MEDIA ADVISORY

Event: The Great Lakes Benefits Conference is a forum to discuss employee benefit issues with colleagues, government representatives and private sector experts. The program will focus on exchanging information and educating attendees about current regulatory, legislative, administrative and actuarial topics.

Attendees are retirement plan professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds and specialties in the marketplace.

Journalists who cover personal finance, pensions or retirement will hear from industry experts and government representatives. View the brochure.

Dates: June 13 – 14, 2013 (Thursday – Friday)

Time: 8 am – 5:30 pm

Agenda Highlights:

• Washington Update (Thursday, June 13)
  Craig P. Hoffman, Esq., APM, ASPPA, Arlington, VA
  Monika A. Templeman, Esq., Internal Revenue Service, Baltimore, MD 
• Practical Update (Thursday, June 13)
  Ilene H. Ferenczy, Esq., CPC, APA, Ferenczy + Paul LLP, Atlanta, GA
  S. Derrin Watson, Esq., APM, SunGard, Goleta, CA
• IRS Enforcement Update (Thursday, June 13)
  Janice M. Gore, Internal Revenue Service, Waukesha, WI
  Rhonda Migdail, Keightley & Ashner LLP, Washington, DC
  Monika A. Templeman, Esq., Internal Revenue Service, Baltimore, MD 
• Investment Fee Disclosure (Thursday, June 13)
  Bradford P. Campbell, Drinker Biddle & Reath, Washington, DC
  Jeffrey J. Turner, US Department of Labor, Washington, DC
• DOL Update (Friday, June 14)
  Donna J. Seermon, US Department of Labor, Chicago, IL
• Who is an ERISA Fiduciary Now? (Friday, June 14)
  Timothy D. Hauser, US Department of Labor, Washington, DC

Location:

Sofitel Chicago Water Tower
20 East Chestnut Street
Chicago, IL 606011
Tel: 312.324.4000

RSVP: Media interested in attending the Great Lakes Benefits Conference should contact Melinda Semadeni, Director of Media Relations, at msemadeni@asppa.org or 703.516.9300 or register online here. For more information, view the brochure or website.

When 403(b) advisors counsel their clients, it’s important not to allow emotion or bias to affect their judgment. It’s also important that they realize their clients are under no such constraint. Many, if not all of the decisions their clients may make are often based on rumor, unsolicited and unprofessional advice, and gut feelings. It may seem counter-intuitive, but when it comes to money, particularly the large and important sums associated with retirement planning, rational behavior often goes out the window.

Research suggests that some people decide when to retire—against all advice to the contrary—based on what the stock market is doing at the time. This is the finding of a paper, “Market Performance and the Timing of Retirement,” published last year by Dr. Rui Yao, an assistant professor of personal financial planning in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Yao used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national biannual longitudinal survey conducted by the University of Michigan. The HRS, launched in 1992, has interviewed more than 27,000 Americans of diverse backgrounds over the age of 50. The interviews occur in two-year cycles and cover questions about their health, the state of their finances and their interactions with family and others in their communities.

Yao’s study, published in the Journal of Personal Finance and funded by a grant from Prudential Insurance, reviewed the financial and retirement status of more than 4,000 of these respondents, ages 51 to 61, between 1992 and 2008. It’s the first study to use these data to look at retirement behavior over that period of time. “We wanted to focus on pre-retirees, not people who were too young and weren’t planning to retire. Nor did we want to look at anyone who was too old and already retired.”

Yao’s study found that the decision to retire is often based on what the market is doing at that particular point. If the market is up, they’ll see it as a sign that this is the perfect time to retire. Behavioral economists call it the “recency effect,” the phenomenon that people tend to remember things at the end of a list or only the most recent events in time.

“The problem with this strategy is that the economy runs in cycles,” Yao says, ”meaning that after a peak, the market will inevitably take a downturn. People who have retired shortly before an economic downturn run a serious risk of losing a significant portion of their retirement savings, which will shorten the longevity of their retirement income. This could result in many retirees outliving their retirement savings and facing financial hardships toward the end of their lives.”

Advisors need to help their clients think more like actuaries, according to Yao. “They need to do the math. They need to project life expectancy. Nobody knows when they’re going to die but they all have some kind of expectation based on family history…”

For the full article and more, read the Spring issue of 403(b) Advisor Magazine, available now. 

MEDIA ADVISORY

Event: The ERPA Conference focuses on issues facing Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents (ERPAs) in the retirement plan industry. The program will feature a legislative and regulatory update covering the latest policy and compliance issues, as well as guidance on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processes and best practices.

Journalists who cover personal finance, pensions or retirement will hear from industry experts and officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC).

For more information, view the brochure.

Dates: May 30 – 31, 2013 (Thursday—Friday)
Time: 8 am – 4:45 pm

Agenda Highlights:

• Washington Update: Issues Affecting the Retirement Plan Industry (Thursday, May 30)
  Donald J. Kieffer, Jr., Internal Revenue Service, Mountainside, NJ (Invited) 
  Monika A. Templeman, Internal Revenue Service, Baltimore, MD (Invited) 
  
  

• EPCRS: What’s Changed? What’s New? (Thursday, May 30)
  Donald J. Kieffer, Jr., Internal Revenue Service, Mountainside, NJ (Invited) 
  Janet Mak, Internal Revenue Service, Brooklyn, NY (Invited) 
  William C. Grossman, QPA, McKay Hochman Company, Inc., Butler, NJ
  

Location:
Grand Hyatt Denver
1750 Welton Street | Denver CO
Tel: 303.295.1234

RSVP: Media interested in attending the ERPA Conference should contact Melinda Semadeni, Director of Media Relations, at msemadeni@asppa.org or (703) 516-9300 or register online here. For more information, view the brochure or website.

ARLINGTON, VA, (April 29, 2013) – The following is a statement from Craig P. Hoffman, General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) to the United States Department of the Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requesting that the Master & Prototype (“M&P”) and Volume Submitter (“VS”) components of the pre-approved plan program be combined into a single program and recommending certain modifications to the defined benefit and 403(b) pre-approved plan programs.

“ASPPA and NTSAA appreciate the fact that the IRS actively engages in efforts to streamline the required review processes associated with employee benefit plans, often cooperating with practitioners to better understand and respond to concerns about needed improvements and potential cost savings. The IRS currently maintains a program for the ‘pre-approval’ of plans qualified under sections 401, 403(a) and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. ASPPA requests the modification of substantive and procedural distinctions between certain terms within the pre-approved plans program under sections 401 and 403(a), and ASPPA and NTSAA together request modifications to the defined benefit and 403(b) pre-approved plan programs.

To streamline the pre-approved plan procedures for plans qualified under sections 401 and 403(a), ASPPA recommends that the IRS eliminate the procedural and substantive distinctions between the M&P and VS programs by incorporating the best current features of both programs into a single pre-approved plan program. ASPPA’s experience indicates that most employers adopting and maintaining qualified retirement plans are chiefly concerned with whether the plan is pre-approved by the IRS. The distinctions between M&P and VS are irrelevant to them and create confusion. As a preliminary recommendation, ASPPA suggests eliminating the terms “master and prototype plan” and “volume submitter plan” under the relevant revenue procedures and instead use “Pre-Approved Plan” or a similar term.

In response to changing realities in the plan environment concerning defined benefit plans, ASPPA and NTSAA recommend that cash balance provisions now be included as options within a pre-approved defined benefit plan. Most of the existing cash balance plans are based on provisions that are consistently and repeatedly used, often already using pre-approved defined benefit plan language (with the exception of the limited cash balance-specific provisions)..

In addition, to streamline IRS processes regarding 403(b) plans, ASPPA and NTSAA recommend that the IRS extend the 403(b) plan submission deadline from April 30, 2014 to January 31, 2015 to allow time for new plans to be fully established, as well as enable the IRS and practitioners to analyze and resolve issues with the LRMs that have already been identified and more that may be identified as the drafting process begins.

We believe adoption of these recommendations will result in a reduction in administrative costs for both the IRS and practitioners, all to the benefit of plan participants and plan professionals alike.”

For more detail on ASPPA and NTSAA’s recommendations to the IRS read our comment letters:
403(b) pre-approved plan program
Master & Prototype and Volume Submitter pre-approved program

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About ASPPA: The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) is a national organization of more than 11,000 retirement plan and benefits professionals that serves as the educator, voice, and advocate for the employer-based retirement system. ASPPA members are administrators, actuaries, advisors, attorneys, accountants, and other financial services professionals who provide consulting and administrative services for qualified retirement plans. For more information, visit www.asppa.org.

About NTSAA: The National Tax Sheltered Accounts Association (NTSAA) is the only independent, non-profit association dedicated to the 403(b) and 457 marketplaces in the nation and represents practitioners, agencies, corporate, and employer members. The NTSAA mission is to provide members with high quality education, technical support, and information resources, as well as to offer a professional networking forum. For more information, visit www.ntsaa.org.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Event: The ACOPA Advanced Actuarial Conference is a forum focused on issues facing actuaries in the pension marketplace. The program will feature a legislative and regulatory update as well as several sessions on specific, practical approaches to issues including cash balance plans and key compliance issues. An open-forum session will also allow attendees to present and discuss questions with leading industry experts.

Attendees are practicing actuaries in the pension marketplace as well as professionals with various actuarial roles.

Journalists who cover personal finance, pensions or retirement will hear from industry experts and government representatives. View the brochure.

Dates: May 20 – 21, 2013 (Monday – Tuesday)

Time: 8 am – 5:30 pm

Agenda Highlights:

• Washington Update: Legislative & Regulatory Developments (Monday, May 20)
  Judy A. Miller, ASPPA, Arlington, VA

• Defined Benefits Regulation Update (Monday and Tuesday, May 20 – 21)
  Thomas J. Finnegan, The Savitz Organization, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
  Carolyn Zimmerman, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Pittsburgh, PA
  James E. Holland, Cheiron, McLean, VA

• Cash Balance plans- A Two-Part Session (Monday, May 20)
  Kevin J. Donovan, Pinnacle Plan Design, LLC, Tucson, AZ
  Andrew W. Ferguson, Altman & Cronin Benefit Consultants, LLC, San Francisco, CA

• Ethical Case Studies for Small Plan Actuaries (Tuesday, May 21)
  Richard A. Block, Block Consulting Actuaries, Inc., El Segundo, CA
  Karen Smith, Nova 401(k) Associates, Houston, TX

• Ask the Experts (Tuesday, May 21)
  Richard Kutikoff, Pacific Benefit Services, Sherman Oaks, CA
  Thomas J. Finnegan, The Savitz Organization, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
  Carolyn Zimmerman, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Pittsburgh, PA
  James E. Holland, Cheiron, McLean, VA

Location:
MGM Grand
3799 South Las Vegas Boulevard | Las Vegas, NV 89109
Tel: 877.880.0880

RSVP: Media interested in attending ACOPA Advanced Actuarial Conference should contact Melinda Semadeni, Director of Media Relations, at msemadeni@asppa.org or 703.516.9300 or register online here. For more information, view the brochure or website.

ASPPA’s winning entry, an animated short titled, “Protect My Piggy,” features an anthropomorphic piggy bank, which represents employer-based retirement plans. The 75-second video explains how millions of Americans use their company’s 401(k) plan to save for the future, while encouraging viewers to tell their U.S. representative to oppose any tax reform plans that could harm the solvency and attractiveness of workplace savings plans.

Brian Graff, ASPPA’s CEO, said he is proud of the work that went into this video, and that it served as a clever way to convey a vitally important message. With “Protect My Piggy” featured prominently on the SaveMy401k.com homepage, supporters have sent more than 65,000 emails to members of Congress, urging them not to do anything that would interfere with their or their family’s retirement plans.

“As our leaders in Washington debate how to tackle our long and short-term deficits, the employer-based retirement structure is under fire,” Graff said. “The whole idea of the ‘Protect My Piggy’ campaign has been to show how any plan that meddles in Americans’ retirement plans will harm how tens of millions of us build our nest eggs. I am thrilled that the Telly Awards have honored the great work our staff and the consultants at the Beekeeper Group have put in, while also giving us a chance to spotlight the crucial points of the video – that Congress needs to say no to any proposal which would threaten the way a plurality of Americans choose to save for their later years.”

Over 500 judges, all of whom have won Telly Awards in the past, judged the submissions, which had to have been published sometime in 2012. The panelists gave awards in 17 different categories, covering local and regional cable advertising, internet marketing, and 3D media production, amongst others.

“The Telly Awards has a mission to honor the very best in film and video,” said Linda Day, Executive Director of the Telly Awards. “ASPPA’s accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill, and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production.”

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The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) is a national organization of more than 11,000 retirement plan and benefits professionals that serves as the educator, voice, and advocate for the employer-based retirement system. ASPPA members are administrators, actuaries, advisors, attorneys, accountants and other financial services professionals who provide consulting and administrative services for qualified retirement plans. For more information, visit www.asppa.org.

ARLINGTON, VA, (April 24, 2013) – The following is a statement from Brian H. Graff, Executive Director & CEO of The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) in response to the PBS Frontline program “The Retirement Gamble.”

“PBS Frontline’s ‘The Retirement Gamble’ program claimed to be an ‘eye opening investigation of a financial services industry that may be draining your retirement savings with every passing year.’ Unfortunately, the program relied too heavily on a study we debunked when it first came out about a year ago that overstated typical 401(k) plan mutual fund fees. What is more troubling, however, is Frontline’s take that fees are by far the most important factor to be considered when choosing an investment, and the retirement industry offers participants little value. In other words, that the industry is nothing more than a commodity.

However, Frontline conveniently ignores all that it takes to make working Americans into retirement savers. We all know it’s not that simple.

First, it starts with a plan, because without a retirement plan at work, people do not save. Less than 5% of individuals making between $30,000 and $50,000 save on their own, compared with more than 70% of those same earners with access to a workplace retirement plan.

These retirement plans require an engaged team—employers, advisors, and employees making informed decisions on plan design, benefits and investment options. (See ‘Road to Retirement Infographic’)

There is a significant value associated with these services, and an attendant cost as well. It is not—and it should never only be about fees. If you were having trouble with the law, would you simply look for the cheapest lawyer? Certainly not. For something as important as retirement savings, you should not base your decision solely on cost either.

Nothing in the history of this country has promoted more savings by average Americans than the 401(k) plan, with total assets in excess of $4 trillion (plus over $5 trillion in IRAs, much of which is from 401(k) rollovers). Three-quarters of American families became investors first through their workplace retirement plan. It is hard to imagine where we would be without our nation’s private retirement system.

The system is not perfect. We need to expand coverage to those without a plan at work. We need to make it seamless for workers to save through greater utilization of auto-enrollment. And we need to make sure we focus on outcomes so the system produces the retirement results reasonably expected by both plan sponsors and participants.

If the retirement plan industry continues to innovate and deliver on these promises, the value proposition that is provided will be self-evident. Retirement plan services are not a commodity, and it’s ultimately up to the industry to show this.”

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About ASPPA: The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) is a national organization of more than 11,000 retirement plan and benefits professionals that serves as the educator, voice, and advocate for the employer based retirement system. ASPPA members are administrators, actuaries, advisors, attorneys, accountants, and other financial services professionals who provide consulting and administrative services for qualified retirement plans.

“We oppose S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act, in its current form. The legislation would allow states to impose a financial transaction tax that would apply to American workers’ 401(k) contributions and other transactions within worker’s accounts.

Over 70 million workers could be affected since most transactions within these plans now take place over the internet. A financial transaction tax on 401(k) contributions and accounts could significantly reduce workers savings over time, threatening their retirement security. A clear exception for such transactions is needed.

ASPPA strongly recommends that this bill be referred to the Finance Committee for appropriate consideration of this and other unintended consequences before it is considered on the floor.”

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About ASPPA: The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) is a national organization of more than 11,000 retirement plan and benefits professionals that serves as the educator, voice, and advocate for the employer-based retirement system. ASPPA members are administrators, actuaries, advisors, attorneys, accountants, and other financial services professionals who provide consulting and administrative services for qualified retirement plans.

ARLINGTON, VA, (April 22, 2013) – The following is a statement from Craig P. Hoffman, General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) from a comment letter to the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) requesting transitional relief and clarification of the Final Rule on Fiduciary Requirements for Disclosure in Participant-Directed Individual Account.

“For nearly 50 years, ASPPA has championed the interests of both retirement plan professionals and participants. As a recent example, we have actively worked to promote improvements to the electronic disclosure rules that would provide participants with better investment tools and save the plan money that would otherwise be spent on the costs of mailing paper statements. This savings benefits the plan participants who are normally charged for a plan’s administrative costs.

Unfortunately, ASPPA is similarly concerned about the potential for unnecessary costs and increased administrative burdens associated with the ‘second round’ of annual disclosures required under the participant level fee disclosure regulation. The initial disclosure deadline was originally tied to the start of a plan year. However, it was extended to coincide with the effective date of the related 408(b)(2) regulation. The result is that most plans had until August 30, 2012, to make the “first round” of participant disclosures. This means the ‘second round’, which under the regulation is due ‘annually’ after the initial disclosure, would seemingly need to be made by August 30, 2013.

Unfortunately, the extension of the ‘first round’ deadline has not only created an arbitrary August deadline for 2013’s ‘second round’ of notices but also for all future “rounds” of annual participant disclosures. For most plans, particularly those that operate on a calendar year basis, an annual August deadline has no correlation to the timing of any other disclosures that the plan may be required to make. Therefore, the cost of the annual disclosure becomes a stand-alone expense, rather than enabling the plan administrator to combine it with other required plan disclosures. This is uneconomical for these plans and an unnecessary expense.

To avoid this problem, ASPPA recommends that the DOL provide for a one-time transitional realignment period during which plan administrators may choose to issue the ‘second round’ of annual participant disclosures no later than 2 ½ months after the start of the first plan year beginning on or after November 1, 2013. Additionally, the regulatory definition of ‘at least annually’ should be clarified to permit the annual notice to be distributed anytime during a calendar year as long as it is within 18 months of the distribution date of the preceding notice.

We believe adoption of this recommendation will result in a reduction in administrative costs and an improvement in participant communications without diminishing the importance or visibility of the 404a-5 disclosures, all to the benefit of plan participants and plan professionals alike.”

For more detail on ASPPA’s recommendations to the DOL read our comment letter .

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About ASPPA: The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) is a national organization of more than 11,000 retirement plan and benefits professionals that serves as the educator, voice, and advocate for the employer-based retirement system. ASPPA members are administrators, actuaries, advisors, attorneys, accountants, and other financial services professionals who provide consulting and administrative services for qualified retirement plans.