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Understanding the Do's and Don'ts of Cybersecurity: What Can You Do to Protect Your Organization?
September 12, 2018 in TX
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Handling Taxed Uncashed Retirement Checks: The Common Practice and the Better Practice (PDF)

"When financial institutions and plan sponsors transfer uncashed check assets into an Auto Rollover IRA account, it offers several benefits ... The bad news is that this approach does not solve several problems associated with uncashed checks that have been taxed . In spite of this fact, it seems to be a widely used practice ... Even without clear guidance from the IRS, we can still do the right thing. We can still adjust our Forms 945, petition the IRS to restore the taxes, make the account whole, and roll it into an IRA account. Or, if the account balance exceeds $5,000, restore the funds back to the plan."
PenChecks, via Journal of Pension Benefits

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How to Find a Lost Retirement Account

"[1] If you remember the name of your 401(k) provider (Vanguard, Fidelity, TIAA, Voya, etc.), first contact them to see if your money is still there. [2] You can also contact the old employer. Look for the company online, and if it still exists, contact the HR department either by phone or email and ask them for your balance and account information.... [3] Your account may have been reported as 'abandoned.' To search that, visit the US [DOL] abandoned retirement plan database.... [4] Each state has an unclaimed property web site that is searchable as well." Financial Finesse

Assessing the Choices for the 'Distribution Phase' of DC Plans

"[This article describes] some of the options plan sponsors can offer participants for the distribution phase, if they wish to retain retiree/terminated participant assets. Sponsors should evaluate the breadth of choices they wish to offer retirees, alongside the level of fees and complexity, in making a determination of which choices to offer." Callan

Healthcare Costs and Outliving Savings Dampen Employer Confidence in Employees' Retirement Futures

"[N]early half of nonprofit and corporate, for-profit employers are only somewhat confident in their employees' retirement futures and one in five say they are not at all confident. Nearly all surveyed cited rising healthcare costs (91 percent) followed by outliving retirement savings (77 percent) as their biggest concerns, yet surprisingly few have built retirement plan offerings that solve for these challenges.... [M]ore than half (51 percent) of all employers think their employees would prefer receiving $2,700 a month for life rather than a $500,000 lump sum at retirement[.]" TIAA

ESG Investing More Popular in Europe Than U.S.

"75 percent of US respondents [say] they have incorporated ESG information in their investment decisions.... 84 percent of European respondents incorporated ESG information into their portfolio construction. Among the chief reasons cited by those that use ESG principles, 63 percent believe that using ESG information is material to investment performance." Corporate Secretary; free registration required

J.P. Morgan Retirement Link: Helping you build stronger retirement plans

97% of clients agree Retirement Link takes a proactive approach in helping participants reach their goals. Through our strategic business planning process, our Relationship Managers work to simplify the complex and empower better decisions.

Bloomberg Headline: 'Rich Professionals Are Using Pension Plans as a Tax Dodge'

"There's one area where the traditional pension plan is getting new life -- as a tax dodge for wealthy business owners. Pensions, also known as defined-benefit plans, can be used by doctors, law partners and wealth managers to stash hundreds of thousands of dollars in income a year. By doing so, they'll get around the income limits Congress created to bar them from a generous new tax break for owners of pass-through entities, who report the firms' income on their individual tax returns." Bloomberg

Have Public Employee Pensions Become More Generous, or Less?

"One study finds that government pensions have become more generous over the years. But a prominent academic replies that public sector retirement benefits have remained steady in generosity and taxpayer costs have actually fallen because public employees are paying more for their pensions." Forbes

Morningstar to SEC: Reg BI Must Include Rollovers

"Morningstar told the [SEC] that Reg BI needs to identify rollovers 'as specifically requiring a prudent process and documentation to ensure they are in retirement investors' best interests.' Rollovers ... particularly from retirement accounts covered by [ERISA], 'require additional scrutiny because most financial professionals have an incentive to recommend that clients roll over their assets.'... The Morningstar comment letter notes that flows into mutual funds paying unusually high excess loads declined after the [DOL] proposed its fiduciary rule in 2015[.]"
ThinkAdvisor

Testimony of Investment Company Institute to ERISA Advisory Council on Lifetime Income Solutions as a QDIA (PDF)

45 pages. "Part I of this testimony focuses on research that can shed light on the Council's underlying premise that Americans are under-annuitized and that promoting annuities in DC plans is a necessary policy initiative. To address these issues, this testimony provides a review of the research on the question of annuitization ... Part II of this testimony examines two ideas that have been heavily promoted by proponents of increased annuitization in DC plans: a proposal to modify the [Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA)] safe harbor to permit limits on rights of transferability ... and a proposal to require benefit statements to include a lifetime income illustration based on an annuity calculation. Part II also considers whether implementing the ideas would serve the interests of plan participants and beneficiaries." Investment Company Institute [ICI]

The Reach and Breadth of Your Clawback Policy Matter

"[A recent study] discovered companies with stronger clawbacks had a modest decrease in CEO turnover ... [W]hile imposition of any clawback would cause CEO pay to rise (to provide a hedge against the additional risk to the CEO of losing pay), CEO pay in fact rose less when a more robust clawback was adopted. A number of factors might mitigate the pay increases required for the adoption of strong clawbacks relative to weaker clawbacks[.]" Willis Towers Watson

RMD Before Making Rollover After Termination of Employment But Before RMD Due Date?

Participant terminated 1/2/2018 and was 72 at the time of termination. Not a 5% owner. Under the RMD rules he could postpone his first RMD until 4/1/2019. If he did, he takes a second RMD in 2019 for 2018. The participant rolled his account balance to an IRA on 5/1/2018. The IRA custodian is now telling the participant he had to take his first RMD before the funds were rolled. The 401(k) recordkeeper is saying he did NOT have to take the RMD before rolling the funds. Who's right? BenefitsLink Message Boards

Top Heavy Minimum Contribution Rules Apply to Plan Having Only HCEs?

We're a small business with 4 people, all related to the owner. Because we do not have any employees who are "non-highly compensated employees" under IRS rules, are we exempt from any sort of top heavy requirements? BenefitsLink Message Boards

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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

Eighth Circuit Sets High Bar for Labeling Retirement Plan Investments 'Imprudent' (PDF) King & Spalding

What Employers Need to Know About the Illinois Secure Choice Mandatory Retirement Savings Program Jackson Lewis P.C.

Advisers Are Still Fiduciaries Under the Five-Part Test (PDF) Groom Law Group, via PLANADVISER

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