Benefits/Litigation Paralegal
Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC
in DC

VP, State Sponsored Retirement Plan - Business Development
Ascensus
in MA

?See 138 Jobs

?Post a Job

?See 150 Upcoming Webcasts and Conferences

?See 1359 Recorded Webcasts

New Topics on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

New Comments and Topics

All Topics , Grouped by Forum

Dealing with the Missing Participant Problem (PDF)
"One out of every five (20%) job changer relocations results in a missing participant record. The average number of accounts still with a previous employer (stranded accounts) was 1.42 accounts per participant. Retired and unemployed participants had 1.24 and 1.25 accounts per participant, respectively. The probability of locating a missing participant with an active participant address record is 67%."
National Association of Plan Advisors [NAPA]

SALGBA National Conference for public sector benefit professional

The SALGBA National Conference will be held April 29 ? May 2, 2018 in Jacksonville, FL. More information please visit the SALGBA website .

Colorado Senate Passes Pension Reform Bill
"Senate Bill 18-200 ... includes automatic adjustment provisions to ensure that PERA remains on the path to full funding in 30 years. These provisions would increase employee contributions and modify the annual cost-of-living adjustment for retirees to offset any deviation from the 30-year funding time frame. PERA was 58.1% funded as of Dec. 31, 2016[.]"
Pensions & Investments

PBGC Pays Out $5.6 Billion to Retirees of Failed Plans in 2017
"[PBGC] noted that the amount paid has remained the same over the past three years, while the number of retirees receiving the benefits has risen. In 2016, the agency paid out approximately $5.6 billion to nearly 861,000 retirees in failed plans, while the same amount was paid to 840,000 retirees in 2015. For the second straight year, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida had the most benefits paid. Retirees in failed plans in those states alone accounted for more than $1.4 billion, or 25% of all benefits paid out by the PBGC."
Chief Investment Officer [CIO]

How Peeps, Pensions and a Lawsuit Threaten to Upend the American Retirement System
"The 95-year-old company that makes Peeps, Just Born Quality Confections, wants to block new employees from enrolling in the multi-employer pension it has offered workers for decades, a retirement plan it funds along with roughly 200 other companies. While many other companies facing similar pressures have left pensions in recent years, Just Born wants to bar new employees from the plan without paying a $60 million fee required under federal law, saying it must do so to remain competitive."
The Washington Post; subscription may be required

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.

EBSA Continues to Shrink
"The Employee Benefits Security Administration employed 869 people in late 2017, down about 17 percent from its Obama-era peak of 1,043 workers in September 2012. The agency lost employees in each of the past five quarters ... EBSA's workforce hasn't been this small at any recorded point since September 2001, when it employed 855 people."
Bloomberg BNA

Correction of 401(k) Overcontribution
A participant received an erroneously large commission payment in 2017, which was repaid in 2018. 401(k) deferrals were taken from the erroneous payment. The amount was such that it caused the participant to reach his 2017 402(g) limit, so no 401k deferrals were taken for the rest of the year. Reversing the deferral contribution results in him NOT exceeding the 402(g) limit. In correcting this situation, I assume the company has an obligation to make up what his 401k contributions would have been for the rest of the year? Would this be at least 50% plus match and earnings? Of course, he is an HCE. Fortunately it shouldn't change the testing results much.
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Deductibility of 2 Years of Contributions in One Year
Calendar year client. Let's say profit sharing contribution for 2017 is $190,000 which will be deposited into the Plan's trust in 2018. Similar deposit to be made for the 2018 plan year. Issue: while they want to make the actual deposit of $190,000 for 2017, they do NOT want to deduct on the 2017 corporate tax return, but rather deduct the 2017 and 2018 on the 2018 return. They did put the 2017 corporate return on extension, so the thinking of "they made it within the ordinary time but filed the return before depositing" doesn't work. What are the issues here (would combined 2017 and 2018 amounts be subject to the 2018 section 404 25% limit solely on 2018 compensation, for example)?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Bonding Required If All Participants Are Trustees?
I have inherited a plan which has been historically told they do not need a bond since all the participants (four in total) are Trustees. I do not see an exclusion from the bonding requirement for this situation. If the plan were 100% qualifying assets, I would not be concerned. However, it is 70% non-qualifying assets. If they are not exempt from bonding, they will have to get an auditor's opinion if caught.
BenefitsLink Message Boards

? Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Message Boards Digest — a free daily email of all new discussions (not just the selected few shown above). View a sample issue .

Press Releases

Ascensus Continues to Add to Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Expertise with Agreement to Acquire ASPERIA Retirement Plan Solutions Ascensus

View All Press Releases