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ASPPA Webcast: Ethics for Pension Plan ProfessionalsAvailable Through May 17, 2017Speaker: Dale R. Vlasek, Esq., Member, McDonald Hopkins LLCIRS Program Number: CZTXU-Q-00629-16-OWebcast Outline, Click Here. Description: Pension plan professionals, whether they...
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been looking into replacement rates — and it’s got some suggestions for the Department of Labor (DOL).The GAO report, prepared at the request of Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and...
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ASPPA Webcast: QDIAs and Investment 101 for Plan AdministratorsAvailable Through May 11, 2017Speaker: David Schultz, JD, APM, FIS ReliusIRS Program Number: CZTXU-Q-00634-16-OWebcast Outline Click Here. Description: Many administrators reconcile plan...
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A new website dedicated to ASPPA’s rich history at the forefront of the retirement industry is now online!Featuring videos, photos from the ASPPA archives and documents from past presidents, members and other sources, the ASPPA history website celebrates our contributions to the pension and...
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Having a defined benefit plan is just the beginning, as any employer that offers one knows. There are many considerations that flow from that — and how assets are invested is one of them. After all, that does have a direct impact on the financial health of the plan and its ability to provide...
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On Jan. 29, the IRS released proposed regulations that are expected to significantly affect the design and economics of defined contribution plans that test for nondiscrimination on the basis of equivalent benefit accrual rates. These plans are often referred to as “new comparability” or “cross-...
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Many factors have mitigated the ability of employees to retire secure in the knowledge that they have sufficient financial resources in store. A recent report offers ideas on how a plan and an employer can help employees better prepare to finance their retirement.In “Are Your Employees Retirement-...
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Pension funds have been confronted with a series of challenges of late, but new research suggests they aren’t taking things lying down.Based on responses from 400 pension professionals in 20 countries over two months, State Street Corporation found that pension funds will look to “own” five...
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Working with retirement plans is a complicated, challenging and constantly changing process. That said, there are certain constants — and things that bear repeating and/or reconsidering from time to time.Since I published my first list of 15 last fall (one of my most popular, as it turns out), I’ve...
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Many factors influence costs to employers that provide employees with access to a defined benefit plan. In the February 2016 edition of the Beyond the Numbers, a blog by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the BLS looks at how those costs fluctuate by industry, occupation,...
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In an era when defined contribution plans are increasingly the employer-provided retirement plan norm, it may seem counterintuitive to offer a defined benefit plan. Nonetheless, says recent research, that is exactly what many employers are doing. And those that do need to make sure their DB plans...
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On Feb. 23, 2016, the American Retirement Association (ARA) filed a comment letter with the IRS suggesting enhancements that can be made to the IRS pre-approved plan program for plans subject to Internal Revenue Code Sections 401(a) or 403(b). The letter also requests a meeting to discuss the ARA...
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If you thought things were going to be quiet between now and the anticipated publication of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule next month — well, you’d be wrong.Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) has now weighed in on the issue, claiming that “the bureaucrats bullied it through.”...
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On Feb. 22, 2016, the American Retirement Association (ARA) filed a comment letter with the IRS regarding the new compliance questions to be added to the Form 5500, potentially for the 2016 plan year reports.In the letter, the ARA requested a meeting with the IRS to collaborate on how to make the...
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A staff report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs sharply criticizes the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary proposal and what it described as a “flawed process” in handing down that rule.
The report, “The Labor Department’s Fiduciary Rule: How a Flawed...
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will proceed with its work on investment advice standards rules and oversight of advisors. SEC Chair Mary Jo White made that announcement on Feb. 19 at the Practising Law Institute conference in Washington, D.C.According to Investment News, White said...
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will proceed with its work on investment advice standards rules and oversight of advisors. SEC Chair Mary Jo White made that announcement on Feb. 19 at the Practising Law Institute conference in Washington, D.C.According to Investment News, White said...
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There has been a massive shift in the types of retirement plans offered by the Fortune 500 since 1998 — unless you’re talking about hybrid plans.A new report by Willis Towers Watson notes that approximately 90% of Fortune 500 employers that sponsored traditional DB plans in 1998 have changed the...
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There has been a massive shift in the types of retirement plans offered by the Fortune 500 since 1998 — unless you’re talking about hybrid plans. A new report by Willis Towers Watson notes that approximately 90% of Fortune 500 employers that sponsored traditional DB plans in 1998 have changed the...
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ASPPA Webcast: Best Practices for a Successful Plan AuditAvailable Until April 27, 2017Speaker: CariAnn J. Todd, CPA, Senior Manager, Accounting & Assurance, BeachFleischman PCIRS Program Number: CZTXU-Q-00619-16-OWebcast Outline: Click Here. ...
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