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Retirement Plans Newsletter

December 17, 2021

4 New Job Opportunities 4 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Nonenforcement Policies for Rollover Advice Rules: Some Prohibited Transaction Exemptions Apply Now

"The original nonenforcement policy was set to expire on December 20, and the one-month-plus extension gives you more time to work on compliance with the PTE's conditions. Also, you have until next July 1, to comply with the requirement that you document the specific reasons why a rollover recommendation is in the best interest of the participant and provide that person with the documentation. There are, however, some limitations on the extension."  MORE >>

Fred Reish and Joan Neri, via planadviser; free registration required

Rollovers, Rollover Advice and Documentation Under PTE 2020-02

"[I]nvestment professionals and financial institutions should make diligent and prudent efforts to obtain information about the existing qualified retirement plan and the participant's interests in it.... [T]he DOL identified the ideal documentation as a copy of the plan participant's ERISA Section 404(a)(5) fee disclosure ... The process and outcome of requesting the fee disclosure should be documented."  MORE >>

The Retirement Advantage

The New Social Contract: Future-Proofing Retirement (PDF)

78 pages. "[The Aegon 2021 Retirement Readiness Survey] explores the impacts of the pandemic on workers and retirees, outlines how individuals can enhance their retirement security, examines the roles of government and employers, and provides detailed recommendations."  MORE >>

Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

Comparing the Financial Wellbeing of Baby Boom, Generation X, and Millennial Families

"Overall, Generation X families were less likely to own a home or have any retirement plan than were Baby Boom families when their family heads were the same ages. While Generation X families were more likely to have a defined contribution plan and have higher balances in the plan, they also had higher median debt -- including student loan debt -- and lower median net worth.... For Millennial families, homeownership rates were lower than for Generation X at the same ages, while defined contribution (DC) plan ownership was more common."  MORE >>

Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI]

How Federal Tax Withholding Generally Works for Some Common Sources of Retirement Income

"Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs: Unless you specify otherwise, your plan's custodian will withhold 10% on taxable distributions.... 401(k), 403(b), and other qualified workplace retirement plans: Plan providers typically withhold 20% on taxable distributions ... Taxable, periodic (e.g., weekly or monthly) payments from annuities and pensions are treated as wages using the IRS withholding tables ... Withholding isn't required on Social Security payments, but a portion of your benefits may be taxable, depending on your income."  MORE >>

Charles Schwab

Tiering Up: The Unfinished Business of Public Pension Reform in New York

"The Tier 5 and Tier 6 changes combined are saving New York state and local governments outside New York City more than $1 billion this year. After record-busting investment returns in 2021, most of the state's public pension plans report they are fully funded -- but adjusting for financial risk, their combined unfunded liabilities still total nearly $400 billion."  MORE >>

Empire Center for Public Policy

[Opinion]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Regs for Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights

"Our comments contain two overarching goals: neutrality and longevity. The first goal focuses on changes to make the final regulation neutral with respect to a particular type of investment and instead only to focus on a prudent process. The second goal is to develop a final regulation that will ... put an end to the change in positions that occurs with a change in control of the Executive Branch.... [P]lan fiduciaries need certainty from the DOL, regardless of the party occupying the White House, from both a regulatory and enforcement standard."  MORE >>

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Benefits in General

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2022-03: Standard Mileage Rates for 2022 (PDF)

"The standard mileage rate for transportation or travel expenses is 58.5 cents per mile for all miles of business use (business standard mileage rate).... The standard mileage rate is 14 cents per mile for use of an automobile in rendering gratuitous services to a charitable organization under Section 170 ... For purposes of the fleet-average valuation rule in Section 1.61-21(d)(5)(v) and the vehicle cents-per-mile valuation rule in Section 1.61-21(e), the maximum FMV of automobiles (including trucks and vans) first made available to employees in calendar year 2022 is $56,100."  MORE >>

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Upcoming Deadline icon Fast-Approaching Deadlines for Employee Benefit Plans

"[1] 401(k) and 403(b) Plans: Hardship distribution amendment ... [2] Cafeteria plans: COVID-19 relief amendment ... [3] Group health plans: transparency disclosures."  MORE >>

Venable LLP

Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans

Section 83(b) Tax Rules Applicable to Early Exercise of Stock Options

"In general terms, you cannot file an 83(b) election with respect to the underlying stock of an option at the time of grant of the option ... [However,] if unvested shares are transferred at exercise of the option, the option holder must file the 83(b) election (if at all) with respect to those unvested shares within 30 days of the transfer of the shares/exercise of the option."  MORE >>

Holland & Hart LLP

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator II
for Retirement Plan Solutions, Inc. Retirement Plan Administrator II

Retirement Plan Solutions, Inc.

Remote / Cary NC

View job as Senior Retirement Analyst
for Dunbar, Bender & Zapf, Inc. Senior Retirement Analyst

Dunbar, Bender & Zapf, Inc.

Remote / Pittsburgh PA

View job as 401(k) Strategic Accounts Sr. Account Manager
for Paychex, Inc. 401(k) Strategic Accounts Sr. Account Manager

Paychex, Inc.

Remote

View job as Implementation Manager
for Human Interest Implementation Manager

Human Interest

Remote / San Francisco CA

Selected New Discussions

Permissible to Exclude HCEs from Safe Harbor Match and Provide Lower Match to Them?

"We have a client that wants to provide a Safe Harbor Match plan for their employees. They also want to exclude the HCEs from the Safe Harbor Match, which is allowable. However, they would like to give the HCEs a less generous Non Safe Harbor match. At first glance, it looks like this would be OK because they're giving a better benefit to the non-HCEs. Would this would kick in the ACP test? Other issues?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Exclusion of 'Statutory Employees' by Insurance Agency

"An insurance agency says that its employees are statutory employees, but pays them W-2 income instead of 1099 income. Their W-2s consist entirely of commissions and they all work from home. They work as they wish -- essentially as independent contractors -- but are paid a W-2 income. Is the agency able to exclude them from their 401(k) plan? It seems that most statutory employees who get paid 1099 income may not be considered eligible employees, but I couldn't find information that discusses how eligibility is handled when their income is reported on a W-2. Has anyone come across a situation like this?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Special Tax Notice for In-Service Distributions?

"Is the Special Tax Notice required to be provided to a participant requesting an in-service distribution?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Webcasts and Conferences
(Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation)

Sustainable Investment in Retirement Plans: Challenges and Opportunities

RECORDED

Pension Research Council

2023 Benefits Forecast with Mercer

RECORDED

Williams Mullen

Learning to Swim: Introduction to Pooled Employer Plans

January 13, 2022 WEBCAST

Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Northeast Ohio Chapter

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Text of IRS Notice 2022-02: Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves, and Segment Rates for December 2021 (PDF)

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Delta Air Lines Faces Actuarial Equivalence Lawsuit

planadviser

Self-Correcting a Failure to Enroll a New Employee in Our Automatic 401(k) Contributions

Thomson Reuters / EBIA

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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

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