recipient of the ASPPA Educator of the Year Award, as he discusses the impact of the new IRS revenue procedures affecting interim amendments and pre-approved 403(b) plans. Learn more!
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[Guidance Overview]
Participation of Long-Term Part-Time Employees in 401(k) Plans
"The clock started on January 1, 2021 for tracking hours to determine eligibility under a 401(k) plan as a long-term, part-time employee.... [P]art-time employees who earn at least 500 hours of service in each of three consecutive 12-month periods be offered the opportunity
to enroll in a 401(k) plan and to make salary deferrals." MORE >>
Kilpatrick Townsend
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[Guidance Overview]
Best Interest Standard of Care for Advisors, Part 72: Factors to Evaluate for an IRA-To-IRA Rollover Recommendation
"It is important that financial institutions understand what account types are contemplated by the DOL's exemption, since covered recommendations will be subject to the conditions of the exemption, including the requirement to provide the retirement investor, in writing, with
the specific reasons why the rollover (e.g., change of account type) is in the retirement investor's best interest." MORE >>
FredReish.com
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[Guidance Overview]
New York State Enacts Mandatory Auto-IRA Law
"[1] Which employers does this apply to? ... [2] When must participating employers join the program? ... [3] So who are the employees that must be enrolled? ... [4] Who is running this program? ... [5] Where are employee contributions
invested and how much is permitted? ... [6] Will this impact the NYC auto-IRA law?" MORE >>
Hodgson Russ LLP
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In ERISA Excessive Fee Cases, Will the Supreme Court Issue Guidance for Dividing the Plausible Sheep from the Meritless Goats? (PDF)
"This article will examine the arguments on appeal and the broader influence the Hughes decision will have on the pleading standard in fiduciary litigation as the Supreme Court attempts to walk a tightrope in balancing the competing Congressional aims of ERISA." [Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 18-2569 (7th Cir. Mar. 25, 2020; cert. pet. granted No. 19-1401, Jul. 2,
2020)] MORE >>
Fox Rothschild LLP, via Bloomberg Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal
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'RISE' Up: Bipartisan Retirement Reform Bill Introduced in House
"The chairman and ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee have introduced -- and plan to act on -- bipartisan legislation that shares some overlap with SECURE Act 2.0.
The Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement (RISE) Act (HR 5891) was introduced Nov. 5 ... The Education and Labor Committee ... plans to mark up the RISE Act on Wed., Nov. 10 ... The markup will be livestreamed ... [A summary of the bill is avalable.]" MORE >>
American Retirement Association [ARA]
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Investment Defaults and Retirement Savings Allocations: A Case Study
"The investment default structure significantly affects default take-up, the 'stickiness' of the default, and the contribution allocations of all plan participants. Participants who joined under the money-market default -- compared to the target date fund
default -- were less likely to accept the default, and their overall contribution had a lower average percentage of equity. Participants with greater financial literacy and experience were less likely to use the default, preferring to customize their investment portfolio instead." MORE >>
TIAA Institute
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Mandatory Retirement: Can You Legally Move 'Em Off the Lot?
"A mandatory retirement age is a form of discrimination since it is tantamount to an involuntary termination. That is the case even where the employer has a retirement policy to which the employee agrees when hired.... The issue of mandatory retirement becomes more complex when
the older worker is an equity partner and not technically an employee." MORE >>
Foley & Lardner LLP
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CRS 'In Focus' on the Windfall Elimination Provision in Social Security: Proposals for a New Proportional Formula
"As of 2017, SSA has 35 years of data on earnings from both covered and noncovered employment. This data's availability means that the proportional formula is now an option for Congress to consider.... Two bills introduced in 2021 would replace the current-law WEP approach
with a proportional formula for certain individuals who would become eligible for Social Security benefits in 2023 or later[.]" [IF11355, updated Nov. 9, 2021] MORE >>
Congressional Research Service [CRS]
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[Opinion]
Amicus Brief Filed by CIEBA Supporting Clear Limits on Pleading Standards in ERISA Fee Litigation (PDF)
"ERISA was intended to ensure the fair and prudent administration of employee retirement plans. It was not intended to empower federal judges to second-guess the fee selections of fiduciaries in a competitive market. Nor was it designed to facilitate an enormous wealth transfer
from plan fiduciaries to the plaintiffs' bar, with no benefit to plan participants. Meritorious claims should prevail, but the type of cookie-cutter nuisance lawsuits that have become so prevalent must meet a swift end." [Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 18-2569
(7th Cir. Mar. 25, 2020; cert. pet. granted No. 19-1401, Jul. 2, 2020)] MORE >>
Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets Inc. [CIEBA]
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[Opinion]
What the Ascensus Purchase of Newport Group Means to Advisers
"This deal almost certainly means that 401(k) record keepers will move to stage four of the consolidation curve in the next three years, the stage in which five to seven providers have a 70% to 90% share of the market.... But there are still more than 40 national record keepers,
as well as over 400 regional record-keeping TPAs, not to mention well-funded fintechs like Vestwell and Guideline." MORE >>
InvestmentNews; subscription may be required
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[Opinion]
Post Separation Leakage Is 'Huge Problem'
"[E]very year, somewhere between 30% and 40% of all job-changing participants will cash out from $60 billion to $100 billion in the first year following separation, and about two-thirds of that leakage is ... not driven by a true financial emergency....
When ... small-balance participants change jobs, they face challenges.... Unfortunately, the 'path of least resistance' is to cash out when the easiest choice should be to move their retirement savings forward." MORE >>
Fiduciary News; free registration required
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[Opinion]
My SFA Liability Rate Blunder, But...
"In reviewing the amounts that insolvent multiemployer plans were asking from the government under the PBGC Special Financial Assistance program I
noticed that the Carpenters Industrial Council of Eastern PA Pension Plan was looking for much more money when compared to their RPA liabilities then every other plan.... I now see my mistake." MORE >>
Burypensions
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Benefits in General |
[Guidance Overview]
Year-End Deadlines and Considerations for Employee Benefit Plans
"With the end of the year fast approaching, employers should be aware of several important deadlines and considerations related to retirement and health and welfare plans. With the onslaught of recent COVID-19-related legislation, 2021's year-end employee benefit plan
checklist is more complicated than usual." MORE >>
Husch Blackwell
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Employee Benefits Jobs |
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Paralegal
IAM National Pension Fund
Washington DC
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Selected New Discussions |
Wants to Set Up Pension Plan for 2021 But SIMPLE Plan Already in Existence
"I was asked for 2021 combo plan designs but now am told that there's a SIMPLE in existence. They cannot do any qualified plan for 2021, correct?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Press Releases |
Centivo Launches Integrated Virtual Advanced Primary Care Offering
Centivo
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NPPG's Strategic Growth Continues by Acquiring Consulting Actuaries Incorporated
NPPG
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The Wagner Law Group Ranked 'Tier 1' ERISA and Employee Benefits Law Firm for 2022
Wagner Law Group P.C.
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
Draft Instructions for 2021 IRS Form 8955-SSA: Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Vested Benefits (PDF)
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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Pension Smoothing Relief, Digital Asset Reporting Passed in Infrastructure Bill
American Retirement Association [ARA]
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CRS 'In Focus': Proposed Legislative Changes to Rollovers and Conversions to Roth IRAs and Designated Roth Accounts (PDF)
Congressional Research Service [CRS]
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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