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Qualifying lifetime annuity contracts in July 2014 became another option for defined contribution plan sponsors to offer to assist with retirement income security when the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS issued final regulations allowing them. Now, plan sponsors and participants near retirement age face some confusing choices when considering whether QLACs are right for their […]
Congress has come to the aid of single-employer defined benefit retirement plans concerned about the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s power to assert liability on them when changing business operations affect their plan participants. As part of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (within the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2015, known as […]
Preparing employer benefit plans’ annual filings to federal agencies can be detailed and time-consuming. A review of recent changes to the 2014 Form 5500 series indicates this process could become even more laborious for some plans, as the government seeks more data disclosure. The Form 5500 is used by multiple government agencies (the U.S. Department […]
On Jan. 26, U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to employers struggling to get retiree health care costs under control. A unanimous ruling in M&G Polymers USA v. Tackett, No. 13-1010 (Sup.Ct., Jan. 26, 2015), vacated the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Tackett. In doing so, the High Court criticized 6th Circuit […]
Distributing abandoned small accounts in the 401(k) plans of participants who have left the company is a necessary evil for plan sponsors, to keep the plan focused on managing larger, active holdings and controlling costs. Despite the benefits for the plan that this form of housekeeping provides, results from these “forced transfers” may be less […]
Retirement plan sponsors now have more information than ever before about the fees they are paying for plan services. This helps meet fiduciary obligations to monitor and assess the “reasonableness” of plan fees, but it also can lead to uncertainty about how best to meet these obligations. The large amounts of information provided by the […]
Plan participants can recover personal, rather than plan, losses under arguments of “surcharge,” the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled, reversing an earlier opinion, which had been at odds with other federal circuits. On Dec. 16, the circuit court handed down the new ruling in Gabriel v. Alaska Elec. Pension Fund, 2014 WL 7139686 (9th […]
Employee Stock Purchase Plans can reduce 401(k) plan loans, a prominent money management firm says. Fidelity Investments found that employees are less likely to take out a loan from their 401(k) account if their company also features an employee stock purchase plan. Employee funds held in these often-discounted stock plans, which are increasingly seen as […]
As U.S. employment mobility has increased, one result of an estimated 9.5 million job changes a year has been a large number of defined contribution retirement accounts left behind at former employers. These often are small in dollar value, but can become a more costly and “insidious” problem than many plan sponsors realize. Small accounts […]
Defined contribution plans do not typically include an option that provides a lifetime stream of income for participants, as pension participants and beneficiaries could rely on in years past. With the switch to DC plans from traditional defined benefit plans, the federal government is very concerned about plan participants having a secure retirement. As a […]