by Wesley Price Voluntary benefits have been around for several decades. These are coverages and products made available to employees for elective purchase at the employee’s expense. Over the years, as the cost of health insurance has continued to increase, employers have shifted the portfolio of offerings from employer-paid to voluntary. As a result voluntary benefits has evolved from being limited to main core benefits like dental, vision, and life insurance to including accident insurance, disability and critical illness. Additionally, new benefits are emerging based on growing demand, such as pet insurance, fraud protection and legal services. The administration of employee benefits has also evolved. Previously, new enrollment into plans would require personnel onsite to enroll, educate and deliver the policies causing a potentially cumbersome disruption to an organization’s daily operations. The expansion of online enrollment has taken the burden out of the enrollment process, mak...

by Wesley Price Voluntary benefits have been around for several decades. These are coverages and products made available to employees for elective purchase at the employee’s expense. Over the years, as the cost of health insurance has continued to increase, employers have shifted the portfolio of offerings from employer-paid to voluntary. As a result voluntary benefits has evolved from being limited to main core benefits like dental, vision, and life insurance to including accident insurance, disability and critical illness. Additionally, new benefits are emerging based on growing demand, such as pet insurance, fraud protection and legal services. The administration of employee benefits has also evolved. Previously, new enrollment into plans would require personnel onsite to enroll, educate and deliver the policies causing a potentially cumbersome disruption to an organization’s daily operations. The expansion of online enrollment has taken the burden out of the enrollment process, mak...

Background: 457(f) and 457(b) plans are non-qualified deferred compensation plans for eligible highly-compensated employees. A non-qualified plan is a type of tax-deferred, employer-sponsored retirement plan that is not subject to Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) guidelines. Non-governmental 457 plans are not required to file Form 5500 since they are not subject to ERISA, but they are required within 120 days of the plan’s existence to file a one-time notification (“top hat letter”) with the Department of Labor. These plans are exempt from the non-discrimination testing that is required for qualified plans. In 1986, Section 457 was added to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to specifically address the unique needs of the not-for-profit sector. The rules address governmental plans sponsored by state or local governments and non-governmental plans sponsored by tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c). This frequently-asked question (FAQ) document will specifically addre...

HANYS Benefit Services wants to help you stay compliant with our  2017 Retirement and Employee Benefits Compliance Calendar . Compliance is just one of many services HBS provides, including Plan Design,Plan Provider Management, and Co-Fiduciary Services. If you have any questions regarding compliance requirements or their application to your plan, contact us at (800) 388-1963 or at  hbs@ hanys.org .

PLANADVISER Magazine has named HANYS Benefit Services (d/b/a Strategic Benefit Services) as one of its 2017 Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers . HANYS Benefit Services has been awarded in the categories for large teams with $4 billion or more in retirement plan assets under advisement, and large teams with 180 retirement plans or more under advisement. The PLANADVISER Top 100 Advisers is an annual list of the retirement plan advisers and adviser teams that stand out in terms of a series of increasingly stringent quantitative measures. In addition to being honored by the recognition, being named as a Top 100 Retirement Plan Adviser for the second year validates our commitment to our clients. We strive to build real relationships with our clients, creating a shared fiduciary responsibility with the companies we advise. HANYS Benefit Services has been providing retirement services to organizations for more than four decades. We provide trusted advisory and consulting services including pla...

Sponsors of 403(b) plans, both those subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and non-ERISA plans, were required (with few exceptions) to have in place a written plan document by December 31, 2009. Sponsors who did so will be able to restate their plans to adopt one of the prototype plans or volume submitter plans when they become available. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2013-22 in March 2013, which provided guidelines for issuing opinion and advisory letters for §403(b) prototype plans and volume submitter plans. The Revenue Procedure stated that a remedial amendment period would be available whereby eligible employers could retroactively correct defects in the form of written 403(b) plans. The Revenue Procedure defined a defect as a provision (or the absence of a required provision) that causes the plan to fail to satisfy the operational requirements of Section 403(b). Revenue Procedure 2013-22 stated that any such defect must be c...

Due February 28th Paper filing of Form 1099-R to IRS for distributions made in 2016. Section 6055 Reporting - Forms 1094-B and 1095-B. IRS information returns filed no later than February 28, 2017, or March 31, 2017 if filed electronically. Section 6056 Reporting - Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. IRS information returns filed no later than February 28, 2017, or March 31, 2017 if filed electronically. If you have any questions, or would like to begin talking to an advisor, please get in touch by calling (800) 388-1963 or email us at hbs@hanys.org.