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The team of Portman and Cardin have put their heads, and pens, together in a letter to Labor Secretary Tom Perez about the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) fiduciary proposal.Of course, then-Representatives Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) led the charge in the House for the Economic Growth...
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The Five W’s (or as they are sometimes called, Five W’s and one H) are questions whose answers are considered basic in information gathering in a variety of settings.There are a lot of questions that plan fiduciaries should ask, but here are five W’s and an H that every new plan fiduciary — or...
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Congress has passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015, which is expected to be signed into law Dec. 4 by President Obama — and which, thanks to ASPPA GAC input, includes a vital change for Form 5500 filers.The bill sets policy and funding levels for transportation...
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The overall funded ratio for public pension plans improved by just over four percentage points in 2014. That’s good news, but in its recent study Milliman also includes some caveats that indicate that in both the short and long run, the picture may not be entirely rosy.Milliman’s annual Public...
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The Department of Labor (DOL), IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Dec. 3 released advance copies of the Form 5500 Series to be used for 2015 reporting.Filings on 2015 forms can be submitted to EFAST2, the electronic system by which the Form 5500 is submitted, through approved...
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A congressional subcommittee hearing Dec. 2 gave voice to the conflicting perspectives on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary proposal, though it seems unlikely that anyone’s perspective was changed.The hearing, “Principles for Ensuring Retirement Advice Serves the Best Interests of Working...
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The final version of the 2015 Form 5500 was released on Dec. 3 and, in a victory for ASPPA GAC, the new IRS compliance questions were made optional (at least for the 2015 plan year). As has been reported in prior ASPPA Connect articles as well as ASPPA asaps, the IRS had proposed a number of new...
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Employee benefit plan audits are not a suggestion — they are a requirement, at least for a plan that has more than 100 participants, which must include such an audit with the Form 5500 it submits. But the peril of failing to comply is not the only danger associated with this obligation. Adam S....
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Interacting with participants can take many forms, and sometimes seemingly innocuous interactions become the subject of later scrutiny. In the webcast “Handling Participant Claims and Inquiries,” which will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 16 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. EST, Kelsey H. Mayo, an attorney...
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Multiemployer defined benefit plans show stability and then some. A recent study reports they are enjoying sustained recovery from the Great Recession.In “The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: A Ten-Year Look (2004-2013),” the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and Horizon...
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Legislation that would amend the rules for church plans in a variety of ways is now before both chambers of Congress. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) introduced the House version of The Church Plan Clarification Act of 2015, H.R. 4085, and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced the Senate version, S. 2308....
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has amended its regulation on allocation of assets in single-employer plans by substituting a new table for determining expected retirement ages for participants in pension plans that are distressed or are being involuntarily terminated and that have...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued its annual report, which shows that in federal fiscal year (FY) 2015 the agency paid millions of dollars to support multiemployer pension plans and billions to people covered by pension plans that failed. The report also shows that the PBGC...
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Pension plan sponsors have long been concerned about rising Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums — but now a major ratings agency has raised its concerns as well.Following the recent announcement by the PBGC that its multiemployer pension insurance fund deficit had surged by $10...
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That “unique representational interest” that the Department of Labor (DOL) feels justifies the sponsorship of an open multiple employer plan (MEP) by a state for its citizens might extend beyond state boundaries.Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi says that some New England states have...
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The Financial Services Roundtable recently hosted an event on Capitol Hill that amounted to a retirement counseling session for Millennials working in Congress.Headlining the event was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). A freshman member first elected in 2014...
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The good news is that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established a date for issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Personalized Investment Advice Standard of Conduct.The bad news? That date, according to the SEC Office of Management and Budget’s fall agenda, is...
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The Obama Administration recently unveiled its myRA program, a federal effort to encourage retirement savings and provide an easy, low-impact way for those who do not participate in a retirement plan to set something aside. But it’s not the first time the administration has embarked on such an...
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Plan fiduciaries should be careful when they choose, and retain, auditors. That may seem obvious, but the Department of Labor (DOL) has been pursuing an effort to provide information about plan audits and advising care in the selection of auditors.In “DOL’s Audit Quality Outreach Continues,” Morgan...
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It’s in a retirement practitioner’s interest to follow ethical practices. To help in doing so, one needs the ability to professionally and ethically deliver service to clients — and an understanding of Circular 230 doesn’t hurt, either.In “Ethics 2015: Circular 230, Professionalism and Case Studies...
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