Retirement Education Specialist
CUNA Mutual Group
in CA

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Business Succession for Advisers Considering Retirement
May 31, 2018 WEBCAST
National Tax-Deferred Savings Association [NTSA]

Lawsuits and Legal Challenges Facing 401(k) and Pension Plans
November 14, 2018 WEBCAST
Conference of Consulting Actuaries

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The Pension Protection Act: Successes, Shortcomings, and Opportunities for Improvement (PDF)
18 pages. "Policymakers can better align the post-PPA single-employer funding regime with the seven principles of funding reform by creating incentives for plan sponsors to fund their plans, improving the predictability of contributions, and reducing the regulatory burden on plan administrators by simplifying the regulatory structure."
American Academy of Actuaries

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Fulfilling Fiduciary Responsibilities in Selecting Target Date Funds (PDF)
45 presentation slides."In the next market downfall, will the plaintiffs bar pursue the opportunity for 'lessons not learned / excessive risk' lawsuits? When the 2008 debacle occurred there was only $200 billion in TDFs. Today it's $2 trillion.... Even though a fiduciary has not yet been sued for breaching their Duty of Care, is it ethical?.... In 2008 the participants in 2010 Target Date Fund lost 30%.... Excessive risk was responsible, and TDFs have become riskier since."
Target Date Solutions

Ruling on NY Times Multiemployer Plan Arbitration Challenge Rejects Use of 'Segal Blend'
"Historically, use of this discount rate by large multiemployer pension plans has resulted in exiting members paying larger cash amounts than they otherwise would if other methods of setting the rate were used.... The text of the decision includes extensively detailed consideration of this matter." [ The New York Times Co. v. Newspapers & Mail Deliverers'-Publishers' Pension Fund , No. 17-6178 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2018)]
planadviser

Supreme Court Argument Preview: Show Me the Stock Options?
"In the [IRS]'s view, a railroad employee's gain from exercising a stock option is just another form of compensation. If Canadian National's stock rises to $85 and the employee exercises her option to buy it for $75, she has made $10 on the transaction. That $10, according to the IRS, should be counted as 'compensation' for purposes of the railroad retirement tax. The nation's largest private-sector railroads all disagree with the IRS's view, and so they sued for tax refunds in various courts."
SCOTUSblog

Puerto Rico Governor's Latest Plan Still Leaves Out Pension Reforms
"Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello submitted a revised fiscal plan ... that repeats his refusal to consider pension benefit cuts and more shifting to defined contribution plans.... [Financial Oversight and Management Board] documents call for freezing pension benefit accruals by July 1, 2019, and enrolling all employees in defined contribution plans. Benefits would be reduced progressively to an average cut of 10%[.]"
Pensions & Investments

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CalPERS May Join Union Foes of 401(k) Option
"Many of the union opposition letters mention the shift of investment risk to employees, potential problems created by a five-year vesting period and a 401(k) employer contribution limited to the pension normal cost, and questions about investment fees and management.... A California Faculty Association letter said the bill 'would promote 401(k)-style retirement plans over more state-run pension plans' and would set a 'dangerous precedent' by allowing state employees to opt out of CalPERS."
Calpensions

Your Long Life Could Be the Death of Your Retirement Savings
" 'About one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age 95,' according to the Social Security Administration.... 'Most people can't save enough in 40 years of working to support themselves for 30 or more years of not working,' [Laura Carstensen, of the Stanford Center on Longevity] said. 'Nor can society provide enough in terms of pensions to support nonworking people that long.' "
The Washington Post; subscription may be required

Do Stochastic Models Necessarily Do a Better Job of Helping You Determine How Much You Can Safely Spend This Year?
"While ... it is important to employ a 'good model' of the future when developing a retirement plan, [the authors] are not convinced that it is absolutely necessary to use a model that employs simulations.... [A] 'good model' for determining how much you can safely spend in the current year ... is one that: [1] Does a reasonably good job of forecasting future experience, [2] Adequately addresses your retirement risks, and [3] Helps you to make informed financial decisions with some degree of confidence."
Ken Steiner, FSA Retired

Why Public Pension Pre-Funding Matters (An Explainer)
"One key assumption underlying the explicit acceptance of underfunded pension plans, or the indifference to remedying the situation, is that, in fact, public employers will always be there. Yes, they might declare bankruptcy, either by name or in practice by defaulting on bonds, but no city or state is just going to shut down like a factory closing.... Pension debt is nothing other than borrowing to pay for present-day employee salaries."
Elizabeth Bauer, in Forbes

OK to Apply ABT Test on Equivalent Contribution Basis, While Applying (a)(4) on a Benefits Basis?
A Cash Balance DC plan passes coverage using the ratio percentage test. For my 401(a)(4) testing, some rate groups are less than 70%, so for rate group testing I need the average benefits test to pass. Can the average benefits test pass on an equivalent contributions basis, while the (a)(4) rate group testing is being done on a benefits basis?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Fired on Last Day: Still Meets Last-Day Employment Condition for Getting an Allocation?
The plan language states that one must be employed on the last day of the plan year in order to be eligible for a share of the year's employer contribution. This seems to be to be capable of two different interpretations: [1] You must be employed as of the END of the last day. or [2] you must be employed during any part of the last day. If someone was terminated on 12/31/2017, do they receive a contribution? The software we use would not allocate a contribution to a participant terminated on 12/31. However, I have seen some responses on the forum that state that the participant would be entitled to the contribution. Is there any additional guidance on this from the IRS?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Roll Over the Account Balance to an IRA, Then Take RMD From the IRA?
Can a participant rollover their entire balance to an IRA and then take their RMD from the IRA? I told the participant he must withdraw the RMD from the plan and then roll over the rest, but he's is adamant that he does not want a cash distribution from the retirement plan. He says he called the IRS and was told he didn't need to take the RMD from the plan first. Maybe I've been wrong for all these years?
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