Mid-Sized Retirement Conference

401(k) Relationship Manager
MVP Plan Administrators, Inc.
in NC, Telecommute

Senior Pension Plan Consultant
Cottage Health
in CA

Defined Benefit Plan Administrator
United Retirement Plan Consultants
in MD, NC, RI, TX

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Valuation Basics
February 27, 2018 WEBCAST
National Center for Employee Ownership [NCEO]

Do That with Your ESOP: Great Ideas from ESOP Companies
March 20, 2018 WEBCAST
National Center for Employee Ownership [NCEO]

2018 Retirement Industry Conference: Building Opportunities for the Future
April 11, 2018 in IL
LIMRA

Pensions on Peachtree
April 23, 2018 in GA
FIS Relius Education

401(k) Plans: Beyond the Basics
April 30, 2018 in CO
FIS Relius Education

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Congress Eases Restrictions on Hardship Withdrawals
"None of these changes are mandatory. And they won't apply to a plan unless the plan is amended to reflect them.... [O]ne could argue that facilitating such withdrawals is actually bad for participants -- because it undermines their retirement readiness.... [S]ponsors and administrators of these plans may want to consider whether these new rules simplify plan administration."
Spencer Fane

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.

ERISA Class Actions Settlements Cost Employers Nearly $1 Billion in 2017
"A dominant force in 2017 ERISA class action litigation was the filing by the plaintiffs' class action bar of a wave of new 401(k) and 403(b) fee and investment lawsuits against various employers, with a heavy focus on institutions of higher education.... Among workplace class actions, ERISA cases settled in 2017 were the most costly for employers in total. At $927.8 million they strongly outpaced the second-largest category--wage-and-hour settlements-- valued at $525 million."
HR Daily Advisor

Lawyer Fighting DOL Rule Blasts Scottrade Fiduciary Charges
"Eugene Scalia, ... who represents the nine plaintiffs suing the [DOL] over its fiduciary rule, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Friday that Massachusetts' action Thursday against Scottrade for allegedly violating the fiduciary rule's Impartial Conduct Standards is 'without merit,' and will spark 'private plaintiffs ...to exploit the rule to concoct state law claims.' ... Among the nine plaintiffs that Scalia represents are the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association [SIFMA], the Financial Services Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce."
ThinkAdvisor

Cybersecurity Identified as an SEC OCIE Examination Priority for 2018
"[T]he 2018 Exam Priorities make clear that OCIE's examinations will focus on governance, risk assessments, access rights and controls, data loss prevention, vendor management, training, and incident response.... OCIE will continue to work with firms in all sectors to identify and manage cybersecurity risks and to encourage other market participants to engage in this effort as well."
Data Matters, Sidley Austin LLP

U.S. Life Expectancy Is Not Declining for All Age Groups.
"Shorter life expectancy (higher mortality) translates into reduced costs for pension plans.... In fact, the recent mortality rates observed for the retired population continue to support expected improvements in life expectancy for this group. Therefore, it is important for actuaries of multiemployer plans not to reverse their expectations for mortality improvement in response to the latest data. As additional experience emerges, there may be refinements necessary in the actuaries' assumptions for pension plans, but they should be based on longer-term trends."
Segal Consulting

ftwilliam.com -- The Market Leader in Form 5500 Software and Filings

Are you tired of Form 5500 software problems with your current provider? Now is the time to learn more about ftwilliam.com's 5500 solution: Fast, reliable, world-class customer support and easy conversion with our patented 55AutoFill technology. Learn more .

How to Correct an Accidentally Overfunded 401(k) Match
"The first thing that should happen right away is to transfer the overfunding (along with any associated investment gains) out of the accounts of the participants who received it and into a holding account within the plan. From there, we have to go through several steps to determine what options are available for using the excess funding."
DWC

What is a Solo 401(k) Plan?
"In addition to the Form 5500 exemption, because the plan is ONLY covering the owner(s) of the business, it can avoid the normal compliance testing that would apply to a 401(k) plan. For this reason, some financial institutions and recordkeepers have drafted a stripped-down version of a plan document that may be used by a one-participant plan, which only contains language that applies to a plan that is not subject to Title I of ERISA."
Retirement Management Services, LLC

Why an Emergency Savings Account Should Be Your Next Employee Benefit
"One way to avoid taxation issues with emergency savings accounts is to establish a deemed Roth IRA account, which would be funded by after-tax contributions. Called a sidecar, money is deferred into an account until a certain amount is reached, called the buffer. Once that point occurs, the deferrals can switch into the retirement plan. Since this is still a relatively untested approach, there are a few hurdles to cross."
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]

Evaluating Roth and Pretax Retirement Savings Options
"While Roth IRAs have income eligibility limits, those do not apply to contributions within a 401(k) plan. Pretax contributions are generally preferable for people who expect their income tax rate to decrease in retirement. Having Roth accounts may make sense for tax diversification, flexibility and as a hedge against higher tax rates."
T. Rowe Price

How People Plan for Retirement (PDF)
14 pages. "Managing retirement security in the United States has been increasingly challenging for all stakeholders.... This report focuses on how people plan. It offers highlights and key findings from the 20 years of committee research and related SOA work, together with guidance about where to find more information. This report focuses on planning and risk management and how individuals approach these tasks."
Society of Actuaries

Pensions and the Corporate Bond Supply
"Corporations are presumed to be less likely to issue debt in the future given the new corporate tax law. Pension plans, who like to use corporate bonds to hedge liabilities, are becoming better funded ... Better funding leads investors to shift asset allocations toward fixed income, which in turn presumably will significantly increase demand for corporate bonds, especially as plans close or freeze. What's a pension investor to do?"
Russell Investments

April 1, 2018 Is Fast Approaching -- Are Your Disability Claims Procedures Ready?
"To avoid claimants being deemed to have exhausted the plan's claims procedures, enabling them to sue the plan with the favorable de novo standard of review, the claims procedures of all plans providing a disability benefit must be reviewed against these final regulations. This includes disability, pension, defined contribution plans (401(k) and 403(b)) and nonqualified deferred compensation plans."
Foley & Lardner LLP

Participant 'Was Lost, But Now Am Found' -- Send Past SARs?
I think I remember that, regarding disclosures, it is the participant's responsibility to keep their address up to date. If a lost participant is found, I think I remember that we do not have to send past notices, SAR, 404, etc. -- is that correct?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Clergy Housing Allowance Included for Contributions? For HCE Determination?
Is the clergy housing allowance included for contributions? For the HCE determination?
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Two-thirds of Retirees using New Willis Towers Watson Tool Reduce Prescription Drug Costs Willis Towers Watson

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Albertsons Companies and Rite Aid Merge to Create Food, Health, and Wellness Leader Rite Aid Corporation

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