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Retirement Plans Newsletter

December 27, 2021

16 New Job Opportunities 16 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

Another Swing in DOL Position on Private Equity Investments

"The DOL is now emphasizing its concerns with adequate disclosure and valuation of private equity. It also stresses the importance of obtaining assistance from a qualified investment adviser where the responsible fiduciary does not have the skills, knowledge and experience to evaluate the prudence of the private equity component and the continual monitoring of such an investment."  MORE >>

Seyfarth

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Issues Supplemental Statement for Private Equity Investments in Designated Investment Alternatives for Individual Account Plans

"The supplemental statement clarifies that the information letter should not be interpreted as saying that private equity investments, when offered as part of a designated investment alternative, are generally appropriate for a typical 401(k) plan.... The supplemental statement also indicates that plan-level fiduciaries of small individual account plans are not likely suited to evaluate the use of private equity investments in designated investment alternatives in individual account plans."  MORE >>

Thomson Reuters Practical Law

Appellate Court Affirms Right of Retirees to Sue for Underfunding of Church-Affiliated DB Plan

"The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and the St. Clare's Corporation to dismiss the pensioners' lawsuit against them.... Because the fund was church-affiliated, it was exempt from federal insurance requirements, leaving no safety net for the pensioners when the money ran out. The diocese has rejected responsibility for causing the crisis or paying to resolve it." [Hartshorne  v. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York, 2021 NY Slip Op. 07329 (3rd App. Div., Dec. 23, 2021)]  MORE >>

The Daily Gazette

Court Denies Summary Judgment for ESOP Fiduciaries Accused of Overpaying for Company Stock

"The judge found that while the plaintiff might have released all his claims with a separation agreement, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of the plan and the plan did not release its claims." [Zavala v. Kruse-Western, Inc., No. 19-0239 (E.D. Cal Dec. 13, 2021)]  MORE >>

PLANSPONSOR; free registration may be required

The Impact of Employer Defaults and Match Rates on Retirement Saving

"Plans with low default rates that match a high percentage of employee earnings induce higher-income participants to actively move away from the low default savings rate, resulting in a wider savings gap between higher- and lower-income employees. When default savings rates are set higher, fewer employees move away from the default resulting in higher and more equal savings rates.... [H]igher default savings rates increase usage of plan default investments."  MORE >>

David Blanchett, Michael S. Finke, and Zhikun Liu, via SSRN

PBGC Approves Special Financial Assistance Application

"[PBGC] has approved the plan application for the Idaho Signatory Employers-Laborers Pension Plan in Portland, Ore. The plan covers 682 participants in the construction industry and will receive $13.9 million in special financial assistance, including interest to the expected date of payment to the plan."  MORE >>

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC]

Delphi Participants Pin Hopes on Supreme Court in Benefits Dispute

"The pensioners have lost every legal challenge to the PBGC ... They accused the PBGC of bypassing a judicial review of the termination of Delphi's underfunded pension plan, relying instead on a 'termination by agreement' with Delphi to close an underfunded DB plan for 20,000 salaried employees. Delphi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005."  MORE >>

Pensions & Investments

Exceptional Usefulness and Quality icon 2021 Retirement Policy: A Year in Review

"[T]his review of retirement policy developments in 2021 [begins] with a review of retirement finance -- interest rates, securities markets, and (an emerging risk) inflation -- all of which affect retirement finance and participant retirement income. [It then discusses] major retirement-related legislative and regulatory initiatives [and concludes] with a discussion of some significant developments in retirement plan litigation."  MORE >>

October Three Consulting

Why Older Women Face Greater Financial Hardship Than Older Men

"Economists attribute much of the retirement gender gap to 'the motherhood penalty.' Women who raise children have fewer and lower-paid years in the work force than men or childless women ... But much of the discrepancy in financial stability at older ages stems from a major demographic shift: Women now spend much less of their adulthoods in marriages."  MORE >>

The New York Times; subscription may be required

Some Social Security Rules Are Changing in 2022

"Social Security rules that are changing in 2022 ... [1] FRA is changing ... [2] Work credit rules are changing ... [3] Retirees are getting a raise ... Social Security rules that are sticking with the status quo ... [1] The thresholds at which benefits become taxable will remain the same ... [2] So will the rules for early filing penalties and delayed retirement credits."  MORE >>

Motley Fool

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Client Service Manager
for July Business Services Client Service Manager

July Business Services

Remote / Woodway TX

View job as Client Service Manager
for July Business Services

View job as Conversions Specialist
for BlueStar Retirement Services, Inc. Conversions Specialist

BlueStar Retirement Services, Inc.

Remote

View job as Conversions Specialist
for BlueStar Retirement Services, Inc.

View job as ERISA Specialist
for Newport ERISA Specialist

Newport

Minneapolis MN

View job as ESOP Analyst
for Newport ESOP Analyst

Newport

Remote / MI

View job as Retirement Operations Specialist
for Legacy Advisory Partners Retirement Operations Specialist

Legacy Advisory Partners

Alpharetta GA

View job as Plan Administrator/ Consulting
for Associated Pension Consultants Plan Administrator/ Consulting

Associated Pension Consultants

Chico CA / Sacramento CA

View job as VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)
for FuturePlan, by Ascensus VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)

FuturePlan, by Ascensus

Remote / Kansas City MO

View job as VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)
for FuturePlan, by Ascensus VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)

FuturePlan, by Ascensus

Remote / Salt Lake City UT

View job as VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)
for FuturePlan, by Ascensus VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)

FuturePlan, by Ascensus

Remote / Milwaukee WI

View job as ESOP Consultant
for FuturePlan, by Ascensus ESOP Consultant

FuturePlan, by Ascensus

Remote

View job as VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)
for FuturePlan, by Ascensus VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)

FuturePlan, by Ascensus

Remote

View job as VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)
for FuturePlan, by Ascensus VP Sales Consultant (Retirement Industry)

FuturePlan, by Ascensus

Remote / Detroit MI

View job as Director of Actuarial Services
for July Business Services Director of Actuarial Services

July Business Services

Remote / Woodway TX

View job as Senior Healthcare Actuarial Consultant
for Nyhart, part of FuturePlan by Ascensus Senior Healthcare Actuarial Consultant

Nyhart, part of FuturePlan by Ascensus

Remote

View job as Client Transition Supervisor
for Alerus Client Transition Supervisor

Alerus

Remote

View job as Health Communications Specialist
for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] Health Communications Specialist

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS]

Remote / Woodlawn MD

Selected New Discussions

RMD Required for a Non-Owner?

"If a participant in a plan is not an owner, do they have to take an RMD? Wasn't that the way it was in the beginning? Only owners had to take an RMD, non-owners didn't have to take an RMD from a qualified plan?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Webcasts and Conferences
(Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation)

Controlled Group and Affiliated Services Group Rules for Retirement Plans

February 23, 2022 WEBCAST

Strafford

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Transitioning to the Updated Required Minimum Distribution Tables in 2022

The CPA Journal

Text of 2022 IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498: Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, Etc. (PDF)

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Latest Regulatory Agenda Offers Few Surprises for Retirement Plans

Mercer

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

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