Compliance February 21, 2017

DOL Fiduciary Workshops Support Client Compliance

Speakers from the DOL will discuss basic fiduciary do’s and don’ts associated with operating an employer-sponsored retirement plan. 
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To help increase awareness and understanding about basic fiduciary responsibilities when operating a retirement or health benefit plan, the Department of Labor is presenting the Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities webcast series.

The webcast series will help employers and service providers understand how the fiduciary responsibility provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) apply to employer-sponsored retirement and health plans, and provide information about how to avoid common problems in managing a plan.

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Specifically, getting it right means understanding your plan and your responsibilities, carefully selecting and monitoring service providers, making contributions on time, providing appropriate disclosures to plan participants and filing annual reports to the government on time, and avoiding prohibited transactions.

The webcast series is being presented in three sessions. Attendees can register for all sessions or for individual sessions. 

March 14 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, speakers from the DOL will discuss basic fiduciary responsibilities when operating an employer-sponsored retirement plan and ERISA’s prohibited transactions provisions and exemptions.

March 16 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, speakers will address ERISA’s reporting and disclosure provisions for employer-sponsored retirement plans and the Department of Labor’s voluntary correction programs for retirement plans.

March 21 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, speakers will discuss basic fiduciary responsibilities when operating an employer-sponsored group health plan, ERISA’s reporting and disclosure provisions, and Qualified Medical Child Support Orders (QMCSOs).

Links to register for each day may be found here.

Data & Research February 21, 2017

Retirees in the West and Northeast Spend the Most

Spending is much less in the South, EBRI finds.
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Households with people between the ages of 65 and 74 spend very different amounts, depending on where they live, according to new research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

Northeastern older households spend the most ($41,860), and when this is limited to just New England, it spikes to $46,019. On the other hand, those living in the West South Central region of Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona and Louisiana spend the least ($28,540).

For those between the ages of 50 and 64 living in New England, they spend nearly 2.5 times the amount on housing ($30,240) than those in the West South Central region ($11,948).

When it comes to health care spending for those 85 and older, Midwesterners spend an average of $3,480 a year—41.5% more than those in the next-highest spending region of the West ($2,460).

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Nationally, average household spending declines with age. In 2015, the average total annual spending for households between the ages of 50 and 64 was $53,087. For those 85 and older, it is $34,982. Housing is the largest spending category for all age groups above 50—ranging from 44% to 48% of total household spending.

“National benchmarks are important and helpful, particularly in shaping national policies,” says Sudipto Banerjee, research associate at EBRI and author of the report. “But individual retirees might find regional or local benchmarks that more closely reflect their personal situation to be more helpful.”

EBRI’s report about regional household spending can be downloaded here.

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