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Everything You and Your Clients Should Know About Beneficiary Designation Forms
August 23, 2018 WEBCAST
Western Pension & Benefits Council

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New York Issues Final Life Insurance and Annuity Suitability and Best Interests Regulation Protecting Consumers from Conflicts of Interest

"[T]he New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has issued a final regulation ... [which] requires insurers to establish standards and procedures to supervise recommendations by agents and brokers to consumers with respect to life insurance policies and annuity contracts issued in New York State so that any transaction with respect to those policies is in the best interest of the consumer and appropriately addresses the insurance needs and financial objectives of the consumer at the time of the transaction."
Department of Financial Services [DFS], New York State

SALGBA Regional Conference for public sector benefit professionals

SALGBA is holding a Regional Conference August 20-21 in Huntsville, AL. The conference is being hosted by the City of Huntsville. More information please visit www.salgba.org .

Your Next Cybersecurity Breach Will Be Your 401(k) -- Soon (PDF)

"With large-scale cyberattacks on the rise and cybercrime expected to cost $6 trillion annually by 2021, employers need to consider how employee data and corporate assets can be better protected from increasingly varied and adept cyber threats.... [T]hese cyber breaches risk not only the personal information of plan participants and plan's assets, but also the personal assets of board members, those in the C-Suite and other 'fiduciaries' of the retirement plan. And if you think these individual fiduciaries can be indemnified, think again. ERISA prohibits it." Crowell Moring, via Journal of Compensation and Benefits

Pioneer Natural Worker Likely to Get Class Status in 401(k) Litigation

"Instead of denying the ex-worker's request for class certification, [the judge] reserved the ruling, holding that it would better serve the interest of justice not to force the parties through the 'inevitable procedural hoops' that would follow if he denied it now." [ Barrett v. Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc. , No. 17-1579 (D. Colo. July 26, 2018)]
Bloomberg BNA

Insurance Agents Might Already Be Fiduciaries

"[The DOL] view is 'We are applying the five-part test as it's actually written,'... [E]ven if you are a registered representative, even if you are an insurance agent, If you're regularly providing advice, telling them what the investments in the plan should be, that is going to trigger fiduciary status." InsuranceNewsNet.com

Should You Use The Brokerage Window In Your 401(k)?

"Who typically uses a self-directed brokerage account in a 401(k) plan? ... What does a self-directed brokerage account offer? ... Beware of the paralysis of too many choices ... Pay attention to the fees ... How does its performance compare?" Financial Finesse

New ERISA Regulations for Disability Claims and Appeals

August 13 webinar will explain what new practices to follow, how to change past practices to become compliant with the new regulations, and the risks of non-compliance. Discount for BenefitsLink readers .

Are Target Date Funds Enveloped by Unrealistic Expectations? (PDF)

"[F]iduciaries must still ask: 'Do these readily available benchmarks and analysis provide significant insights as to whether or not a TDF family's real-world behavior is actually delivering lifelong retirement security to participants who follow conventional wisdom, including contribution levels and investing their entire 401(k) accounts in a single TDF?' " Investment Horizons, via American Retirement Association [ARA]

Highlights from the Social Security Trustees Annual Report

"The Board reported that for the first time since 1982, the total cost of Social Security retirement benefits paid in 2018 will exceed the total income generated by the fund, including tax revenue and income from investments.... The Board projects that the combined OASDI Trust Fund will only be sufficient to fully cover expected costs until 2034, using the intermediate assumptions. After this point, the Trust Fund would be fully depleted. When the Board uses their high-cost assumptions, this depletion is accelerated to 2029, while the fund would remain fully solvent for the 75-year period under the Board's low-cost assumptions." Robert W. Baird & Co.

Life (Insurance) in the Fiduciary Lane

"[A] new amendment to the New York State Department of Insurance Regulation [imposes] a mashup of the infamous DOL Rule and the recent SEC regulatory proposals on life insurance salespeople operating in their state. The word 'fiduciary' doesn't appear anywhere. But the gist of the new rules is that life and annuity recommendations, if they are made inside the borders of the Empire State, now have to be in the best interests of the customer. Whoever wrote these regulations knows full well that the life insurance 'advisor' is actually selling products." Bob Veres in Inside Information

Kitces Public Comment Letter on SEC's Regulation Best Interest

"[T]he entire nature of a new and different standard of care for broker-dealers is unnecessary.... [T]he solution to consumer confusion is not to lift the standard for brokerage sales to a best-interests standard because it also entails a substantial amount of advice; instead, the better solution is to simply assert and maintain the bright line that Congress already created to separate sales from advice, and allow the existing fiduciary and suitability standards to clearly apply to those activities." Nerd's Eye View

Prevailing Wage Formula Structured as a Match?

Is there anything that would specifically prohibit the formula for a Prevailing Wage QNEC to be structured as a match? For example, would there be any issues in a scenario in which Employer contributes a QNEC to applicable prevailing wage employees equal to 100% of prevailing wage employee's compensation deferred up to 3% of compensation deferred and then contribute 50% of prevailing wage employee's compensation deferred greater than 3% but less than or equal to 5% of compensation deferred. BenefitsLink Message Boards

Effect of ADP Failure on Calculation of 415 Excess

Say you have an ADP failure and a 415 failure for a participant. Not catch-up eligible. The ADP refund amount is still considered an "annual addition" for 415 purposes as per 1.415(c)-1(b)(1)(ii). So suppose there is an ADP refund of $5,000, and the 415 excess is determined to be $10,000. Do you have to reduce the participant's account by another $10,000, or only $5,000, since $5,000 has been distributed under the ADP refund? BenefitsLink Message Boards

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Press Releases

Lockton Ranks on Top 10 List of Largest Brokers in the World Lockton

Publisher of Book with "Official SSA Answers" on Retirement Agrees to $22,500 Penalty Office of the Inspector General [OIG], U.S. Social Security Administration [SSA]

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