Executive / Deferred Compensation Consultant
NRECA
in VA

Sr. Pension Administrator
Primark Benefits
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The Impact of Tax Reform on Your Compensation and Benefits Plans
January 31, 2018 in MA
New England Employee Benefits Council

In-Depth Controlled Groups with Case Studies
April 19, 2018 WEBCAST
ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries]

Tax Reform Impact on Your Company?s Compensation & Benefits Arrangements: The Private Company?s Perspective
January 9, 2018 WEBCAST
Baker & McKenzie

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Hurricane Relief for Participants in Puerto Rico Retirement Plans
"The relief is particularly relevant for sponsors of 401(k)-type plans qualified under Puerto Rico law. Sponsors of dual-qualified plans will also need to comply with applicable requirements for distributions and loans under the U.S. tax code and the hurricane relief provided by the IRS. Sponsors that decide to make use of the special relief will need to change their administrative procedures and amend their plans by December 31, 2018."
Willis Towers Watson

PSCA's 71st Annual National Conference, May 1-2, 2018, Scottsdale, AZ

Join us in the Arizona desert to replenish and refresh your retirement plans. Hear from industry experts about issues, trends, and solutions. Spend two days drinking up knowledge that will rejuvenate your plan for the rest of the year! Register now!

Annual Tax Withholding Notice Takes on Heightened Importance for 2018
"For 2018, there is increased importance to provide an annual notice of withholding election to retirees and beneficiaries based upon the changes in individual income tax rates resulting from the federal tax bill ... [B]ecause there were changes to the tax rates and the brackets of taxable income to which the rates apply, it will be important for individuals to consider whether they want to change their withholding in order to align their withholding with the changes in the tax law."
Ice Miller LLP

New Year Brings New, Lower VCP User Fees
"Lowering the price barrier to participation in VCP is a positive for plan sponsors. Obtaining a compliance statement from IRS through the program is the equivalent of insurance against penalties and interest that would be assessed if the plan problems were discovered on audit."
E is for ERISA

The Plan Committee: Should You Have One?
"Committees focus attention on key plan matters.... Two heads are better than one.... Committees establish accountability.... Committees make plans better.... Committees make things easier.... Committees reduce exposure to liability."
Fiduciary Plan Governance, LLC

What Could Tax Reform Mean for DB Plan Sponsors?
"While the bill makes no changes directly to DB minimum funding or maximum deductibility laws, it could create an additional incentive for DB sponsors to accelerate contributions attributable to the 2017 plan year. This is most applicable to corporate DB sponsors seeking to maximize the tax effectiveness of their contributions."
Russell Investments

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How Digital Tools and Behavioral Economics Will Save Retirement
"[T]he digital space allows us to conduct research much faster, as we test out multiple designs to see which one works best. Instead of waiting years to see if an intervention is effective, we can often get results in days or weeks.... [T]he digital world offers unprecedented scale: by fixing a single website or app, we can potentially help millions of people make better financial decisions."
Shlomo Benartzi, in Harvard Business Review

Financial Health of Largest U.S. Corporate Pension Plans Improved
"[T]he aggregate pension funded status is estimated to be 83% at the end of 2017, compared with 81% at the end of 2016.... [T]he pension deficit is projected to have decreased to $292 billion at the end of 2017, compared with a $317 billion deficit at the end of 2016."
Willis Towers Watson

Choosing the Same 'Walkway' May Be Key to Couples' Retirement Success
"Decades ago, a couple's retirement decision focused on the generosity of the husband's retirement benefits and the impact the timing of his retirement had on future benefits. Not so today. Many women have accumulated substantial retirement savings, and these differences in employment and personal circumstances can complicate a couple's retirement planning efforts ... Over time, women increasingly have been retiring after their husbands."
Prudential

Wall Street Aims to Thwart a Hacking Nightmare for Your 401(k)
"U.S. financial firms plan to expand a secretive project protecting bank accounts against crippling cyber attacks ... The industry-led project, called Sheltered Harbor, already is known to back up data for savings and checking accounts. But quietly, it's wrapping in data on retail brokerage accounts at some of the nation's largest firms ... And ultimately, the goal is to expand it to an even heftier pool of 401(k) accounts and pension funds, whose breach could upend global markets."
Bloomberg

Pension Funds Could Trade Bitcoin Futures Now. Why Aren't They?
"Although bitcoin futures would diversify the portfolio, bitcoin has well-documented volatility, and plan sponsors might not want to take the risk with even a small allocation... [T]he lack of government control of bitcoin itself is still going to be a concern for plan fiduciaries ... Bitcoin isn't a tangible product and isn't controlled by any government, and having futures trading doesn't change this[.]"
Bloomberg BNA

When an HSA-First Strategy Makes Sense
"Many -- perhaps most -- articles about health savings accounts suggest that employees with an HSA who participate in a 401(k) plan should first contribute to the 401(k) plan the percentage of their compensation that enables them to obtain the maximum plan sponsor match ... [and] then max out their HSA account contributions through payroll deductions. Once that's done, they should go back to contributing any additional dollars to their 401(k) plans. While this strategy is indeed attractive, an even better one would be to change the sequence of the contributions. That is, employees should first max out contributions to their HSAs no matter their tax bracket, and once that's done, contribute to their 401(k) plans."
Morningstar

The Impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Employee and Fringe Benefits
"How will the Act's repeal of the [ACA] individual mandate affect employers? ... What changes does the Act make to Qualified Transportation Benefits and Qualified Bicycle Commuting Reimbursements? ... Does the Act do anything to help victims of natural disasters? ... How does the Act change the rules governing plan loans from a qualified retirement plan?"
Mintz Levin

How State Legislatures Might Rock the World of Employee Compensation in Response to the Recent Federal Tax Law
"States imposing income taxes on employee compensation are likely to consider changing their tax laws to avoid the imposition of federal income taxes on compensation applied to (and typically withheld to pay) state and local income taxes. One possible approach would be to change state laws to remove compensation from income subject to state taxation and, instead, to impose a payroll tax on employers that would raise an equivalent amount of revenue. The employer would retain the right to deduct the State payroll tax from its taxable income as an expense of the trade or business, while the employer paid tax would not be considered income to the employee."
Mintz Levin

New Deferral Opportunity for Stock Awards
"The new qualified equity grant deferral feature requires a broad-based plan that is available to 80% of employees. This may make the plan less attractive to some employers. However, for employers that want to provide a broad-based deferral opportunity for equity grants, this could be a significant benefit to employees."
Bradley

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Raises Executive Comp Questions
"Given the big drop in the corporate tax rate starting this year, established bottom-line-based goals such as earnings per share ... will in most cases be much easier to attain at the end of performance periods already in progress.... Companies presumably will adjust for the change when establishing performance measures for multi-year periods that begin this year.... But what, if anything, companies will do to alter executive pay for periods already in progress remains to be seen."
CFO

Does Equity Compensation Count as Wages Under Federal and California Law?
"Many starts-ups -- particularly those that are initially cash-poor -- consider offering new hires equity in the business, either in lieu of or in addition to wages. While this approach would seem to solve the recruiting problem, it can lead to legal trouble. In fact, payment of employees through stock or stock options can violate both federal and California wage and hour laws.... [T]he issue is fairly complex."
Littler

Corrective QNECs from Suspense/Unallocated Account?
Can "excess allocations" placed into an "unallocated account" pursuant to section 6.06(2) of the EPCRS revenue procedure (Rev. Proc. 2016-51) be used to fund corrective QNECs required under section .05(2)(b) of Appendix A of that revenue procedure, for a missed deferral opportunity? Plan sponsor failed to withhold deferrals for an eligible participant, but contributed $7,000 to his deferral account anyway. Because the amounts were not deferrals, the amounts are being removed from his deferral account and placed in an unallocated account. This participant now has missed deferrals and is owed a QNEC. Can the amounts removed from his account and placed in an unallocated account be used to fund his corrective QNEC? Assume there is nothing in the plan document that would preclude such a practice.
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Update to SS-4 TIN Website - SSN required?
Has anyone tried using the IRS website to request a trust identification number recently? What should be listed for lines 7a and 7b? I would think the "Name of responsible party" would be the Plan Sponsor as the trust grantor, and then the EIN of the Plan Sponsor would be used, but the instructions say to use EIN only if the "Name of the responsible party" is a government entity. The website will not accept an EIN, and that screen cannot be bypassed. Should the instructions for listing a responsible person for the business entity (principal officer, etc.) be followed instead? But we aren't applying for an EIN for the business, it's for the trust. What are other folks doing?
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Press Releases

Daniel N. Janich has Been Elected to the Board Of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Holifield Janich Rachal Ferrera, PLLC

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