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Regulatory Compliance
In the process of enforcing the law, the Pension and Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) needs to keep in mind that its mission is to preserve and protect defined benefit plans. That is one of the underlying themes in the first annual report of the PBGC participant and plan sponsor advocate....
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All disbursements from a retirement plan scheduled to be made at the same time are treated as a single distribution even if they are sent to multiple destinations. That new rule becomes mandatory as 2015 dawns, the IRS has reminded taxpayers in the Dec. 23 issue of its e-newsletter, Employee Plans...
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The IRS issued a clarification Nov. 10 on the application of the one-per-year limit on IRA rollovers. In Announcement 2014-32, the IRS said it had received comments about the “administrative challenges presented by the Bobrow interpretation of §408(d)(3)(B).” In the announcement the IRS...
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Having regained their Senate majority and deepened their hold on the House, the GOP — with a wary eye on the 2016 elections — may be ready to deal.In a recent webcast, ASPPA Executive Director Brian Graff and Political Director Jim Dornan discussed the shifts in power in the Nation’s Capital and...
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a recent report has highlighted one of the ways public- and private-sector deferred benefit plans differ — valuation. “Pension Plan Valuation: Views on Using Multiple Measures to Offer a More Complete Financial Picture” outlines and discusses these...
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American workers are feeling better about their retirement prospects, with most of the (modest) improvement registered among higher-income individuals and women, a new survey suggests.According to “the State of U.S. Employee Retirement Preparedness” by Financial Finesse, nearly 1 in 5 employees...
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Remember the kids' game, Hot Potato? Seems like there's a grown-up version too, for plan administrators who perform a fiduciary role. That was what Nicholas J. White, Special Counsel at Trucker Huss, addressed in an Oct. 28 session at ASPPA's 2014 Annual Conference at National Harbor, Md. Named...
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Never a dull moment for plan administrators and actuaries. And that’s even more true when you throw federal regulations into the mix. A panel discussion at ASPPA’s 2014 Annual Conference on Monday, Oct. 27 provided an update on regulatory changes affecting DB plans .Pension Benefit Guaranty...
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The finer points of administering a cash balance plan and working with equivalent benefit accrual rates were the topics of discussion at an Oct. 27 session of the 2014 ASPPA Annual Conference. Lawrence Deutsch, president of Larry Deutsch Enterprises, and Michael B. Preston of Preston Actuarial...
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They’ve been a while in coming, but they are here: the IRS on Sept. 26 issued final regulations on electronic filing of Form 8955-SSA and Form 5500-EZ in certain circumstances. The IRS had issued the regs in proposed form in August 2013.Under the final rule, contained in TD 9695, tax return filers...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on Sept. 24 issued Technical Update 14-1, guidance on how the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HATFA) affects PBGC premiums. PBGC expects most plans with premium filings due in calendar year 2014 that haven’t already filed a 2013 Schedule SB...
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Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler has presented the legislature with recommendations for increasing Oregonians’ retirement savings, access to a retirement plan and ability to enroll in one. The recommendations are the work of the state’s Retirement Security Task Force, which the legislature...
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Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler has presented the legislature with recommendations for increasing Oregonians’ retirement savings, access to a retirement plan and ability to enroll in one. The recommendations are the work of the state’s Retirement Security Task Force, which the legislature...
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Treasury’s annual blueprint for the guidance it expects to issue in the coming year — the Priority Guidance Plan — is out for 2014-2015, and retirement plans are on its agenda. As is usually the case, it is an ambitious plan. Of course, the road to certain places is paved with good intentions, and...
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What happens to executive retirement benefits when employers close or freeze their defined benefit pension plans? What if that plan is a hybrid/cash balance? And what does that mean for advisors?Consultant Towers Watson recently conducted an analysis of how Fortune 200 companies in 2013...
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This summer, for the first time in more than 20 years, Hawaii was hit by a named tropical system. ays later, a second churned offshore. Hurricane Arthur splashed through North Carolina’s Outer Banks just before July 4. And the height of the Atlantic hurricane season is about to arrive. This...
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Is the Form 5500 worth filling out and filing in the first place? Not everyone is convinced, reports Benefitspro. But file they must, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has come to the rescue, offering suggestions in its recent report, “Private Pensions: Targeted Revisions Could Improve...
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The PBGC is stopping its enforcement efforts in open cases involving ERISA Section 4062 (e), and will not take on any new ones until after Dec. 31, 2014. In a July 8 press release, the agency said it is doing so to ensure that its efforts are targeted at cases in which pensions genuinely are at...
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According to Acting Director of IRS Employee Plans Thomas Petit, the IRS still lists 401(k) plans among its top examination priorities. Petit provided that confirmation to attendees of the ASPPA Regional Conference in Chicago.IRS EP Exam Projects and Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) projects...
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You were sure your filing with the IRS was accurate, but you double checked and found that you made a mistake. It’s tempting to stand pat and hope that the IRS won’t notice, but you know it could — and that could have negative ramifications. What to do? Remember that there is another option: the...
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