DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Executive Assistant to Fund Manager
Health Services & Benefit Administrators, Inc.
in CA

Retirement Plan Advisor
Carlson Capital Management
in MN

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2018 TE/GE Council Employee Plans & Exempt Organizations Annual Meeting
February 22, 2018 in MD
TEGE Council - Gulf Coast Area

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Tax Reform: Retirement Plan and IRA Provisions (PDF)
"[If] your plan allows the continuation of loan repayments following termination of employment, consider eliminating this option, or reconsider if a loan note should be rolled over to a successor plan on plan termination ... It is unlikely that a plan amendment would be needed to reflect the extended period ... This change is unlikely to impact the timing of loan offsets and reporting and withholding of loan offsets, but gives participants additional time to come up with the additional funds to avoid the adverse tax consequences."
Groom Law Group

ftwilliam.com -- New Website Launch!

We are happy to announce the launch of our new and improved website! Check out our updated product pages , customer testimonials , Sales Rep Finder , Request a demo , and more!

U.S. Tax Reform Impacts Roth IRA Conversions
"Some have questioned whether the new legislation permits Roth IRA conversion contributions made in 2017 to be recharacterized in 2018, given the December 31, 2017 effective date of the change.... The IRS has apparently informally stated that Roth IRA conversion contributions made in 2017 are still permitted to be recharacterized in 2018 up to the October 15, 2018 deadline, but hopefully it will issue formal guidance confirming this soon."
Morgan Lewis

Investment Adviser Named as Defendant in NYU Retirement Plan Case
"Plaintiffs contend the adviser, Cammack LaRhette Advisors, provided 'imprudent investment advice,' which enabled NYU to breach its fiduciary duty to plan participants, according to an amended complaint filed in the lawsuit Sacerdote et al. vs. New York University. The adviser's involvement suggests more retirement plan advisers could find themselves drawn into similar legal battles." [Sacerdote v. New York Univ., No. 17-8834 (S.D.N.Y. amended complaint filed Jan. 10, 2018)]
Pensions & Investments

Interesting Angles on the DOL's Fiduciary Rule, Part 77
"[S]ome people are saying that the best interest standard means that an advisor must recommend the best possible investment. That is incorrect. In fact, the DOL has specifically stated that, even if it were possible to select the best possible investment, that is not the requirement. Instead, the requirement is that advisors act prudently when selecting investments ... and prudence is defined by the quality of the process used by the advisor."
FredReish.com

Employer Contributions to 401(k)s Show Steady Increase
"53% of plan sponsors funded an employer contribution in 2013. This increased to 55% in 2014, 69% in 2015 and 81% in 2016.... In 2013, plans that funded employer contributions had an average 7% higher participation rates than those that did not, while in 2014 plans with an employer contribution had 9% higher participation rates. In 2015, participation rates on average were 12% higher for plans with an employer contribution than for those without, and in 2016 participation rates were 19% higher."
planadviser

2018 SPARK National Conference -- June 14-15, National Harbor, MD

The retirement services industry's leading event for top marketing, sales, administration and record keeping professionals. Comprehensive agenda is designed to meet the needs of 401(k) Plan Providers, Financial Advisors and Record Keepers.

Multiemployer Plans: Their Current Circumstances in Historical Context (PDF)
88 pages. "As of September 2017, the Treasury has approved only three of the 15 benefit-cut requests submitted ... [F]our applications still remain under review. So, while the ultimate effectiveness of MPRA still remains to be seen, it is clear that other solutions must be explored to meet the multiemployer challenge ... [T]here are 11 relatively large critical plans -- covering about 86,000 members -- that could become 'critical-and-declining' in the near term. Early action that focuses on some of these indicators might be able to stabilize other plans heading for trouble." [Sept. 29, 2017; posted on EBSA website Jan. 16, 2018]
IMPAQ International, for Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]

Alaska Ironworkers Pension Plan, Second Application for Benefit Suspension or Reduction
"This application proposes that 26.5% of the participant's (or beneficiary's) benefit earned as of July 1, 2016 be suspended." [Submitted Dec. 19, 2017; posted on Treasury website Jan. 10, 2018]
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Second Application for Approval of a Proposed Suspension of Benefits Under Ironworkers Local Union 16 Pension Fund
"The proposed effective date for the benefit suspension is October 1, 2018.... The proposed suspension [provides] for different treatment of participants and beneficiaries ... The proposed reduction eliminates the thirteenth check for all pensioners, surviving spouses and beneficiaries who are receiving a thirteenth check, with the last such check to be issued in January 2018." [Submitted Dec. 28, 2017; posted on Treasury website Jan. 16, 2018]
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Ascension Health Gets OK for $29.5M Deal to End ERISA Suit
"The settlement requires Ascension to guarantee $29.5 million of benefits to class members in the event that trust assets in the plan dip below that number. Judge Feinerman noted that the settlement came after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton , which extended ERISA's 'church plan' exemption to any benefit plan maintained by a church affiliate even if it wasn't originally established by a church."
Cohen Milstein

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Puerto Rico Catholic Schools' Pension Plan Files for Bankruptcy
"The plan filed a petition for reorganization on Jan. 11 under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico. The plan has an estimated $10 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities, according to court documents. The filing comes one year after a federal judge in Puerto Rico declined to dismiss a proposed class action by teachers who challenged the plan trustees' decision to treat the plan as a 'church plan.' "
Bloomberg BNA

2017 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey: Report of Findings (PDF)
220 pages. "Similar to previous years, pre-retirees are expecting to retire later than when retirees actually stopped working.... Few (15%) pre-retirees say their savings are ahead of schedule. About half of pre- retirees (51%) say their savings are behind schedule and one in three (33%) say they are on track.... Fifty-eight percent have or plan to take less risky investments and 42% have or plan to postpone taking Social Security."
Society of Actuaries

Proposed Loan Programs for Multiemployer Plans
"If the loan benefits retirees mostly and relies on active member contributions for repayment this is illegal and will not work.... If active members will object, what about employers? ... If contributions cannot repay the loan what of investment interest income? ... Do we assume that public pensions will remain silent if loans are available to private pensions?"
Burypensions

Disability Claims Regs Become Effective April 1, 2018
"To be subject to the final rule, the important inquiry is not how a plan is characterized (as either a welfare plan or a pension plan) but rather how the determination for disability is made under the terms of the plan.... [If] a claims adjudicator must make a determination of disability in order to decide a claim, the plan is subject to the final rule.... [If] the determination of a disability is made by a party other than the plan itself ... a claim for such benefits is not treated as a disability claim and is not subject to the final rule."
Morgan Lewis

Small Business Benefits Package: What You Need to Know
"79% of employees would prefer more benefits to a pay increase. With this in mind, and the fact that you might save money on taxes by adding to your small business benefits package, the benefits to you can be pretty significant. Offering a small business benefits package to your employees could help you stay competitive without raising everyone's salaries."
eHealth

Qualified Equity Grants by Private Companies Under New Section 83(i) (PDF)
"Private corporations with broad-based compensatory stock option or RSU programs should evaluate whether resulting shares are qualified stock for which notification requirement applies: If so, confirm that payroll systems and brokerage accounts properly handle differences in income tax and FICA tax timing, and that proper notice is provided to recipients. If not, determine what is necessary to fall within the qualified stock definition to confirm deferral opportunity for employees."
Deloitte

Impact of Section 162(m) Changes and Transition Relief on Excessive Compensation (PDF)
"[Deferred Tax Assets (DTA)] recognized in the financial statement as of the enactment date related to deferred compensation expense and share-based compensation expense should be evaluated to determine if the new Section 162(m) rules would impact the ability to claim a deduction in the future and adjusted accordingly. Going forward, a DTA should only be recognized for future compensation expense recognized for deferred compensation plans and share-based awards if a tax deduction is expected under the new rules, taking into account transition, when the deferred compensation is paid to the employee and when the share-based awards are exercised or vested."
Deloitte

Bringing Pay-for-Performance Into Focus Requires the Right Lens
"While performance can be measured many ways, the most common method is to use total shareholder return (TSR).... There are many definitions of pay, including reported, realized, and realizable pay. While each definition has its place, [the authors] believe reported and realized pay are less useful in pay-for-performance analyses.... [This] discussion brings the best measure into focus."
Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC

Exclusion of Former Shareholders
We have a law firm with 9 current shareholders with ownership greater than 5%. There is one former shareholder who is receiving compensation based on revenue of his clients when he sold out (paid as W-2 compensation); he doesn't actually work. And there is another shareholder who has sold a portion of his stock, is now below 5%, who is "on call" for questions about his clients and is paid a monthly amount (about $200 a month) but otherwise not active. The problem is these individuals are eligible for top heavy and are now considered NHCEs for discrimination testing. I am considering amending the plan to have these individuals excluded from the plan by definition (retiring shareholders as an example). The Plan would easily pass coverage excluding them. Any thoughts?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Handling a Section 402(g) Excess
Participant is slightly ($18) over the 402(g) limit for 2017. Refund was processed on Jan. 3, 2018. The participant will receive a 1099-R next January from the vendor for the excess. My question: regarding the 2017 W-2 form -- will it show $24,018 or $24,000? There is no line on the 1040 return for the actual deferral amount, so I'm not sure. I've never seen the actual W-2 form for someone who exceeded the limit.
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Sub S Plan Sponsor Eligible for Small-Plan Exception from 5500EZ Filings?
Had a call from an accountant asking whether a Sub S client is considered to fall under the owner-only rule (the Sub S has two owners) for filing of the 5500EZ as long as assets are under the $250k limit. I've always thought the instructions used the word partnership and thus an EZ option was not available for Sub S corp structure.
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