Transition Manager - Retirement Plans
Transamerica
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Goldleaf Partners
in MN

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Ascensus
in FL

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Ascensus
in IN

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Ascensus
in IN

Retirement Plan Coordinator
Ascensus
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Retirement Plan Administrator / Analyst
Boyce & Associates, Inc.
in AZ

Benefits Analyst 3 (7720)
University of California Office of the President
in CA

Employee Benefits Attorney
Krieg DeVault LLP
in IN

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Specialty Pharmacy: Who Is at the Table
September 15, 2016 in GA
Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Atlanta Chapter

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
September 20, 2016 WEBCAST
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

ESOP Seminar
September 27, 2016 in AL
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Strategic Retirement Solutions: From Hired to Retired: Financial Fitness throughout the Generations
October 13, 2016 in MA
New England Employee Benefits Council

Introduction to ERISA: An Overview
October 18, 2016 in PA
ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits [JCEB]

Wellness Program: Leveraging Technology and Community Resources to Support Your Wellbeing Program
October 19, 2016 in MA
New England Employee Benefits Council

IRA Contributions
November 8, 2016 WEBCAST
Ascensus

Health Savings Accounts and Employers: How HSAs Work and How to Avoid Problems
November 8, 2016 WEBCAST
HRWebAdvisor

The Year in Employee Benefits: Insights and Strategies for Retirement, Health, and Executive Compensation Plans
March 1, 2017 in DC
American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education Group [ALI CLE]

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Text of JBEA Request for Nominations for Advisory Committee on Actuarial Examinations
"The current Advisory Committee members' terms expire on February 28, 2017. This notice describes the Advisory Committee and invites applications from those interested in serving on the Advisory Committee for the March 1, 2017 through February 28, 2019, term."
Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries

Track Form 5500s with EBG's Task Tracking report for Work Center

EBG Systems's Pension Portal can help you track tasks with the Work Center task tracking system - including your Form 5500s. The Task Progress Report provides a summary of pending and completed tasks. Visit www.ebgsystems.com for more information.

DB Plan Participants Can Receive Lump Sum and Annuity Under New Rules
"The rules are designed to enable participants to receive a portion of the plan benefit as a stream of monthly payments while taking the remainder in a single, lump-sum cash payment. The regulations encourage these split options by changing the minimum present value requirements for defined benefit plan distributions to permit plans to simplify the treatment of certain optional forms of benefits that are paid partly in the form of an annuity and partly in a more accelerated form."
Journal of Accountancy

Choosing and Using the Proper Definition of Compensation
"The [DOL] and the [IRS] routinely report common operational failures [detected] in the context of retirement plan audits and investigations. One ... that is always at or near the top of that list concerns plan sponsors failing to employ the correct definition of compensation ... [This] article is intended to briefly highlight some of the issues that can occur when the incorrect definition of compensation is employed as well as to provide an explanation of some of the differences between the most commonly employed definitions of compensation."
Legacy Retirement Solutions

Addressing the Retirement Crisis with 'Shadow 401(k)s'
"This Essay sketches a solution, the 'Shadow 401(k),' that ... [would create] a universally available and federally administered (but not guaranteed, matched, or credited) portable 401(k) plan and annuity purchase. The Shadow 401(k) builds on existing knowledge in behavioral economics, financial literacy, and gerontology to provide choice without requiring complicated planning. It also responds to recent calls for 'portable benefits' plans that are designed with platform economy workers in mind."
Deepa Das Acevedo, via SSRN

Financial Effects on Social Security of the Strengthening Social Security Act of 2016 (PDF)
21 pages. "Assuming enactment of the proposal, ... the funding for the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds would be sufficient to extend the projected year of reserve depletion from 2034 to 2048 ... [E]stimates for the combined trust funds are consistent with an intent to reallocate the total payroll tax rate as needed to equalize the years of reserve depletion and the actuarial status of the two separate trust funds."
Office of the Chief Actuary, U.S. Social Security Administration [SSA]

Celebrate ASPPA's Golden Anniversary!

This October the nation's retirement industry elite will converge in our nation's capital to celebrate ASPPA's Golden Anniversary with insights from industry insiders, regulators, pundits and the nation's leading voices. Join us.

Draft Bill May Offer Better Mousetrap for Multiemployer Pensions
"The draft bill, released Sept. 9, would permit plans in the troubled multiemployer system to use newly created 'modified' defined contribution plans -- known as 'composite plans' -- designed to be successors to existing multiemployer defined benefit plan structures.... Composite plans wouldn't participate in the PBGC's defined benefit plan insurance system, which provides a backstop for retirees when their plans become insolvent and can't pay benefits."
Bloomberg BNA

Understanding Custom vs. Proprietary Target Date Funds
"Custom TDFs are typically offered in separate account or collective trust vehicles. These vehicles are not registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and therefore are precluded from use in 403(b) plans. Proprietary TDFs are defined as pre-packaged investments that usually are comprised of underlying mutual funds of a single investment firm. Therefore, it can be challenging to ensure 'best in class' managers are offered across the underlying funds within the proprietary TDF."
Strategic Benefit Services

Stepping Through the Spot Rate, Alternative Pension Expense Calculation
"The spot rate approach uses individual 'spot' interest rates from a corporate bond yield curve rather than a single average discount rate derived from such a yield curve.... For an upward-sloping yield curve, the spot rate approach generally lowers the interest cost and service cost -- and therefore the pension expense -- compared with using a single average discount rate. In addition, this approach is more refined and applies the yield curve consistently across all of the calculations required under U.S. GAAP financial accounting."
Milliman

Pension Risk Transfers Gain in Appeal and Importance
"To help ensure the transfer process proceeds smoothly, here are some important steps that should be taken: [1] Create a clear, disciplined decision-making process; [2] Form a team that involves an ERISA attorney, financial advisor, and actuary; [3] Conduct a full due diligence review of [DOL] Interpretive Bulletin No. 95-1, which governs plan transfers to an annuity provider; [4] Develop a Bid Solicitation package with contract specifications to insurance carriers, and anticipate subsequent issues for negotiation; [5] Carefully assess the quality and diversification of the insurer's investment portfolio."
CFO

Borrowing to Fund Pensions May Enhance Shareholder Value
"[The authors] have analyzed a sample pension plan sponsor's borrow-to-fund strategy, comparing two scenarios: [1] Pay Over Time ... [2] Borrowing to Fund ... [The analysis] suggests that companies across the ratings spectrum can generate economic benefits from a borrow-to-fund strategy. The net economic benefit can still be significant even if the plan sponsor is not a full taxpayer, or if the costs of borrowing rise."
Prudential

What Role Can Annuities Play in Easing Risks in Public Pension Plans? (PDF)
36 pages. "This paper considers the role that annuities might play in providing a secure retirement to public employees. It finds that: [1] Public DB pensions are highly cost efficient.... [2] Public DB pension plans provide significant consumer protections in state law, while annuities have different consumer protections in state regulation and insurance law.... [3] Longevity annuities focus on the insurance value and are less expensive than fixed income annuities."
National Institute on Retirement Security [NIRS]

How to Prevent a Section 409(p) Failure by an S-Corp ESOP
"[1] Reduc[e] the level of synthetic equity by cancelling or distributing part or all of the synthetic equity.... [2] Rebalanc[e] participants' accounts ... [3] Allow for in-service withdrawals that could reduce the share balance of a disqualified person or potential disqualified person.... [4] Transfer shares from a participant's ESOP account to a non-ESOP account.... [5] Change the provisions of the ESOP to relax eligibility and delay the reallocation of forfeitures to ... dilute the percentage owned by potential disqualified persons. [6] Revoke the S election."
National Center for Employee Ownership [NCEO]

The Retirement and Social Security Benefit Claiming of U.S. Military Retirees
"[The authors] theorize that access to a consistent source of income may encourage earlier retirement through a standard income effect, but the military pension may also increase a retiree's post-military job search, allowing for a greater wage and improved job satisfaction due to a better employer-employee match."
Michigan Retirement Research Center [MRRC]

Employee Benefits and the New Overtime Rules
"Let's pay for this by reducing benefits! ... But it's not that easy to reduce medical benefits.... Changing compensation structures may unintentionally affect eligibility for (and amount of) benefits under existing plans.... Changing compensation in a way that results in the loss of benefits could implicate Section 510 of ERISA.... When modifying benefits, don't overlook legal obligations.... Or the impact on employee morale."
Mintz Levin

Pressure to Avert Government Shutdown Intensifies as Lawmakers Address Looming Benefits Issues (PDF)
"Congress is focused on fiscal year 2017 funding -- despite the ongoing campaigns and upcoming elections -- and is considering solutions to deal with the multiemployer pension plan crisis and instability of the [ACA] public marketplaces. Meanwhile, there are renewed efforts to block the DOL fiduciary rule, as well as to change certain elements of the retirement savings landscape."
Xerox HR

Navigating the Frequency of Say-on-Pay Voting
"Is holding an annual say-on-pay vote appropriate? Should companies consider holding a vote on a biennial or triennial basis? ... [B]oards should at least consider holding say-on-pay voting less frequently."
Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC

3,200 Participated in "DASH for the STASH" Investor Education and Protection Contest in Libraries in 11 States and D.C. Investor Protection Trust [IPT]

Segal Rogerscasey to Acquire The Marco Consulting Group Segal Rogerscasey

Advisor Helps Dental College Improve Retirement Plan for Employees Retirement Advisor Council

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