ASPPA Net Staff

U.S. Retirees Need $2.5 Million for Retirement

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/9/2015

Retirees will need an average of $2.5 million to maintain the same quality of life in retirement, according to a recent Legg Mason survey.The majority (72%) of the 458 U.S. respondents to the firm’s Legg Mason Global Investment Survey — all affluent investors (defined as having at least $200,000 in... READ MORE

Reps. Kline, Roe Press for Details on DOL, SEC Coordination

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/6/2015

The Labor Department has repeatedly claimed to be consulting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its fiduciary reproposal — but a couple of key House Republicans would like to see some proof.House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Rep. Phil Roe... READ MORE

IRS Updates Publications on IRAs

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/5/2015

The IRS on March 4 announced that it has revised publications concerning aspects of IRA administration and taxation of IRAs. The IRS intends these publications to help businesses and individuals understand how to figure depreciation as well as pension options. The publications are: Publication 4587... READ MORE

Try, Try Again: Retirement Bills Reintroduced in Congress

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/4/2015

Legislative phoenixes that would codify the president’s auto IRA proposal and change the qualified plan loan rules have arisen in both chambers of Congress.Auto IRALegislation has been reintroduced in both the House and the Senate that would formally enact President Obama’s federal automatic IRA... READ MORE

What’s Coming Up: ASPPA Webcasts and Events

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/4/2015

ASPPA is always providing information and insights that will be valuable to its members! Following is a summary of upcoming webcasts and events for ASPPA members.Live WebcastsA Review of the ASOPs Affecting Pension ActuariesThursday, March 5, 20152 p.m. - 3:40 p.m. ETSpeaker: Norman Levinrad, EA,... READ MORE

Employer-Provided Pensions’ Funded Status Improved in February

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/3/2015

The funded status of corporate pensions in the United States was 87.5% in February, a jump of 5.1 percentage points since January, according to BNY Mellon Investment and Strategy Group (ISSG). What a difference a month makes: their funded status slipped by almost the same amount the month before.... READ MORE

NYC Public Advocate Pushes Private Sector Plan

By ASPPA Net Staff 3/2/2015

It’s no longer just states that are looking at the notion of expanding private sector retirement plan coverage.New York City Public Advocate Letitia James on Feb. 26 introduced legislation creating a commission of experts to study the establishment of a pension fund for private sector workers in... READ MORE

Federal Budget Seeks to Support State-Based Auto IRAs

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/26/2015

The recent White House budget proposal sets aside $6.5 million in funding for the Department of Labor, along with waiver authority, to support state efforts to implement state-based automatic enrollment IRAs or 401(k)-type programs.Currently more than a dozen state legislatures are actively... READ MORE

Divide Between Private, Public Sectors on DC vs. DB Assets Persists

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/23/2015

More divides private and public employees than the kind of employer for which they work — what kind of retirement plan is available to them, and how many assets are available in each kind, varies as well. Pensions & Investments reports that the answer for each is the opposite of the other.By... READ MORE

‘Disruptive Events’ Hurt Americans’ Retirement Plans

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/20/2015

Two-thirds of American adults have experienced an event or situation that has had a negative effect on their financial plans for the long-term/retirement, including 75% of those under age 25, according to a new report.The vast majority (84%) of “Disrupted Americans” were saving for the long-term/... READ MORE

New England States Ponder Tax Breaks for Pensions

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/20/2015

Proposals in New England neighbors Connecticut and Rhode Island would give their respective residents breaks from state taxes imposed on their pensions. Bills have been introduced in the legislatures of both states that would provide different degrees of relief: some would phase in a tax break;... READ MORE

PBGC Seeks Input on Implementation of Multiemployer Plan Rules

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/20/2015

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is seeking input on the implementation of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) of 2014. The MPRA, enacted Dec. 16, 2014, included provisions that amended ERISA by replacing the rules for the partition of multiemployer plans and adding rules for... READ MORE

Many Employers Plan to Curb Cost of PBGC Premiums

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/18/2015

A growing number of employers plan to act this year to curb the cost of future Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums, according to Aon Hewitt. Not all of the employers the human resources firm recently surveyed have an open plan. In fact, a majority have a plan that is either frozen or... READ MORE

DOL Seeks to Move Pension Filings to the Cloud

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/17/2015

The ERISA public disclosure website — which houses filings by health and pension plans of private employers — is headed for the cloud. According to Federal Times, the Department of Labor (DOL) is choosing a vendor that can provide a FedRAMP-certified cloud for this purpose.The DOL’s request for... READ MORE

IRAs a Hefty Chunk of U.S. Retirement Assets, Studies Say

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/12/2015

Individual retirement accounts comprise 30% of U.S. retirement market assets and 11% of all household financial assets, which amounted to $7.3 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2014. And just over one-third of all U.S. households — 41.5 million — had IRAs by the middle of 2014. In “The... READ MORE

ASPPA Connect on Hiatus Monday

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/11/2015

ASPPA Connect will not appear on Monday, Feb. 16, in observance of Presidents Day. A comprehensive federal holiday born of the close proximity of the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, it’s more than just a day to sleep in — it was set aside in honor of our nation’s chief... READ MORE

Shift to DC a Global Trend

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/10/2015

The world’s pension assets grew 6% last year, and now amount to around 84% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), substantially higher than the 54% recorded in 2008.That growth means that global institutional pension fund assets in the 16 major markets have now reached a new high of $36 trillion,... READ MORE

DOL Updates EFAST2 Electronic Filing FAQs

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/6/2015

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) on Feb. 4 updated five frequently asked questions concerning electronically filing the Form 5500 via the EFAST2 system.Following are the changes EBSA made: FAQ 4. This FAQ concerns how to submit a delinquent or... READ MORE

Pension Plans Rode Financial See-Saw in January

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/5/2015

U.S. company-provided pension plans got mixed news from BNY Mellon Investment Strategy and Solutions Group (ISSG) concerning how they fared in January 2015. The good news: assets of a typical plan grew 1%. The bad news: despite the higher assets, funded status fell by 4.9 percentage points from the... READ MORE

Filling in the Blanks: Avoiding IRS Scrutiny of Your Form 5500

By ASPPA Net Staff 2/5/2015

The IRS cautions that entering incorrect information — or in some cases, leaving a field blank — on the Form 5500 increases the likelihood of being targeted for a compliance check.The IRS cites the following examples of these types of errors: Sponsors incorrectly entered 0 participants or left... READ MORE

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