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Government Affairs
With concerns about the final Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rule and its potential impact on low- and middle-income families still percolating on Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of House of Representatives members has outlined a series of legislative principles to help guide those efforts....
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On Monday, Nov.2, 2015, the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) sent about 1,200 letters by email to filers of 2014 Form 5500 that did not properly include the report of an independent accountant. The emails do not constitute enforcement correspondence — that is, the letters are not...
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The Treasury Department has officially launched its MyRA program on a national basis, hoping to “create a savings habit that will grow,” according to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.While the Nov. 4 launch was new, the program is not. Originally unveiled in President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union...
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On Nov. 3, 2015, ASPPA submitted a comment letter in response to an IRS request in Revenue Procedure 2015-27 for recommendations regarding the treatment of overpayments, as defined in sections 5.01(3)(c) and 5.02(4) of Revenue Procedure 2013-12, under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System...
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They may not have been willing to block the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary proposal with legislation, but a group of Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives are asking for some additional time to comment on the final proposal before it’s final.The request comes in the form of...
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The Social Security Administration and the IRS have issued the Fall 2015 edition of their joint online newsletter, the SSA/IRS Reporter, This edition includes information on issues related to retirement plans and compliance.The newsletter provides links to information on the following recent...
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The details of a new budget deal have been released and to use the late Yogi Berra’s famous malapropism, it’s déjà vu all over again (and again). Congress has once again (and again) gone to the defined benefit pension well to pay for a budget deal, using gimmicks that further penalize responsible...
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The sweeping two-year budget package that is swiftly moving through Congress this week collects over $8.1 billion in revenue from America’s defined benefit plans. This revenue largely comes from increases in premium payments to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).The pension section of...
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There’s not much time left in 2015, and that applies to more than just the calendar. It also applies to certain required minimum distributions (RMDs). The IRS issued a reminder in IR-2015-122 on Oct. 29 that those born before July 1, 1945 generally must receive payments from their IRAs by Dec. 31....
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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed fiduciary rule would make many changes. One of them — and one central to what constitutes a fiduciary act and who a fiduciary is — is what constitutes a recommendation.And that was one of the topics addressed by panelists in a discussion at the recent LIMRA...
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Discussing alternatives to encourage small businesses to offer retirement plans, a Senate subcommittee found consensus around a specific solution.Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security Chairman Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) convened a...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) said Oct. 28 that the 2016 annual maximum guaranteed benefit for a retiree at age 65, as well as that for multiemployer plans, will remain at the same levels as those set for 2015.The 2016 annual maximum guaranteed benefit for a retiree at age 65 will...
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The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Oct. 27 that would block the Department of Labor from finalizing its fiduciary proposal until the Securities and Exchange Commission weighs in.By a 245-to-186 margin, the House passed the Retail Investor Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 1090), which...
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An Oct. 23 hearing by a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee became the latest stage on which House members expressed frustration over proposals related to fiduciary regulation. The Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government hearing, “Oversight of the SEC’s Division of...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has raised the per-participant flat premium rates and the variable-rate premium for single-employer plans for plan years beginning in 2016. The PBGC made the announcement on Oct. 26.The per-participant flat premium rate for plan years beginning in...
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The biggest impact of the DOL’s proposed fiduciary rule, a.k.a. the “conflict of interest rule,” is on the IRA market, ERISA attorney Fred Reish told a workshop session at the ASPPA Annual Conference Oct. 20. Reish was joined by Marcy Supovitz, incoming president of the American Retirement...
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Concerned that prior guidance has discouraged the embrace of “economically targeted investments,” the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new interpretive bulletin.The DOL starts by broadly defining an economically targeted investment as “…any investment that is selected, in part, for its...
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The 2015 ASPPA Annual Conference offered a great opportunity to meet other pension professionals, hear from government leaders and experts, and gain insights on critical issues and developments facing the industry. Here’s a recap of our coverage of sessions and speakers from this year’s conference...
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As expected most of the limits were unchanged, because the increase in the cost-of-living index did not meet the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment — but there were some increases.The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) highlighted the following limitations that WILL change in 2016 from...
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There will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security this year — a precursor of what can be expected for retirement plan contribution and benefit limits.It's just the third time in 40 years that those Social Security payments will remain flat. All three times have come since 2010....
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