(b)Lines Information and Insights for the 403(b) community / brought to you by PLANSPONSOR.
December 22nd, 2017

Editor’s Note: In today’s edition, we’ve rounded up some of the most popular articles that appeared in (b)lines this year. (b)lines will be back in your inbox Friday, December 29.

Multiple Recordkeepers at Heart of Excessive Fee Suit

The complaint says having different recordkeepers for a traditional DC plan and a 403(b) plan caused participants to pay too much for services.Read more >

403(b) Plan Fees Mostly In Line With Other DC Plan Fees

Data from the PLANSPONSOR DC Survey indicates there were only slightly more 403(b) plans with investment expense ratios in the upper extremes than all DC plans, even among non-ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] plans.Read more >
ASK THE EXPERTS
Groom Law Group and Cammack Retirement Group will field your questions concerning 403(b) plans and regulations. Email rebecca.moore@strategic-i.com with Subject Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts – What If the Last Day of the Plan Year Falls on a Weekend?

“Our ERISA 403(b) retirement plan has a last-day rule, where the document language is quite clear; you must be employed on the last day of the plan year (our plan year is calendar) in order to receive our annual employer contribution. However, the employees in question would most certainly have been at work had December 31 been a business day; the only reason we terminated them on the 30th is that they could not have worked for us on the 31st, as the office was closed. The plan document does NOT address the specific issue of what happens when the office is closed for business on the last day of the year. Any thoughts from the Experts as to whether or not an employer contribution for the 2016 plan year should be provided?”Read more >

Duke University 403(b) Plan Excessive Fee Suit Moves Forward

Claims moving forward regard excessive fees by using four recordkeepers and excessive fees by offering too many funds in the plan.Read more >

Distinctions Persist

Since mid-2016, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against a number of prominent institutions of higher learning, alleging these universities breached their fiduciary duties to employees by offering 403(b) plans in a manner alleged to be too expensive and complex. In general, the suits mistakenly assume that 403(b) retirement plans offered by universities should follow the same blueprint as 401(k) plans. The following describes the significant differences in the origins, goals and legal treatment of 401(k) and 403(b) plans and why recent lawsuits have failed to appreciate these distinctionsRead more >

IRS Announces 2018 Contribution/Benefits Limits

The contribution limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan is increased from $18,000 to $18,500.Read more >

Editorial: Alison Cooke Mintzer alison.mintzer@strategic-i.com

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