DOL Issues
Tech Talk addresses whether there are any restrictions on transferring assets from an employer’s non-ERISA 403b plan to its newly established 403(b) plan.
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In MarketBeat, John Iekel writes about a recent Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) webcast that outlined what the challenges surrounding missing participants mean for plans and what plan sponsors and administrators can do to meet them.
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In MarketBeat, John Iekel discusses a recent blog post that suggests that investment committees can be helpful in knowing, and fulfilling, fiduciary duties and offers tips on building or strengthening one.
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The American Retirement Association, along with two dozen other trade organizations, are urging Congress to provide immediate relief to retirement plan sponsors, participants and retirees in the wake of the Coronavirus.
“The undersigned organizations, which represent plan sponsors and service...
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A revised version of the CARES Act includes additional retirement relief provisions supported by the American Retirement Association, though the negotiations aren’t over yet.
After engaging in weekend negotiations with Senate Democrats and Trump administration officials, Senate Majority Leader...
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The Department of Labor in 2012 issued a final rule to Improve transparency of fees and expenses to workers in 401(k)-type retirement plans.
The rule says that the investment of plan assets is a fiduciary act governed by the fiduciary standards in ERISA Section 404(a)(1)(A) and (B), which require...
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The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans has released a report that addresses improving the financial statement audit process.
The report comes after review by the Council of many aspects of the audit process; that included hearing testimony by American Retirement...
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There are few things more annoying in daily existence than those ubiquitous pop-up service agreement acknowledgements, writes Nevin Adams in MarketBeat. He discusses a recent Supreme Court decision in which the Court weighed in on a case involving participant disclosures.
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The DOL’s Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans has released a report addressing transfers of uncashed distribution checks that ERISA plans issue to state unclaimed property programs.
In “Voluntary Transfers of Uncashed Checks from ERISA Plans to State Unclaimed...
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ERISA sets forth the style and format that are to be used for summary plan descriptions (SPDs). All plans subject to ERISA, including ERISA-covered 403(b)s, must pay close attention to the rules for how these documents are to be prepared for participants.
§ 2520.102-2 Style and format of...
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California’s auto-IRA program for private sector workers has prevailed against claims that it runs afoul of ERISA’s preemption.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in 2018 by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Jonathan Coupal and Debra Desrosiers...
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Plans covered by ERISA are required to make certain disclosures. The Department of Labor provides a basic discussion of some of the most important disclosures that must be made.
One of the most important documents participants are entitled to receive automatically when becoming a participant of an...
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The plan sponsor is responsible for distributing fee disclosures to participants, as well as to other account holders who may exercise control of participants’ accounts, such as beneficiaries. It is necessary to make sure that participants have the easiest access possible to information about fees...
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ERISA 403(b) plans—those covered by ERISA (not all are)—must file the Form 5500. And the information that must be provided on that form includes the number of active plan participants. But how are they counted?
There is a unique way that active participants are counted in 403(b) plans, due to...
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Tech Talk addresses where on the Form 5500SF one enters data concerning a representative’s (broker/dealer) commissions.
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Non-ERISA 403(b) plans are exempt from the ERISA Section 408(b)(2) requirements. It’s important to distinguish the difference between an ERISA and non-ERISA plan.
A basic definition of ERISA vs. non-ERISA includes the employer’s involvement.
In an ERISA plan, an employer chooses the...
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Lost participants and required minimum distributions (RMDs) can both create complications for a plan and its administrators and sponsor. But together they create a mix that can exacerbate the stress and urgency they already can engender independent of each other. A recent blog entry suggests how...
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Plan administrators must determine whether a domestic relations order is a QDRO within a reasonable period of time after receiving the order. What a reasonable period is will depend on the specific circumstances. For example, a domestic relations order that is clear and complete when submitted...
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Under the restrictions of the Code, 403(b) plans must be funded through insurance annuity contracts or mutual fund custodial accounts. However, ERISA also imposes standards on when contributions must be made to such accounts under the plan. The requirements of ERISA address when plan assets must be...
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The QDRO procedures must:
be in writing;
be reasonable;
provide that each person specified in a domestic relations order received by the plan as entitled to payment of benefits under the plan will be notified (at the address specified in the domestic relations order) of the plan’s procedures...
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