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The Moving Ahead for the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) pension-funding stabilization provisions, which have been in effect for two years, are most likely to be applied to the determination of funding requirements of larger plans, those with lower funding ratios and plans with a higher number of...
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With another testing season in the rearview mirror and PPA restatements looming on the horizon, there are sure to be plenty of questions on everyone’s mind, and ASPPA’s IRS Q&A subcommittee wants to hear them! We are currently gathering questions to go on the list that will be submitted to our...
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Target date funds play an increasingly important role in retirement plans, and monitoring a plan’s TDF options is fast becoming one of the most important fiduciary obligations plan sponsors face in managing their retirement plan investment lineup. According to a white paper by Cammack Retirement...
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More and more employers are making Roth accounts available within their DC plans — and more employees are taking them up on the offer, according to a new white paper from Aon Hewitt. The number of employers that offer Roths within their DC plans more than quadrupled over the last six years, hitting...
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Defined contribution plans that were rewritten between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2010 and that the IRS pre-approved need to be restated with the IRS. The six-year restatement period begins May 1, 2014 and ends April 30, 2016. The IRS issued a reminder in Announcement 2014-16.Employers using pre-...
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In two recent pronouncements, the IRS issued plan document guidance for pre-approved defined contribution plans being restated for the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Announcement 2014-16), as well as 403(b) arrangements (Revenue Procedure 2014-28). According to the latest ASPPA asap, written by...
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Qualified retirement plans offer employees significant tax savings and have become a mainstay of most group benefits. But to maintain their qualified status, they must comply with a set of comprehensive rules and regulations. Failure to comply can result in the immediate taxation of all...
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A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that while 81,000 new employer-sponsored retirement plans were formed during the 3-year period between 2009 and 2011, the overall trend was negative due to plan terminations — even with increased tax incentives. In addition, new...
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Just under half of employers in a study by the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute say that the Affordable Care Act has affected the way they run their retirement plans and how much they spend on them. According to the LIMRA study, 55 percent of the employers that have made changes because of the ACA...
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The Internal Revenue Service can do more to identify improper deductions for contributions the self-employed make to their simplified employee pension (SEP) plan retirement accounts. And it could bring in $71 million over five years if it does, says the Treasury Inspector General for Tax...
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Pension funding status slipped in March and liabilities grew, says a report by consulting and actuarial firm Milliman, Inc. Milliman reports that for 100 of the largest U.S. DB plans, pension liabilities grew to the tune of a collective $5 billion. Milliman blamed a drop in the monthly discount...
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In an exclusive interview with Christopher Carosa of FiduciaryNews, ASPPA Executive Director/CEO Brian Graff reaffirms his strong support, and that of ASPPA and its sister organizations, for real and tangible action to ensure a secure retirement for working Americans. Graff tells Carosa that a...
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Welcome to the first issue of ASPPA Connect — the brand new e-newsletter of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries! As an ASPPA member, you’ll receive ASPPA Connect twice a week, on Monday and Thursday. It will provide an engaging mix of news coverage, business intel,...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has proposed allowing an employee to roll over funds from a DC plan into a DB plan. The proposal, which the PBGC issued on April 1 and was published in the Federal Register on April 2, is intended to increase returns by making rollovers easier and removing...
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A majority of small businesses said in a recent study that the fee disclosure statements they receive from plan providers and vendors are more understandable than those they received in 2012. ShareBuilder 401(k) reports that 62 percent of small businesses in its recent nationwide study find the...
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Responding to the lack of access to work-site retirement plans, Illinois became the latest state to propose a mandatory retirement plan for private-sector employers. The “Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program” would be a portable IRA-like plan mandatory for all companies with 25 or more employees...
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New guidance from the IRS may make the plan-to-plan rollover process a little smoother. Revenue Ruling 2014-9, issued on April 3, is intended to make it easier for plan participants to consolidate their retirement savings accounts by making it easier for them to move assets from one employer plan...
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The DoL’s expanded fiduciary definition rule could reduce retirement savings by 20 to 40 percent, according to a study commissioned by Davis & Harman LLP on behalf of a coalition of financial services organizations, including banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms and mutual funds that...
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The funding ratio of DB benefit plans sponsored by employers in the S&P 1500 offer fell slightly in March. Mercer found that the funding ratios of those companies’ DB plans slipped to 85 percent; it had been 87 percent in February. Mercer attributes the drop not to a dip in the U.S. economy,...
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While some mid-market and small record keepers have been heralding the equitable allocation of revenue sharing, very few if any micro market providers offer it. But since June 2013, as a new white paper by Fred Reish tells us, Paychex has offered the service to the smallest of plans. It’s becoming...
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