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Auditor Analysis: Retirement Plan Challenges and Best Practices
RECORDED
Moss Adams

Conquer Retirement Plan Challenges in 2019 - Part II: How to Address Current Legal Issues Facing Fiduciaries
November 1, 2018 in NY
CKR Law

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot? Our Retrospective on 2018 Benefits Issues
November 2, 2018 WEBCAST
McDermott Will & Emery LLP

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Text of IRS Form 8717-A: User Fee for Employee Plan Opinion Letter Request (PDF)

Rev. Sept. 2018. "What's New: Specific user fee amounts are no longer listed on Form 8717-A. You must now enter the appropriate user fee when completing line 5." [Also available as a fillable PDF form .]
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

ASC CE Webcast: Current Developments 2018

Learn the latest on IRS and DOL developments, PBGC, legislative proposals and much more! Register Now!

Text of SEC Proposed Rule: Updated Disclosure Requirements and Summary Prospectus for Variable Annuity and Variable Life Insurance Contracts (PDF)

480 pages. "The [SEC] is proposing rule and form amendments that are intended to help investors make informed investment decisions regarding variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts. The proposal would modernize disclosures by using a layered disclosure approach designed to provide investors with key information relating to the contract's terms, benefits, and risks in a concise and more reader-friendly presentation, with access to more detailed information available online and electronically or in paper format on request.... In addition, we are proposing amendments to the registration forms for variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts to update and enhance the disclosures to investors in these contracts, and to implement the proposed summary prospectus framework.... Lastly, we are seeking comments regarding parallel amendments to rules governing mutual fund summary prospectuses and registration forms applicable to other types of registered investment companies." U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]

SEC Fact Sheet: Proposed Disclosure Improvements for Variable Annuities and Variable Life Insurance Contracts

"The proposed rule would permit a person to satisfy its prospectus delivery obligations under the Securities Act for a variable contract by sending or giving a summary prospectus to investors and making the statutory prospectus available online. The proposal leverages both technology and a layered disclosure approach to improve the ability of investors to understand and evaluate variable contracts.... [1] New option to use a summary prospectus for variable contracts ... [2] Availability of variable contract statutory prospectus and other materials ... [3] Optional method to satisfy prospectus delivery requirements for underlying mutual funds ... [4] Updates to variable contract registration forms." U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]

Issues with 401(k) Plan Notices: Be Aware (or Beware)

"[T]he employer and the other plan fiduciaries ... must ensure that the notices contain the required information, and that they are appropriately delivered.... Consideration should be given to striking the right balance in terms of combining notices.... ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code permit electronic delivery; however, ... [t]here are specific regulatory conditions that must be satisfied. Many service providers deliver notices on behalf of plan sponsors, but do not fulfill the necessary conditions." Hawley Troxell

DOL Regulatory Enforcement Priorities Include 'Plan Investment Conflicts'

"The DOL [ Plan Investment Conflicts project ] is investigating how benefit plan committees are managing fiduciary service provider compensation and conflicts of interest in relation to plan asset vehicles.... These five tips will help HR managers and committees be prepared and not get caught off guard."
Roland|Criss

Join the Pension Rights Center's no-fee lawyer referral service!

Are you an experienced attorney who can handle issues involving private and government retirement plans? Join our no-fee National Pension Lawyers Network ! There is no obligation to take any case we refer to you. Join our network!

Are ERISA Claims Subject to Arbitration?

"[P]lan sponsors should consider the unique characteristics of ERISA litigation when considering whether to adopt and/or seek to enforce arbitration provisions.... [W]hile class action litigation can be burdensome, it has the advantage of ensuring finality. Even if an employer can compel an individual employee to arbitrate disputes, the employer may end up playing 'whack a mole' as additional employee lawsuits spring up relating to the same legal issues, requiring repeated arbitration of the same basic claims, with potentially inconsistent results." Trucker Huss

Open MEP Opportunities and Compliance Challenges (PDF)

"Assuming the DOL or Congress takes appropriate action, advisers may be in a position to offer small businesses an efficient, cost-effective solution to providing retirement benefits to their employees. In turn, advisers will likely be required to assume some liability under [ERISA] and act in accordance with its fiduciary and prohibited transaction provisions." [The author also notes that, "On the date this article was published, the [DOL] proposed a regulation intended to broaden the availability of MEPs. In so doing, the Department addressed some of the challenges raised in this article, but not all."]
Groom Law Group, via planadviser

DOL's Proposal for Multiple-Employer Plans Is Limited

"Last week, the [DOL] proposed expanding multiple-employer plans ... The proposal isn't comprehensive enough to create sweeping changes. But, it may induce a few more entities to offer MEPs, possibly increasing retirement coverage and perhaps improving the quality of the retirement plans for some small businesses.... In the meantime, many Congress watchers think lawmakers could pass a broader bill in the lame-duck session that would make multiple-employer plans more widely available." Morningstar Advisor

Best Interest and Best Practices, Part 7

"[It] appears that Reg BI and the RIA Interpretation are moving along towards completion. That probably means that the final rules will be completed near the end of the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2019.... [T]he DOL's guidance will probably be, to a large degree, based on the SEC's final rules. As a result, their guidance will follow the SEC's, rather than being released at the same time." FredReish.com

Judge Conditionally Approves Proposed Settlement to Resolve St. Joseph Health Lawsuits

"Provisions in the proposed settlement include an immediate lump-sum payment of at least $11.15 million and admission by the settling defendants that the plaintiffs' damages are at least $125 million. This proposed settlement could resolve lawsuits filed in June alleging that St. Joseph's Health Services stopped making necessary contributions to the retirement plan, resulting in it being grossly underfunded." Pensions & Investments

Creating Retirement Paychecks from a Volatile Portfolio

"[T]he mechanical challenge of how to actually generate those retirement 'paychecks' that transitioning retirees are accustomed to, is an entirely separate matter from just investing the retirement portfolio itself, and entails a number of distinct policy-based decisions about how to standardize a process for a wide range of retirees.... [A]dvisors might even consider creating Withdrawal Policy Statements to then codify the processes they will use to generate retirement income withdrawals[.]" Nerd's Eye View

Would Greater Awareness of Social Security Survivor Benefits Affect Claiming Decisions?

"A simple information intervention that highlights the likelihood and consequences of widowhood, and demonstrates how delayed claiming enhances survivor benefits, may be insufficient to change the stated claiming intentions of older husbands. The framing of these information interventions ... seems to affect claiming at least as much as the content presented." Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Recommendation of the SEC Investor Advisory Committee Regarding Proposed Regulation Best Interest, Form CRS, and Investment Advisers Act Fiduciary Guidance (PDF)

"[A] majority of the IAC believes that more can and should be done to strengthen and clarify these proposals.... [1] The Best Interest Standard needs to be clarified ... [2] Recommendations regarding account types should be made in the investor's best interest ... [3] The Best Interest Standard is a principle-based fiduciary obligation ... [4] The Commission should test form CRS disclosures for effectiveness." U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]

Benefits Administrators: Time to Provide End-of-Year Notices

"With open enrollment approaching for many employers, ... [this article provides] a list of the various notices and disclosures generally required to be provided to participants around this time of year." [Covers notices and disclosures for both retirement plans and health & welfare plans.] Vorys

New York's Highest Court Strikes Down the Executive Order 38 'Soft Cap' on Executive Compensation

"On October 18, 2018, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a decision striking down Department of Health (DOH) regulations under Executive Order 38 that limited compensation paid to executives of Medicaid-funded entities when paid from non-state sources. The cap on executive compensation derived from state funds and state-authorized payments remains in place." Hodgson Russ LLP

Is It Discriminatory to Charge Higher Distribution Fee for Smaller Accounts?

The standard distribution fee from the plan is $75. If a participant is "forced out," however, the fee is $125. The force-outs are always the amounts that are less than $1,000. The original theory behind the additional fee was that there is additional work involved in setting up the rollover IRA. For amounts, however, that are not rolled to an IRA, I am concerned that this fee could be looked at as discriminatory because it's essentially only going to be applied to NHCEs. BenefitsLink Message Boards

RMD Start Date Question: 70-1/2 in 2017, But No Vesting Until 2018

New owner-only plan effective 1/1/2017. Owner reaches age 70?1/2 in 2017. Vesting is 6-year graded. Vesting prior to effective date of plan is excluded. As of 12/31/2018, the owner would be 20% vested. When would the first RMD need to be distributed? BenefitsLink Message Boards

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Press Releases

Ascensus Continues to Build Upon Qualified Retirement Plan Consulting and Administration Expertise with Agreement to Acquire Pension Works Ascensus

River and Mercantile Solutions Director Named President-Elect of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries River and Mercantile Group [RMG]

Employee Benefits Expert Advises Lockton Clients in Northern California Lockton

Health Affairs Council On Health Care Spending And Value Announces Membership Health Affairs

Employer Reduced Opioid Use 23% with Hinge Health's Evidence-Based Digital Back and Knee Care Programs Hinge Health

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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

What Costs Can be Covered Under a Hardship Distribution for Purchase of a Primary Residence? DWC

Recent Updates to the IRS Section 402(f) Tax Notice for Rollover-Eligible Distributions Fox Rothschild LLP

Are We on the Verge of the Next Big Pension Bill? Bloomberg BNA