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Retirement Plans Newsletter
November 18, 2021
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8 New Job Opportunities
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[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2021-62: Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves, and Segment Rates for November 2021 (PDF)
"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on
30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]" MORE >>
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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[Guidance Overview]
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Expands Interest Rate Smoothing
"Section 80602 of the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)] delays the date on which the phase-out of the
interest rate smoothing begins by an additional five years ... to 2031 (instead of 2026 as was provided under ARPA).... [The] revised corridor [is shown in a chart]." MORE >>
Groom Law Group
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[Guidance Overview]
Infrastructure Act Includes Additional Pension Funding Relief, Disaster Relief Changes, and New Digital Asset Reporting Requirements
"[T]he Act restores the automatic application of the mandatory 60-day [disaster relief deadline extension], further tweaks the requirements for the mandatory 60-day extension, and adds 'significant fire' as an event for which the IRS can issue relief ... These
changes to the disaster relief are effective for federally declared disasters that occur after November 15, 2021." MORE >>
Ascensus
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Procedures for Tracking Required Plan Amendment Compliance for Individually Designed Retirement Plans
"Faced with the need to demonstrate compliance with required amendments to auditors and other third parties on an ongoing basis, some employers have adopted a procedure, which uses the 'self-help' resources established by the IRS in Revenue Procedure 2016-37 ... [Y]ou can begin now with the 2020 plan year by reviewing your plan against IRS Notice 2020-83 and the
current updated Operational Compliance List and documenting the results." MORE >>
Foley & Lardner LLP
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2022 Compliance Calendar for Retirement Plans (PDF)
2-page calendar lists notable deadlines for retirement plans with calendar-year plan years. MORE >>
TRI-AD
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Lessons Learned from Recent Fiduciary Victories
"Two recent fiduciary victories provide valuable insights into how a court would evaluate the decisions and processes of plan committees.... The fiduciaries in both cases had evidence of a process for reviewing fees and investment options, which persuaded both courts that the
fiduciaries acted prudently." MORE >>
Faegre Drinker
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Significant Retirement Reform Ahead: Key Takeaways from the Anticipated SECURE Act 2.0 of 2021 (PDF)
"Assuming the SECURE Act 2.0 ultimately becomes law in substantially similar form, the proposed retirement reform legislation would ... [provide] wider access to retirement savings. And while many of the provisions would apply to plan years beginning after December 31,
2022, certain provisions would apply after December 31, 2021." MORE >>
Davis & Gilbert LLP, via Employee Relations Law Journal
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Americans' Views of State-Facilitated Retirement Programs (PDF)
12 pages. "The vast majority of Americans (72 percent) agree that state-facilitated retirement programs are a good idea. There is high support across party and generational lines, with support highest among Millennials (78 percent). Three-quarters of Americans
(75 percent) say they would participate in state-facilitated retirement programs, consistent across party and generational lines. Americans view many key features of state-facilitated retirement programs as highly favorable, especially portability (84 percent), higher returns (82 percent), and lower fees (82 percent)." MORE >>
National Institute on Retirement Security [NIRS]
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California Public Employees' Pension Bill Will Increase After CalPERS Lowers Market Expectations
"The CalPERS board voted Monday to select a portfolio with a return of 6.8% and an expected volatility rate of 12.1%. This expected rate of return is two-tenths of a percentage point lower than last year's target of 7%.... [CalPERS estimates that] employees hired after the
implementation of the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) in January 2013 ... will contribute an average of 1.2% to 1.5% more toward their pensions." MORE >>
The Center Square
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Using the Actuaries Longevity Illustrator in Your Retirement Planning
"The Actuaries Longevity Illustrator (ALI) has recently been updated to reflect mortality changes made in the 2021 Trustees' Report for Social Security.... [This post] will: [1] briefly describe the ALI and why ... it is an important and useful tool for retirement
planning, [2] discuss recent recognition of the ALI from respected retirement academics, and [3] point out one relatively minor limitation of the ALI applicable to couples planning that we would like to see addressed to make ALI an even better retirement planning tool." MORE >>
Ken Steiner, FSA Retired
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[Opinion]
No Need to Panic: Social Security Is Not Running Out
"[T]he worst-case scenario is an almost 25% reduction in benefits.... Social Security changes are happening in general because the program is outdated. The reason these benefits are changing now and the changes that we are seeing are related to three significant factors: COLA
(cost-of-living adjustment), FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) and FRA (full retirement age)." MORE >>
Kiplinger
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Benefits in General |
[Official Guidance]
IRS Announcement: All of Mississippi Now Qualifies for Expanded Hurricane Ida Relief; Deadlines Extended to January 3
"The updated relief, now covering the entire state of Mississippi, postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on August 28, 2021.... [A]ffected individuals and businesses will have until January 3, 2022, to file returns and pay any taxes
that were originally due during this period." MORE >>
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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Sixth Circuit Ruling Highlights Longstanding Questions About Federal Civil Procedures in ERISA Litigation
"Judge Murphy's concurrence, coupled with Judge Thapar's concurring opinion questioning the requirement of administrative exhaustion prior to filing suit on an ERISA claim, has opened a long-overdue dialogue on a number of questionable practices used by courts in ERISA
litigation that deviate from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and have never been addressed by the Supreme Court." [Card v. Principal Life Ins. Co., No. 20-6217 (6th Cir. Nov. 2, 2021)] MORE >>
DeBofsky Sherman Casciari Reynolds P.C.
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Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans |
Stock Options: To Qualify, or Not to Qualify? That Is the Question
"One perennial question companies face in designing stock option programs is the extent to which they should grant nonqualified stock options, known as 'NQSOs,' or statutory stock options, known as 'incentive stock options' or 'ISOs.' ... The two
types of options ... can have significantly different tax consequences to both the recipients and the issuers of the options." MORE >>
Foley & Lardner LLP
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Employee Benefits Jobs |
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Selected New Discussions |
SECURE Act's Removal of Safe Harbor Notice Requirement -- Applies to the 3% and the Basic?
"I know the SECURE Act removed the requirement for Safe Harbor notices for non-elective Safe Harbor contributions. I just wanted to make sure that it applies to both the 3% Safe Harbor and the basic Safe Harbor Match?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Late Deposits -- Start the Interest Calculations on Which Day?
"What date do you use as the start to determine how late the deposit was? The payroll date, or the end of the 7-day safe harbor?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Press Releases |
Groom Elects Christine L. Keller as Executive Principal
Groom Law Group
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Benefitfocus Acquires Tango Health, Expanding ACA Compliance and Reporting Capabilities for Employers
Benefitfocus
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AHIP Board of Directors Elects David L. Holmberg, President and CEO of Highmark Health, Chair for 2022
AHIP [America's Health Insurance Plans]
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Webcasts and Conferences (Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation) |
Virtual Policy Forum, Winter 2021: Day One
December 6, 2021 WEBCAST
EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]
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Virtual Policy Forum, Winter 2021: Day Two
December 7, 2021 WEBCAST
EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]
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Women in Retirement Conference
January 12, 2022 in FL
American Retirement Association [ARA]
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
Form 5500 DOL Investigations
Groom Law Group
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House Retirement Bill Advances, Seeks Scrutiny of Pension Risk Transfers
Mercer
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New California Law Shifts Liability for Certain CalPERS Benefit Overpayments to Employers
Hanson Bridgett LLP
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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