Mid-Sized Retirement Conference

Sr. 401k Plan Administrator
Guidant Financial
in WA, Telecommute

Head of Retirement Products
Ascensus
in PA

?See All Jobs

?Post a Job

Tax Reform and Retirement Plans: Part 2
July 12, 2018 in FL
ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Central Florida

?See 136 Upcoming Webcasts and Conferences

?See 1389 Recorded Webcasts

New Topics on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

New Comments and Topics

All Topics , Grouped by Forum

Retirement Plan Best Practices: Participant Education (PDF)

17 pages. "[1] How to do a diagnostic review of your participant population and existing education, identifying gaps and areas of needed focus; [2] Selecting participant education delivery methods that will reach your participants; [3] Targeting education to be relevant to participants' different life stages; [4] Behavioral economics principles to guide your education and communication techniques; [5] Designing effective education programs and campaigns; [6] Follow-up surveys and data gathering to assess the success of your education." Arnerich Massena

Take a Break -- View a Demo -- Enjoy a Treat on Us!

*Restrictions apply. Fully integrated, ftwilliam.com's Compliance Module streamlines your census preparation and plans' testing and reporting. Customize & edit reports on the fly, top-notch customer service, highly competitive pricing. Learn more!

The Importance of Educating Investment Committees

"Among key subjects to incorporate in education and training are developing the investment policy statement (IPS), the retirement industry as a whole and prudent fund lineups. An IPS ... is critical when understanding the role investment advisers, and managers, take on." PLANSPONSOR

New Hardship Withdrawal Rules Effective in 2019

"The new rules ... seem intended to make it easier for participants to take premature distributions from plan while eliminating some of the consequences.... Increased distributions mean more money will be subject to full taxation and the 10% early distribution penalty. Also, increased hardship distributions do nothing to help you accumulate the cash you need to fund your retirement income which, after all, is what these plans are all about." Frenkel Benefits

The Economics of Providing 401(k) Plans: Services, Fees, and Expenses, 2017 (PDF)

32 pages. "In 2017, the average expense ratio for equity mutual funds offered in the United States was 1.25 percent. 401(k) plan participants who invested in equity mutual funds, however, paid less than half that amount -- 0.45 percent -- on average.... The average expense ratio that 401(k) plan participants incurred for investing in equity mutual funds fell from 0.48 percent in 2016 to 0.45 percent in 2017. The average expense ratio that 401(k) plan participants incurred for investing in hybrid mutual funds fell from 0.53 percent in 2016 to 0.51 percent in 2017.... Employers and employees generally share the costs of operating 401(k) plans." Investment Company Institute [ICI]

Finance Leaders Show an Appetite for Pension De-Risking

"The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is driving how finance executives view their corporate defined benefit pension plans, with 64% of respondents saying they are 'very likely to use the tax savings from the new law to increase funding of our DB pension plan(s).' " Prudential

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index: May 2018 Observations

"May was a slow month for trading activity in defined contribution plans, ... with one day of above-normal trading activity for the month. When 401(k) investors made trades, they tended to favor fixed income funds over equities. May observations: [1] Continued movement away from equities, with 13 of 22 days favoring fixed income funds; [2] On average, 0.14% of balances were traded daily." Alight Solutions

The IRA Aggregation Rule: Easing RMDs, Complicating Roth Conversions

"Instead of taking a separate RMD from each IRA, you can take the total RMD for all of them from any one of the IRAs, or from across them in any way you wish.... Because total IRA balances are aggregated, it is not possible to withdraw just nondeductible contributions, ... no matter which IRA you withdraw funds from.... [A]ny distribution will be taxable in proportion to the ratio of pre-tax to post-tax funds in your aggregated IRAs." Slott Report

One Retirement Question People Aren't Considering But Should

"Much of the path toward retirement is focused on reaching the retirement date, but many people could actually be in retirement for twenty to thirty years. How do you want to spend that time? What will your days look like? And do you have enough money saved and/or enough income streams to fulfill those goals? This also taps into the emotional side of retirement that people need to prepare themselves for, which can be just as important as the financial side." Fiduciary News

Work-Life Balance and Labor Force Attachment at Older Ages

"Workers who report higher levels of work-to-life interference are significantly more likely to reduce their labor supply in the next two periods following a spouse's health shock, and this effect is once more heterogeneous. The moderating effect of [work-life balance (WLB)] is stronger for women than men. Among female workers, it is stronger for those employed part-time at baseline." Michigan Retirement Research Center [MRRC]

The Pension Train Has No Seat Belts

"This is the base challenge: How can a shrinking group of working-age people support a growing number of retirement-age people? The easy and quick illustration to this question is to talk about the number of workers supporting each Social Security recipient. In 1940, it was 160. By 1950 it was 16.5. By 1960 it was 5.1.... [It] will be 2.3 by 2030." Mauldin Economics

Text of IRS Disaster Relief Notice HI-2018-02, for Victims of Volcanic Eruptions and Earthquakes in Hawaii

"Victims of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that occurred starting on May 3, 2018 in Hawaii may qualify for tax relief from the [IRS].... [C]ertain deadlines falling on or after May 3, 2018, and ending Sept. 17, 2018, are granted additional time to file through Sept. 17, 2018. In addition, penalties on employment and excise tax deposits due on or after May 3, 2018, and ending May 18, 2018, will be abated as long as the deposits were made by May 18, 2018." Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Planning for Health Care Costs in Retirement (PDF)

24 pages. "Some research on health care costs in retirement estimates these expenses as a lifetime lump sum.... [A] better planning framework considers these costs as annual expenses personalized to an individual's health status, coverage choices, retirement age, and loss of any employer subsidies. For a typical 65-year-old woman, the Mercer-Vanguard model predicts an annual health care expense of $5,200 in 2018.... Half of individuals will incur no long-term care costs -- but there is a small but meaningful risk that costly care will be required for multiple years[.]" Vanguard

Redesigning a Law Firm's Plan to Keep a Particular Associate Happy

A law office has two partners, and a new associate who is in his late 30s. Three NHCE staff are in their 20s and 60s. The new associate, who is a go-getter, got a lousy Profit Sharing contribution for 2017, and was unable to benefit in the Cash Balance Plan. He's unhappy about it, which makes the partners unhappy. In terms of plan design, could we:

• Exclude the new associate from the CB plan (he isn't benefiting anyway).
• Amend the DC plan to exclude the partners, and change from a cross tested allocation to a design based safe harbor, such as an integrated allocation, so that the young associate can get a larger allocation in the DC plan.

? 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

ARA Opens Board Nomination Period American Retirement Association

Fi360 Acquires CFFM, Maker of FiRMPlus fi360

BrightDime

River and Mercantile Solutions Expands US Footprint, Adds Two Managing Directors and Opens New York Office River and Mercantile Group [RMG]

View All Press Releases