| | Benefit Briefs | | Roth 401(k) Is an Option to Consider | | Plan sponsors might consider offering Roth accounts
to participants, since some may want to contribute after-tax dollars to
retirement savings. Citing the unknowns of retirement planning, Adam Levy, a
registered representative at JHS Capital Advisors, collars taxes as a specific
area of unconcern to some plan participants. “When helping my clients formulate
a plan for distributing income in their retirement, as often as possible, I try
to create as much flexibility and options when it comes to withdrawing from
income,” Levy tells PLANSPONSOR. | | Communicating with employees about benefits,
including retirement benefits, should not just occur at enrollment. A white
paper from Benz Communications, “Creating Results with Benefits Communication,”
recommends employers get their materials online, keep talking with employees,
and work smart, using free or low-cost resources. “The biggest recommendation
we can give about communications is for companies to build a strategy where
they have a dialogue with employees, talking to them all year round,” Jennifer
Benz, CEO of the San Francisco-based Benz Communications, tells PLANSPONSOR. | | | Plan Sponsor of the Year and Finalists: 403(b) | | Meet Our Plan Sponsor of the Year Winner: 403(b) | | When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued
regulations revamping 403(b) plans, one result was that more plans underwent
plan audits. The Gilman School in Baltimore, recipient of one such audit, found
this process eye-opening in regard to its plan design. “When the auditors came,
we had two plans with TIAA-CREF and one with another vendor,” says Angela
Johnson, vice president of human resources (HR) at the private, independent
K-through-12 college preparatory day school for boys. “We had close to 200 investment
choices for employees.” | | Some defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors are
embracing the idea that, by stretching their employer match formulas, they can
encourage participants to save more. This trend has been implemented and is
showing positive results in Moffitt Cancer Center’s 403(b) plan. Before the
plan was changed, the organization’s 403(b) plan auto-enrolled participants at
a 4% salary deferral. If participants deferred 1% more, Moffitt matched 25% of
that 1%. According to Michele A. Talka, director of human resources (HR)
operations at the center, which is located in Tampa, Florida, “This [strategy]
had been in place for 25 years and didn’t keep pace with the changes in the
retirement landscape. | | When Texas Association of School Boards in
Austin reviewed the overall retirement readiness of its employees, it was
concerned about the rates of participation and deferral of employees ages 40
and younger in its $59 million 403(b) plan, according to Vera Aynesworth, director
of human resources (HR). They had always considered participant retirement
readiness as a benchmark for plan success but, in 2012, with the help of
CAPTRUST, set goals of 90% or more participation and 15% or more total employee
and employer savings for participants. | | The Washington State Board for Community &
Technical Colleges in Olympia, Washington, knows that providing the best
service to students means having the best faculty and staff. According to John
Boesenberg, deputy executive director of human resources (HR) for the board,
the retirement plan is a central part of its compensation program, as well as a
way to attract and retain the best employees. With a 100% participation rate and generous match, the
plan still had one area that could be improved, the board determined: the
plans’ investment lineups. | | | Buyer's Market | | Great-West Acquires J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services | | Great-West has reached an agreement to acquire
the J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services large-market recordkeeping business,
which has $167 billion in plan assets across 200 plan sponsor clients serving
1.9 million participants. The acquisition was of interest to Great-West because
over the years, J.P. Morgan has built a great business in the large-plan
market, Robert L. Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Great-West
Lifeco U.S., tells PLANSPONSOR. “This jump starts the whole business, bringing
us scale and a client base to truly build a world-class retirement plan
service.” | | The Principal Financial Group seeks small to
medium-sized companies that excel in helping their employees achieve financial
security during the 13th annual search for The Principal 10 Best Companies for
Employee Financial Security. The program showcases the top 10 growing companies
(with five to 1000 employees) for their commitment to their employees’ total
financial security. An independent panel of experts selects the winners. A
short and simple entry form allows companies to quickly complete the
information needed to enter. Financial professionals are encouraged to work
with clients to enter as a way to recognize and celebrate their overall
employee financial security. | | Financial adviser Erik Swenson, president of
Retirement Plan Solutions, has affiliated with Pensionmark Retirement Group,
creating RPS Pensionmark. “Our goal since the inception of Retirement Plan
Solutions ten years ago has been to provide highest quality services to the
employers, plan fiduciaries, and employees of the 401(k) and other corporate
retirement plans we serve,” says Swenson. | | | Industry Voices | | Industry Voices: The Gen Y Paradox | | Gen Y, Millennials, whatever you call the
demographic cohort born between the early 1980s and early 2000s, they are the
largest and most diverse generation in U.S. history. As such, their financial
behavior and attitudes will have a transformational impact on our economy for a
long time to come, so it’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses
of Gen Y’s financial picture. | | | Economic Events | | In the week
ending March 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for
unemployment insurance was 326,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous
week’s revised figure of 310,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week
moving average was 319,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week’s revised
average of 319,250.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage is 4.41%, up from 4.40% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The
average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.47%, up from
3.42%.
| | | Market Mirror | | Thursday, the Dow was virtually
unchanged at 16,572.55, the NASDAQ fell 38.72 points (0.915) to 4,237.74, and
the S&P 500 slipped 2.13 points (0.11%) to 1,888.77. The Russell 2000
dropped 11.69 points (0.98%) to 1,181.12, and the Wilshire 5000 closed 60.22
points (0.30%) lower at 20,162.15.
On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares changed
hands, with 1.4 declining issues for every advancing issue. On the NASDAQ, 2.7
billion shares traded, with a more than 2 to 1 lead for decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 2/32,
bringing its yield down to 2.798%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond
increased 14/32, decreasing its yield to 3.626%.
| | | Rules & Regulators | | IRS Guidance Eases Rollover Processing | | The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued guidance designed to more easily
facilitate the transfer of savings from one retirement plan to another. Revenue
Ruling 2014-9 simplifies the rollover process by introducing an easy way for a
receiving plan to confirm the sending plan’s tax-qualified status. | | The Department of Labor is hosting its free
compliance assistance seminar in Memphis, Tennessee, and Madison, Wisconsin. The
“Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities” seminar will increase
awareness and understanding about basic fiduciary responsibilities when
operating a retirement plan. | | Ask the Experts – Differences in RMDs for 403(b) Plans | | “I have traditionally worked with 401(k) plans, but my
new employer sponsors a 403(b) plan. I am currently working on my first
required minimum distribution (RMD) transaction with a 403(b). I am familiar
with the 401(k) rules, but are there any differences for 403(b) plans?” | | | Financial Sense | | The average funding ratios of U.S. pension plans
saw a decrease during the first quarter of 2014, says a recent analysis. The
Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. (LGIMA) Pension Fiscal
Fitness Monitor (PFFM), a quarterly estimate of the change in health of a
typical U.S. defined benefit (DB) pension plan, found the average funding ratio
fell from the low to mid-90s to slightly under 90% as of the end of the first
quarter. | | | Sponsored message from OppenheimerFunds | Go Where the Growth Is
These days investors must be willing to pursue growth opportunities globally or risk missing them altogether. George Evans, head of Equities at OppenheimerFunds, talks about a strategy that starts with a global core of the best and fastest growing companies, regardless of where they are headquartered. | | | Small Talk | | The results of the 2014 Financial Literacy
Survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, show 61% of U.S.
adults, the highest percentage in six years, admit to not having a budget, and most
adults have not reviewed their credit score (60%) or their credit report (65%)
within the last year. The top concerns noted by survey respondents were evenly
divided between insufficient “rainy day” savings for an emergency (16%) and
retiring without having enough money set aside (16%). | | ON
THIS DATE: In
1812, the territory of Orleans
became the 18th U.S. state, later to become known as Louisiana. In 1841, only 31 days after assuming
office, William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, died
of pneumonia at the White House. In 1913,
blues artist Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield in Clarksdale,
Mississippi. In 1949, the United
States and 11 other nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), a mutual defense pact aimed at containing possible Soviet aggression
against Western Europe. In 1960, William
Wyler’s Technicolor epic Ben-Hur was
the behemoth entry at the 32nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, held at the RKO
Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Setting an Oscar record, the film swept 11 of
the 12 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best
Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston). In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the
balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis,
Tennessee. In 2013, one of America’s
best-known and most influential movie critics, Roger Ebert, who reviewed movies
for The Chicago Sun-Times for 46
years and on TV for 31 years, died at age 70 after battling cancer.
And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!
| | A roller coaster made completely from Legos. | | In Richmond, Virginia,
passengers at Richmond International Airport experienced delays and
cancellations due to—a jet that was stuck in the mud. An aborted U-turn by an
American Airlines jet, bound for Dallas with 129 passengers, sent it sliding
into a muddy field. The pilot “misjudged the radius of his aircraft,” a regional
spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said. The entire plane was
about eight feet off the runway, mired in up to six inches of mud, witnesses
told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The
incident affected at least 100 other flights.
In Baker Lake, Washington, a
black bear has weighed in on the question of which camper’s be.er is best. State
Fish and Wildlife agents recently found the bear passed out on the lawn of
Baker Lake Resort, with dozens of empty cans of Rainier be.er nearby. The bear
got into campers’ coolers and used his claws and teeth to puncture the cans. However,
“He drank the Rainier and wouldn’t drink the Busch be.er,” said Lisa Broxson,
bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker, according
to the Associated Press. The bear tried one can of Busch, but ignored the rest,
and consumed about 36 cans of Rainier. Agents finally herded the bear away, but
it returned the next morning. They were able to capture it for relocation using
a large, humane trap with doughnuts, honey and…two open cans of Rainier.
| | Why can’t I ever get a flight on which stuff
like this happens? | | In South Bend, Indiana, a
19-year-old Notre Dame student, apparently with the be.er munchies, damaged
three doors of a spa trying to break in, and finally succeeded by throwing a
flower pot through a stained glass window, crawling through then using a hammer
to beat his way through a wall. He then proceeded to eat half a box of Hot
Pockets. He was warming up some macaroni and cheese in an oven, when he fell
asleep at a table while eating some drumsticks. Police found him there the next
morning, and according to the local NBC news station, he was still very
into.xicated, blowing a .106 in a standard breath test.
In Brandon, Florida, police
responded to a home after a call that a man had just come home and discovered
his house was broken into. Deputies found the front door open, the interior of
the house appeared to have been ransacked and the front bedroom window and
blinds were open. However, there was no sign of forced entry. According to the
Tampa Tribune, while talking to neighbors, police learned that the man was seen
leaving the residence at 6:30 a.m. and returning home at 7:15 a.m. He was seen
walking in the front door and lifting the blinds and opening the front bedroom
window. He came back outside his home and stood in the front yard until
deputies arrived. Deputies confronted the man, who admitted he staged the
burglary to avoid having to go to work. He told them he didn’t think he could
go to jail for doing this. They proved him wrong.
| | Another reason to not text while
walking…beeaarrr! | | In Fairbanks, Alaska, police
spotted a man speeding and weaving his pickup truck on a rural highway. When
stopped, the man admitted he was drunk, and when asked for his registration, he
handed an officer a receipt. Police found a handg.un and small bag of
marij.uana in his pocket. Turns out, the man is a priest at the University of
Alaska Fairbanks.
In New York City, New York,
about 30 Manhattan court cases are in jeopardy, with officials fearing
criminals will have the chance to claim on appeal that crucial evidence is
missing. The New York Post reports a court stenographer, instead of typing
transcripts of court proceedings, either typed gibberish or “I hate my job. I
hate my job…” over and over. The stenographer was fired in March 2012 for
misconduct. Judges are holding “reconstruction hearings” at which everyone
involved in a case has to testify about what they remember. The stenographer
denies he botched transcripts, saying he was fired for a substance abuse
problem.
| | I’ll have what this penguin had. | | In Essex, England, a couple’s
cat went missing and after desperately searching for it, they just hoped it
would find its way home. Four days later they learned the cat was discovered by
the new owner of a sofa the couple had taken to a charity. According to the UK’s
Daily Mail, for four days the cat hid
inside the sofa, on the shop floor, without detection despite being surrounded
by unsuspecting volunteers and bargain-hunters. The
trapped cat was discovered when the new owners noticed meowing sounds coming
from inside the three-seater. (Editor’s Note: I had to include this story
because I once acquired a donated couch, and a cat crawled out two days later.)
Have a great weekend! | | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy. | | News from PLANSPONSOR.com
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