Retirement Planning Consultant R20010479
Transamerica Life Insurance Company
in CA

Senior Benefits Attorney
The Air Line Pilots Association, International
in VA

Employee Benefits Associate
Wiggin and Dana LLP
in CT

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Text of 2016 Instructions for IRS Form 8915A: Qualified 2016 Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments (PDF)
Mar. 19, 2018. "Use 2016 Form 8915A if you were adversely affected by a 2016 disaster listed in Table 1 ... and you received a distribution in 2016 that qualifies for favorable tax treatment."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Check out our 2018 Webinar Schedule

Check out our webinars featuring Sarah Simoneaux and Brian Furgala! Topics will include ERISA updates, dealing with difficult customers, evaluating control groups, an overview of most asked technical questions to TAG, and more to come. Register here.

Text of Treasury Department Notice of Multiemployer Pension Plan Application to Reduce Benefits: Local 805 Pension and Retirement Fund
"The Board of Trustees of the Local 805 Pension and Retirement Fund (Local 805 Pension Fund), a multiemployer pension plan, has submitted an application to reduce benefits under the plan in accordance with the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA).... [T]he application ... has been published on the website of the Department of the Treasury[.]" [A previous application for this plan was withdrawn Sept. 21, 2017.]
U.S. Department of the Treasury

The Impact of the Federal Budget Deal on Retirement Plans
"Sponsors should consider whether they want to adjust retirement plan administration ... Particularly: [1] Should the more lenient hardship rules be adopted? (Effective as early as 2019 plan year and may require a plan amendment.) [2] Should the California wildfire relief be adopted? (May require changes to plan policies and/or a plan amendment.) ... [3] Will the plan accept repayments of a tax levy? (May require a change to plan policies and/or a plan amendment.... May be effective immediately[.])."
Poyner Spruill LLP

The Evolving Cybersecurity Landscape
"The information included in retirement plans is protected under myriad laws and regulations. There is currently no comprehensive federal regulation that protects retirement plans and service providers from cyberthreats, but steps in that direction are underway. In the meantime, the existing complex regulations make it essential for you to protect your plan participants to the best of your ability."
PlanPILOT

Which 401(k) Plan Fees Can Be Paid Out of Plan Assets?
"[If] a particular service is required in order to maintain the plan's compliance, the fees for that service can be paid from the plan.... [F]ees for optional services generally cannot be paid out of plan assets.... [T]he law ultimately holds the plan sponsor responsible for the proper maintenance of the plan. As such, the plan sponsor cannot shift the financial burden for the corrections to the plan.... [T]he answer doesn't change just because you are thinking of using forfeitures or an ERISA spending account to pay the fees."
DWC

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!

The IRS Has a 403(b) MEP Problem
"[T]here are a lot of moving pieces in a 403(b) MEP that you don't have to deal with in a 401(a) MEP.... What makes it all the more challenging is that you are dealing with the DOL's regulatory processes which are geared to MEPs, while also dealing (on the same arrangement) with IRS regulatory processes which deal with each participating employer in a MEP as a single employer plan.... The Form 5500 epitomizes the problem."
Business of Benefits

Aon Beats Challenge to 401(k) Robo-Adviser Fees
"The lawsuit, filed on behalf of investors in Caterpillar Inc.'s 401(k) plan, accused Aon Hewitt Financial Advisors and Hewitt Associates of running an illegal kickback scheme with Financial Engines that caused 401(k) investors to pay millions of dollars in excessive and unnecessary fees. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit on March 19, saying that neither Aon Hewitt entity was a fiduciary under [ERISA] with respect to the disputed fees."
Bloomberg BNA

Advisor Considerations After Fifth Circuit Vacates DOL Fiduciary Rule 'In Toto'
"Near-term action items include: [1] Take a fresh look at your service offerings and consider where you may or may not be a 'fiduciary' under the old/new again 'five-part' test.... [2] Review policies and procedures adopted for the fiduciary rule.... [3] Review customer agreements and disclosures.... [4] [Review] your offerings to determine whether you are currently relying on the BIC Exemption or Principal Transaction Exemption, whether you may be acting as a fiduciary after the repeal date, and whether reliance on a different exemption or approach may be required.... [5] Consider potentially expanded availability of prior exemptions."
Morgan Lewis

Fifth Circuit Vacates Fiduciary Rule
"If the process is fully stretched out, the stays could be in effect for a year or more.... [T]he DOL will propose a new regulation and exemptions during that time, which will start an entirely new process. The SEC might also propose its own fiduciary rule during that period. The Fifth Circuit decision could also motivate more states to adopt their own fiduciary rules." [ Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. DOL , No. 17-10238 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2018)]
Drinker Biddle

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The Final Rule: DOL Fiduciary Rule Affirmed and Revoked (PDF)
"It may be inevitable, in a federal system with national rulemaking authority divided among multiple agencies, that plan sponsors and providers will be compelled to deal with a patchwork of federal and state 'best interest' standards of differing scope and content, with its attendant burden on compliance programs, increase in costs to the retirement system, and confusion among retirement investors."
Eversheds Sutherland

Roth 401(k) Contributions: Gaining Popularity, Looking to Increase Tax Diversification
"As a retirement planning tool, Roth 401(k) contributions can offer 401(k) plan participants a more nuanced approach to retirement saving than a traditional 401(k) plan can on its own.... [T]he availability of the Roth 401(k) feature has grown from 52% of plans in 2014 to 70% in 2017. Another 15% of plan sponsors are planning to add the Roth feature or are considering doing so."
Willis Towers Watson

RESA Includes Closed Plan Relief and More Savings Plan Options
"In addition to relief for closed pension plans struggling to meet coverage and nondiscrimination requirements, RESA would lift the automatic escalation 401(k) cap and revive the multiple employer pension concept for unrelated small employer plans."
Conduent

Tax Reform Impacts on ESOPS
"ESOPs will need to consider how their loan payments compare to EBITDA or EBIT to make sure that they are able to deduct payments.... State and Local taxes are expected to increase for sellers to ESOPs ... [L]ess-than-100% S Corporation ESOPs will need to distribute less cash each year so that non-ESOP shareholders can pay their share of taxes on corporate profits."
Retirement Management Services, LLC

Wyoming Law Establishes Task Force to Look at Creating Private-Sector Retirement Plan
"The bill ... creates a task force consisting of Wyoming Treasurer Mark Gordon or a designee and seven other members, including an appointee by the Wyoming state office of the AARP and state treasurer-appointed members from business, non-profit organizations and the financial services community.... The task force must present any findings or proposed legislation to the Wyoming Legislature's joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee by Dec. 1."
Pensions & Investments

Refund of Fees Reactivates 'Terminated' Plan Over a Year Later?
I've got a small plan (<10 participants in self-directed brokerage accounts) that was paid out in 2016, and we filed a final 5500 for it in 2016. Just got a statement for January 2018 that there was a fee refund of $2K to the doctor (and him only), so the account was reopened by the brokerage firm and then immediately paid out to him with withholding. Great! Brokerage firm also remitted withholding and will prepare the 1099-R. Our initial thought is that since it was a plan account, it still is a plan account and therefore this transaction is a transaction in the plan. So it needs to be reported on a 5500... probably an EZ, since there's only one participant in the plan for 2018. But then we just skip 2017 altogether?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Unresponsive Participant Holds Up Final Distribution of Terminated Plan's Assets
One of my 401k Profit Sharing Plans terminated as of 2/1/2018. A terminated participant with a large balance refuses to send his distribution paperwork back despite numerous follow-ups. Technically, the plan has one year to liquidate its assets, but the plan sponsor want to wrap this up. I can't cash him out and the plan doesn't have an auto rollover option. His balance is too big for that anyway. How to handle?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Require Loan Repayment Despite Deemed Distribution?
Plan sponsor discovers in 2018 that a participant did not start payments on a June 2017 loan. The plan sponsor will treat the loan as a deemed distribution. The loan plus accrued earnings remains outstanding, but is the employer permitted to force the participant to begin making payments, or is that strictly voluntary on the part of the participant?
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