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Regulatory Compliance
Fiduciary duties are central to complying with rules and regulations, and ultimately to serving participants well. A recent blog entry argues that how a plan is governed is part of the equation in fulfilling them and offers suggestions regarding how to better go about it.
“It is not hyperbole to...
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OregonSaves, the state-sponsored retirement plan for private-sector workers, has been open to participation since July 1, 2017. Since then, it has been made available to those workers gradually in waves based on employer size and late in 2018 was expanded to allow individual Oregonians, such as...
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The IRS announced on Aug. 23 that it is extending the temporary nondiscrimination relief for closed defined benefit plans that is provided in Notice 2014-5 by making that relief available for plan years beginning before 2021 if the conditions of Notice 2014-5 are satisfied. The relief is contained...
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Retirement planning can be a complicated process – and surveys suggest that most workers haven’t even attempted a guess. But even those who have can overlook some pretty significant factors that can have a dramatic impact on retirement readiness.
Here are some critical factors that are easy to get...
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Right on schedule, the Department of Labor (DOL) has sent a proposed rule for electronic disclosures to retirement plan participants to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
The proposal, “Improving Effectiveness of and Reducing the Cost of Furnishing Required Notices and Disclosures...
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A recent ASPPA webcast included questions and answers on the nuts-and-bolts issues involved in missed deferrals and how to correct them.
While one may not encounter these specific situations, the Q&As serve as a reminder of the compliance-related reasons why it is important to not miss a...
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Plan sponsors occasionally wish to change aspects of their plan vesting provisions. But that can be more easily said than done. A recent ASPPA webcast offers a look at the technical requirements to making changes to a plan’s vesting provisions and how to avoid common pitfalls in doing so.
As a...
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According to a survey on Bankrate.com, 60% of Americans do not have sufficient funds saved to enable them to pay for an unexpected emergency expense. The failure to save money is at epidemic levels.
One way that an individual can deal with desperate circumstances (or more-than-normal financial...
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Plan fees often elicit complaint and sometimes serious action, as lawsuits and court rulings attest. A recent article discusses the Department of Labor (DOL) rules for controlling fees and what they require, as well as how to protect employees from excessive fees.
There is a range of reasons for...
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We really hadn’t been focused on making a change, though the subject had come up from time to time.
In fact, considering how long we had been thinking about making a change without actually doing anything about it, the change itself felt almost accidental in its suddenness. So sudden, in fact,...
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The IRS has determined that if an individual receives a distribution check from a qualified plan and does not cash the check, that individual cannot exclude the amount of the designated distribution from gross income and the employer remains subject to withholding and reporting obligations. The IRS...
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Multiple employer plans (MEPs) figure prominently in many discussions about workplace retirement plans today. And with those discussions including changes that would expand their availability and use, an Aug. 6 webinar provided a useful refresher on the federal rules governing MEPs.
In the...
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A missed deferral has ripple effects and is not an isolated event. The sooner it is addressed the better, argued an industry expert in an Aug. 7 ASPPA webcast.
“It is important to get it right and ger the participant where he/she would have been if the error had not happened,” said Mike Smith, a...
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Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Physics says that, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” That also apparently applies to ERISA litigation.
On August 5, the law firm of Schlichter Bogard & Denton, LLP filed papers opposing a motion by fiduciary defendants of the MIT...
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As Congress headed out of town for the August recess, retirement’s “Dynamic Duo” have teamed up on legislation designed to help stave off nondiscrimination testing issues for frozen defined benefit plans.
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), both members of the Senate Finance...
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The Department of Labor announced a final rule today that expands the availability of some multiple employer plans (MEPs) – and an RFI that seeks more information on “open” MEPs.
Acknowledging that Association Retirement Plans (ARPs) and MEPs exist now, the Labor Department notes that in addition...
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A recent federal court decision should remind us all of the importance of plan committee education.
The case involved a suit by participants in the SunTrust 401(k) plan that challenged the initial selection of, and subsequent acquiescence with, an ostensibly imprudent plan investment menu. The...
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ASPPA is always providing information and insights that will be valuable to its members! Following is a summary of upcoming webcasts and events.
Live Webcasts
ASPPA Webcast: Correcting Missed Elective Deferral Opportunities under EPCRS
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
2:00 – 3:40 p.m. ET
Speaker:...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued temporary penalty relief related to certain Form 5500 requirements for multiple employer plans (MEPs) subject to ERISA §103(g). The relief is contained in Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2019-01, which the DOL issued on July 24.
Under §103(g) of ERISA,...
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A senior Labor Department official suggests keeping an eye out for proposed guidance addressing electronic disclosure of retirement plan information.
Jeanne Wilson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary with the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), said the...
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