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Technical Resources
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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The Department of Labor’s Inspector General is looking at how the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration monitors plans that claim the “small plan” exemption from the annual independent audit requirement that applies under ERISA, the ASPPA Government Affairs Committee has learned. ...
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With the ERISA fiduciary community still absorbing the impact of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the presumption of prudence standard for company stock in retirement plans, a federal appellate court has introduced a new and potentially complicating aspect to consider. The traditional standard of...
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The U.S. Department of Labor has published a request for information on the use of brokerage windows, self-directed brokerage accounts and “similar features” in 401(k)-type plans. “We promised employers and other plan sponsors and fiduciaries that we would look into the use of brokerage window...
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How can the fiduciaries of terminated DC plans fulfill their obligations under ERISA to locate missing participants and properly distribute the participants’ account balances?It’s a question the Department of Labor answered in a Field Assistance Bulletin released Aug. 14, while replacing prior...
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Aug. 11 announced securities fraud charges against the state of Kansas, claiming that the state failed to disclose that the state’s pension system was significantly underfunded, and that the unfunded pension liability created a repayment risk for...
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Fidelity has changed the way it manages its 401(k) plan. That took some convincing — it had been sued by 29 current and former employees on behalf of 50,000 of their peers over conflicts of interest in its plan. But the settlement they reached had something for both parties; and for employees, that...
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The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the congressional scorekeeper of tax legislation, on Aug. 5 issued its latest estimates of the increasing costs of the tax incentives for retirement savings. The numbers are eye-popping. JCT projects that:• the tax exclusion for saving in DC plans will cost...
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ASPPA and ACOPA, in an Aug. 13 letter to Robert Choi, Director, Employee Plans at the IRS, have requested guidance regarding the application of the funding stabilization provisions in section 2003 of the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HTFA) to plan years beginning in 2013 and 2014...
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The Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index slipped eight points in the second quarter driven largely by a 17-point decline in optimism among retired investors.Nearly nine out of 10 non-retired investors said they are optimistic they will achieve the American Dream versus 77% of...
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During the last week of July, the Bipartisan Policy Center hosted a panel on retirement security — and shared some interesting perspectives on the state of America’s retirement readiness. Pension professionals should understand these perspectives, as they could well find their way into future...
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified companies that offer advances in exchange for receiving all or part of their pension funds and questionable practices that may put plan participants at risk. “Pension Advance Transactions: Questionable Business Practices Identified,” a...
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Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has named the members of a panel charged with finding “…ways to better secure retirement savings for private-sector employees in Maryland.” Established by executive order in May and chaired by former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D), the task force brings...
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The Senate capitulated to the House on a bill to replenish the dwindling federal Highway Trust Fund by a vote of 81-13 on the evening of July 31. The final version of the bill that will now go to President Obama’s desk will include the MAP-21 pension smoothing extension initially rejected by the...
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So this year’s estimate of when the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust fund will run out of money is 2033, the Social Security trustees reported July 28 — roughly the same as last year’s estimate. There’s just one problem: There is no such thing as an OASDI trust fund.There...
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A secure retirement and adequate retirement savings are targets many Americans can attain. That’s the conclusion that Prudential has reached, based on research by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. In its most recent National Retirement Risk Index, the center found that to maintain...
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The U.S. Senate passed legislation July 29 to fund the nation’s Highway Trust Fund — legislation that does not include a pension smoothing provision. The vote tally on the $8.1 billion bill was 79-18.The Senate bill differs from the $10.8 billion version that the House of Representatives passed on...
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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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Plan participants take money out of their 401(k)s prematurely for different reasons — such as plan loans and hardship withdrawals. But the biggest driver of leakage, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), is cashing out when changing jobs. In fact, EBRI says that cashouts at...
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Recently, in the review process for determination letter applications, the IRS has taken issue with “412(d)(2)” plan amendments. Some plan sponsors have been told by IRS reviewers that the amendments were not permissible if adopted after the close of the plan year, and that a closing agreement...
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