BenefitsLink.com logo
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com logo

Retirement Plans Newsletter

April 6, 2022

5 New Job Opportunities 5 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Proposed Required Minimum Distribution Regs

"A 'designated beneficiary' is any individual designated by the participant as a beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary. If the beneficiary is not an individual, such as a trust that is not a 'see-through' trust, the beneficiary is a 'nondesignated beneficiary.' These beneficiary classes dictate the timeframe during which benefits must be distributed if the participant dies.... If the final rule is not altered, complying with these new rules could prove to be quite challenging from an administrative standpoint."  MORE >>

Hodgson Russ LLP

[Sponsor]

ERISApedia.com – Offering Quality and Affordable Pricing

Don’t take our word for it. Read our Reviews to see for yourself what our subscribers say about us. Contact us at: sales@erisapedia.com 612-605-2266

Sponsored by ERISApedia.com

SECURE 2.0: What Employers Need to Know

"For plan years beginning after December 31, 2022, SECURE 2.0 would mandate automatic enrollment in 401(k) and 403(b) plans at the time of participant eligibility ... For certain retirement plan distributions required to be made after December 31, 2021, for participants who attain age 72 after such date, the required minimum distribution age is raised ... For plan years beginning after December 31, 2021, employers may amend their plans to make matching contributions to employees based on an employee's qualified student loan payments."  MORE >>

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Unpacking SECURE Act 2.0

"[1] Matching student loan repayments ... [2] Expanded access for part-time employees ... [3] New plans: mandated automatic enrollment & automatic escalation ... [4] Later RMDs ... [5] Simpler hardship procedures ... [6] Expanded Roth capabilities ... [7] Expanded access to lifetime income."  MORE >>

Qualified Plan Advisors [QPA]

Get Ready to Explain Lifetime Income Illustrations

"While the lifetime income illustrations under the DOL's regulations are far from perfect, they do press the issue of helping participants understand how their retirement plan balances translate into monthly retirement income. Plan sponsors and advisors can use this impetus to carefully craft their participant communications and messaging. A key differentiator for advisors, moving forward, will be the ability to effectively support participants in transitioning to a true retirement income mindset."  MORE >>

American Retirement Association [ARA]

How to Find a Lost 401(k)

"If you've tried contacting your 401(k) plan administrator or former employer to no success, you may be able to find old retirement account funds on the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits. Upon entering your Social Security number, the secure website (which is updated weekly) allows you to conduct a free database search to see if there's any unpaid retirement money in your name. Another search database is the FreeERISA website, which indicates if your former employer rolled your 401(k) funds into a default participant IRA account on your behalf."  MORE >>

CNBC

Corporate Pension Plans and Investment Choices: Bargaining or Conforming?

"This paper investigates the impacts of defined-benefit (DB) pension plans on the corporate investment choices between diversifying and non-diversifying investments.... [A] firm's DB plan coverage is negatively associated with its propensity of making a major investment. Subject to a major investment decision, however, the firms with higher DB plan coverage [are] more likely to diversify, i.e. acquire firms abroad or in other industries, rather than invest in fixed assets or make non-diversifying (i.e. domestic horizontal) acquisitions. Moreover, in diversifying acquisitions, they are more likely to invest in countries or industries with strongly unionized workforce."  MORE >>

Meryem Duygun, Bihong Huang, Xiaolin Qian, and Lewis Tam, via SSRN

An Examination of the Relationship Between the Funded Status of Defined Benefit Pension Plans and the Financial Condition of Sponsoring Organizations

"Examination of relationships between unfunded pension liabilities and fiscal or financial stability of sponsoring organizations suggests unfunded State pension plans are more likely to be sponsored by financially struggling sponsors measured by general obligation bond ratings. Local governments and Corporations with unfunded pension plans are less likely to be struggling financially."  MORE >>

Janet F. Phillips, via SSRN

Evaluating State Pension Policies

"[The authors] evaluate the impact of state pension reform on public and private workers, and apply this analysis to all fifty U.S. states. [They] consider [1] closing the pension plan to new entrants, [2] reducing pension benefits together with wage increases and [3] suspending cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs).... Closing the plan to new entrants generates the most even distribution of welfare gains across job sectors and age cohorts, while COLA suspensions prove particularly harmful to public workers."  MORE >>

Jordan Pandolfo and Kurt D. Winkelmann, via SSRN

[Opinion]

Another Low-Cost Plan Sued Based on Misleading Circumstantial Evidence

"Once again, these lawyers have asked the court to infer that the plan was filled with high-cost investments when in fact the plan has a low all-in fee structure with mostly index investment options. The law firm has also mispresented the recordkeeping fees based on faulty estimates when they had fee disclosures from which to cite truthful information.... The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic purported excessive fee case is another strike lawsuit designed to shake down the sponsors of America's sponsors of quality defined contribution plans." [Adams v. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, No. 22-0099 (D.N.H. complaint filed Mar. 18, 2022)]  MORE >>

Euclid Specialty Managers

Benefits in General

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS PMTA 2022-04: IRC 501(c)(6) Organizations Providing Pension and Health Benefits (PDF)

20 pages. "This memorandum addresses a 2012 private letter ruling, PLR 201246039 ... [which] was issued ... prior to a significant court case on the issue and does not reflect the current position of our office. In the PLR, dated August 21, 2012, the IRS issued a favorable ruling to an IRC 501(c)(6) Business League that provided pension and health benefits to its eligible members.... [T]he 2012 PLR has been called into question because of the reasons cited in this memorandum[.]" [Program Manager Technical Advice dated Oct. 26, 2021; published Apr. 5, 2022.]  MORE >>

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Guidance Overview]

Inflation and ERISA Penalties: Hand in Hand for 2022

"The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015 directs the US [DOL] to make annual inflation adjustments to specified [ERISA] violations.... [A table] compares penalty amounts assessed for violations after January 15, 2021, through January 15, 2022, to penalty amounts assessed after January 15, 2022."  MORE >>

McDermott Will & Emery

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Retirement Plan Assistant Administrator
          for Gateway Pension Services, Ltd. Retirement Plan Assistant Administrator

Gateway Pension Services, Ltd.

Saint Louis MO

View job as Retirement Plan Assistant Administrator
          for Gateway Pension Services, Ltd.

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
          for Premier Plan Consultants Retirement Plan Administrator

Premier Plan Consultants

Remote / San Diego CA

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
          for Premier Plan Consultants

View job as Pension Administrator
          for CPS Insurance Services Pension Administrator

CPS Insurance Services

Remote / Newport Beach CA

View job as Pension Administrator
          for CPS Insurance Services

View job as General Attorney
          for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC] General Attorney

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC]

Remote / Washington DC

View job as General Attorney
          for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC]

View job as Account Manager
          for MAP Retirement USA, LLC Account Manager

MAP Retirement USA, LLC

Remote / Appleton WI

View job as Account Manager
          for MAP Retirement USA, LLC

Selected New Discussions

Mid-Year Change from Safe Harbor Match to 3% Nonelective Contributions?

"Client has a SH match in the 401(k) plan. Could they change to a 4% SHNE for 2021? Could they change to a 3% SHNE for 2022?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

S-Corp Dividends for Purposes of Plan's Compensation Definition

"I have a client who is an S-Corp. They get a W-2, but also took what they call $70k in 'distributions' as bonuses that are not included in their W-2 for the year. The question is, do those 'distributions' count towards compensation during the year, or is it excluded because it's not part of the W-2?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Lifetime Income Disclosures -- Need Tables for Calculations

"Where can I get my hands on a table to calculate the lifetime income figures? I have a couple of plans where we're not using Relius, so I want to be able to calculate the disclosures manually."

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Press Releases

RTD Financial Named to List of Nation’s Top DC Advisor Teams

RTD Financial Advisors, Inc.

Rhett Patterson Joins OneDigital as Vice President of Client Retirement Services

OneDigital

Fisher Investments Earns Fiduciary Excellence Certification

Fisher Investments

Hub International Bolsters Retirement Capabilities with Acquisition of 401(k) Advisors, Inc. in Illinois

HUB International

ERISA Compliance Expert Joni Jennings Joins Newfront Retirement Services Team

Newfront

AIG Retirement Services Launches FutureFIT Wellness Check, a New Financial Wellness Assessment Tool Connecting Retirement Plan Participants with Personalized Action Plans

AIG Retirement Services

Webcasts and Conferences
(Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation)

Learned by Being Burned: Teachers and the K-12 403(b)

RECORDED

403(b)wise

Tax Credits and Deductions: How to Save While Saving for Retirement

RECORDED

ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries]

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Court Extends Anticutback Protection to Post-Normal Retirement Age Pension Distributions

Groom Law Group

The Proper Timing of 457(b) Deferral Elections

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Just Adopted a New 401(k) Plan? Beware These Common Pitfalls

E is for ERISA

Unsubscribe  |   Change Email Address

Search Past Issues   |   Privacy Policy

Submit an Article   |   Contact Us   |   Advertise Here

Copyright 2021 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of those materials. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notices from copies of the content.

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

Links to web sites other than BenefitsLink.com and EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com are offered as a service to our readers. We are not involved in their production and are not responsible for their content.