Retirement Plan

Why Retirement Plan Sponsors are Always on the Hook for Liability

by Ary Rosenbaum on 5/14/2013

Whoever said the road to hell is paved with good intentions might have been a retirement plan sponsor. While setting up a retirement plan is a good intention, a plan sponsor’s lack of diligence in reviewing what is going on...more

Legal Alert: DOL Issues Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Lifetime Income Estimates in Plan Participant Statements

by Adam Cohen, Mikka Gee Conway, Carol McClarnon, Alice Murtos, Joanna Myers, Vanessa Scott, W. Mark Smith, Rich Sun, William Walderman, Carol Weiser | Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 5/9/2013

On May 7, 2013, the Department of Labor released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that seeks commentary on requiring a projection of estimated lifetime income to be included in participant statements from...more

Preparing Participant-Directed Retirement Plans for the 2013 Annual Fee Disclosures

by Bradley A. Benedict, Matthew Ryan, Susan P. Serota | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 5/9/2013

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) requires participant-directed retirement plans to provide participants with in-depth disclosures of the plan’s fees, expenses, and investment performance on an...more

President Obama’s Pension Cap: Who Would Really Be Affected?

by Carol Buckmann | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 5/8/2013

The President’s recent budget proposal would impose a new cap on tax-favored retirement benefits. Annual contributions and accruals under tax-favored plans are already limited, but this would be a complex new limit...more

Recent 403(b) Developments

by King & Spalding on 5/8/2013

Background - 403(b) retirement plans are similar to 401(k) plans, but the employers who may establish 403(b) plans are limited to public schools, certain tax exempt employers (including religious and charitable...more

May and June Filing and Notice Deadlines for Qualified Retirement and Health and Welfare Plans

by King & Spalding on 5/7/2013

Employers and plan sponsors must comply with numerous filing and notice deadlines for their retirement and health and welfare plans. Failure to comply with these deadlines can result in costly penalties and excise taxes. To...more

“Stuff” Every 401(k) Plan Sponsor Must Keep

by Ary Rosenbaum on 5/7/2013

George Carlin said that all you need in life is a place for your stuff. Carlin said that all a house really is; is a place for your stuff. When it comes to being a retirement plan sponsor, retirement plan sponsors need a...more

How 401(k) Plan Sponsors Can Improve Their Odds In “The Retirement Gamble”

by Ary Rosenbaum on 5/3/2013

PBS’ Frontline had a scathing report on 401(k) plans called “The Retirement Gamble”. The Retirement Gamble had no roulette tables or free drinks; it was a rather sobering look at the troubles affecting 401(k) plan and...more

Monthly Benefits Update - April 2013

by Andrew Malahowski | Franczek Radelet P.C. on 5/1/2013

Health Care Reform: Guidance on Required Future Modifications to SBC, Other Issues - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidance...more

Legal Alert: President's 2014 Budget Includes Employee Benefits Proposals

by Adam Cohen, Carol McClarnon, Alice Murtos, Joanna Myers, Vanessa Scott, W. Mark Smith, William Walderman, Carol Weiser | Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 5/1/2013

On April 10, 2013, the White House released its Fiscal Year 2014 Budget (the Budget), which includes a number of proposals related to employee benefit plans. Although it is unlikely that all of the proposals will ultimately...more

IRS Releases Final Colleges and Universities Compliance Report: Reveals Significant Underreporting

by Richard Frazier, Elizabeth Mullen | Saul Ewing LLP on 5/1/2013

A recent report of the IRS’ Exempt Organizations (EO) division provides the results of a multi-year audit of tax-exempt colleges and universities regarding their compliance with IRS reporting requirements. The report focuses...more

Do Not Delay Getting Your QDRO

by Angela Bohmann | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Employee... on 5/1/2013

Employers know that benefits under a retirement plan can be split between a participant and a former spouse in the event of a divorce under the terms of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). A domestic relations order...more

“Rookie” Mistakes Every Retirement Plan Provider Should Avoid

by Ary Rosenbaum on 4/30/2013

Whether you like it or not, first impressions mean the most. If you fail to make a good impression the first time out, many times you never get a chance to make a second impression. Some times that bad impression is because...more

IRS Pressures Build: Budgetary Constraints, the Aging IRS Workforce and Changes in IRS Focus

by Thomas Cullinan, Joseph DePew, John Lanier, Mary Monahan, Daniel Schlueter | Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 4/25/2013

On April 10, 2013, President Obama released his proposed Fiscal Year 2014 Budget of the U.S. Government. The budget calls for an increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), which has faced budget cuts in...more

Say "Goodbye" to Your 401(K) Plan as You Know It?

by Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell &... on 4/24/2013

From time to time, we hear about threats to the Social Security System – even talk about eliminating it for younger workers. Some reports indicate that about half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings, while other...more

Expert Committee Pressing for Pension Reform in Quebec

by Julien Ranger | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 4/19/2013

Back in the fall of 2011, an expert committee chaired by Alban D’Amours was mandated by the Quebec government to analyze the state of the Quebec retirement income system and to make recommendations on how to improve it in...more

Why Retirement Plan Sponsors Need To Care About Plan Design

by Ary Rosenbaum on 4/16/2013

Would you leave money on the table for the government to take instead? Would you not maximize your retirement savings because your accountant or third party administrator (TPA) told you that you had to give the same amounts...more

Loan Originator Compensation: New Rules

by Jonathan Foxx on 4/3/2013

On January 24, 2013, as the last of the Final Rules of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rolled out, I offered an outline of all of them, entitled "CFPB's Gang of Seven (Final Rules)".* I listed them in...more

Love Is Lost - And So Is Your Inheritance - Divorce Really Ends Things

by Deirdre R. Wheatley-Liss | Fein, Such, Kahn & Shepard, P.C. on 4/3/2013

A common plan among our married clients is to leave their property to their spouse, either outright or in trust - oft-referred to as the “I Love You” Will....more

The “Real” Role of a 401(k) Plan Financial Advisor

by Ary Rosenbaum on 4/3/2013

Over time, there are so many full time positions in the workforce that are as obsolete as the Atari 2600 in my garage. Many people remember the milkman or the diaper man who made deliveries or the woman who worked the...more

Expanded Guidance from IRS on 403(b) Plans

by Robert Abramowitz, Amy Kelly, R. Randall Tracht | Morgan Lewis on 4/2/2013

IRS amends EPCRS, significantly affecting 403(b) plans, and issues guidance to assist 403(b) plan sponsors in identifying and correcting defects....more

Update - 2013 Filing and Notice Deadlines for Qualified Retirement and Health and Welfare Plans

by King & Spalding on 4/2/2013

Employers and plan sponsors must comply with numerous filing and notice deadlines for their retirement and health and welfare plans. Failure to comply with these deadlines can result in costly penalties and excise taxes. To...more

Insight on Estate Planning - April/May 2013: Estate Planning Pitfall: You’ve named a minor as beneficiary of your life insurance...

by Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. on 4/2/2013

A common estate planning mistake is to designate a minor as beneficiary — or contingent beneficiary — of a life insurance policy or retirement plan. This brief article discusses why it’s better to designate one or more trusts...more

Ninth Circuit Rules on Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim in Investment Options Case

by Anthony Cacace | Proskauer - ERISA Practice Center on 3/29/2013

In Tibble v. Edison Int’l, 10-cv-56406, 2013 WL 1174167 (9th Cir. Mar. 21, 2013), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 401(k) plan fiduciaries breached their duty of prudence in selecting investment options for the...more

Another 10 Major Misconceptions Plan Sponsors Have About Their Retirement Plans

by Ary Rosenbaum on 3/26/2013

Throughout history, there have been misconceptions that people believe in (even until this day) despite the evidence to the contrary. Mrs. O’Leary’s cow didn’t start the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and Benito Mussolini didn’t...more

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