As of the end of February 2021, market interest rates are up significantly since the beginning of the year. For many plans, this will mean that 2021 lump sums are valued at interest rates that are lower than current market rates.
With equity markets down roughly 30% year-to-date (although that seems to change many times per day) and prevailing bond yields showing as much volatility as at any time since the passage of ERISA, employers that contribute to one or more multiemployer plans have to be wondering – should we be worried? Should we panic? Is…Read More
On October 22, 2019, the Department of Labor released a proposed amendment to current disclosure rules that would provide a new “notice and access” safe harbor for the use of electronic communications to satisfy required participant disclosures in retirement plans. The proposal would dramatically liberalize DOL’s electronic communication rules, which (with certain exceptions) currently require…Read More
The landscape surrounding physician employment has changed, and it has changed significantly. Where once physicians were largely self-employed and thus could enjoy earnings tied to each individual’s own level and choices of specialization and work, they now find themselves mostly employed by large health systems. And, as that new reality evolves, those health systems are…Read More
On August 31, 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Strengthening Retirement Security in America. Summarizing, the order does three things: Agencies to consider authorization of Open MEPs: It instructs the Secretary of Labor to “examine policies” that would eliminate ERISA regulatory obstacles to the creation of Open MEPs; and it instructs the Secretary…Read More
On August 18, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service released Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 201833012, concluding that a 401(k) plan that provided for “an employer non-elective contribution on behalf of an employee conditioned on that employee making student loan re-payments” did not violate Internal Revenue Code section 401(k) prohibitions on conditioning a benefit on an employee…Read More
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018), signed into law by President Trump on February 9, 2018, included several modifications to the 401(k) hardship withdrawal rules. While the changes are generally not effective until the 2019 plan year, they will fundamentally change how hardship withdrawals work and present issues both for regulators and plan…Read More
On December 22, 2017, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation published a final regulation revising its missing participant program for terminating defined benefit plans and extending it to terminating defined contribution plans. While the PBGC program only applies to terminating/terminated plans and there is no comprehensive guidance on the treatment of missing participants under ongoing plans,…Read More
The Social Security Administration just announced benefit increases effective in 2018. Current retirees will receive a cost-of-living increase, beginning in January 2018, of 2.0%, reflecting the increase in CPI-W between the 3rd quarter of 2016 and the 3rd quarter of 2017. In addition, the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax will increase…Read More
I posted here earlier this month about a provocative Wall Street Journal piece in which the creators and early adopters of the 401(k) retirement-savings vehicle lament the revolution they started. Their point: They had no intention of watching the concept turn into the sole — and highly inadequate — savings receptacle for employees. Now, on…Read More