Defined benefit plans were the predominant retirement plan at the time the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was introduced in 1974. Many hospitals and other healthcare provider organizations in New York State had defined benefit pension plans. In a defined benefit plan, the total financial obligation falls strictly on the sponsor. The amount of benefit is stipulated and the funding of that benefit is the responsibility of the sponsor. As time went on, defined benefit plans became more onerous to maintain, more difficult to sponsor, and more expensive. Join HANYS Benefit Services on Friday, April 6 at 11:00 AM to learn a number of strategies to assist in managing defined benefit plans. The Revenue Act of 1978 included a provision under which employees were not taxed on the portion of income they elect to receive as deferred compensation rather than as direct cash payments, thus making 401(k) plans possible. The emergence of defined contribution plans began a transition aw...

Defined benefit plans were the predominant retirement plan at the time the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was introduced in 1974. Many hospitals and other healthcare provider organizations in New York State had defined benefit pension plans. In a defined benefit plan, the total financial obligation falls strictly on the sponsor. The amount of benefit is stipulated and the funding of that benefit is the responsibility of the sponsor. As time went on, defined benefit plans became more onerous to maintain, more difficult to sponsor, and more expensive. Join HANYS Benefit Services on Friday, April 6 at 11:00 AM to learn a number of strategies to assist in managing defined benefit plans. The Revenue Act of 1978 included a provision under which employees were not taxed on the portion of income they elect to receive as deferred compensation rather than as direct cash payments, thus making 401(k) plans possible. The emergence of defined contribution plans began a transition aw...

HBS expands employee benefits offerings to protect employees from the consequences of identity theft HANYS Benefit Services is pleased to announce our partnership with CyberScout, a leading identity management and data theft services company. CyberScout delivers valuable prevention education, proactive protection services, and swift and appropriate incident remediation for more than 17.5 million households and more than 770,000 businesses. The hidden cost of identity theft to employees and employers: When identity thieves take advantage of employees’ stolen personal information to obtain credit or loans, or to commit various types of fraud, both employees and employers pay a steep price. For example, victims: need 165 hours, on average, to resolve identity theft;  are absent five times more than average; and use twice as much sick time. Consider that in 2017 the Equifax data breach alone exposed the sensitive personal information of 143 million people. And since there have been mo...

HANYS Benefit Services wants to help you stay compliant with the 2018 Retirement Services Compliance Calendar and Notices Reminder . Compliance is just one of many services we provide. HANYS Benefit Services created this document to remind plan administrators of the compliance deadlines and notices required for distribution. 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.

On Monday, November 27, 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that some key provisions of the fiduciary rule will be extended for 18 months. The fiduciary rule, in its most basic context, requires brokers and advisors to act in the best interests of their clients who have retirement accounts, including IRAs and rollovers from qualified retirement plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  The DOL first proposed the regulations in October 2010 but withdrew them in 2011 after opposition from the financial services industry as well as some members of Congress.  The regulations were reintroduced in 2015 with the final rule becoming effective June 7, 2016.  Compliance with the rules surrounding broker conduct and disclosure was delayed until April 10, 2017.  A transition period for compliance with some of the provisions was put in place from April 10, 2017 until January 1, 2018.  This latest delay will extend implementation of the enforcement provisions of th...

Vice President, Client Relationship Management and Consulting, Honored for Leadership in "Plan Design & Administration Innovation" HANYS Benefit Services (HBS) is pleased to announce that Carol A. Idone, CFP®, AIF®, Vice President, Client Relationship Management and Consulting, is the recipient of the 2017 SPARK Advisor Award: Plan Design & Administration Innovation.  This award is presented annually by The SPARK Institute, Inc., to a retirement plan advisor in the United States who "demonstrates leadership in designing plans and administrative processes that improve participant outcomes while managing plan costs." The SPARK Institute helps to shape national retirement policy by providing research, education, testimony, and comments on pending legislative and regulatory issues to members of Congress and relevant government agency officials. Its members serve approximately 85 million participants in 401(k) and other defined contribution plans.  Ms. Idone brin...

1. Document all decisions— Appoint a secretary to take notes on all actions and decisions. 2. Hold retirement plan committee meetings regularly— Quarterly is the best practice; make sure your people get there and have a good attendance record. 3. Appoint qualified committee members— If you want to bring in people from different departments within the hospital to have them more involved in the retirement plan process, be sure that people are chosen who understand how the retirement plan and investments work. You also need to have an odd number of people on the committee to avoid votes that end in a tie. 4. Periodically review plan operations and providers— Review the scope of services in the service agreements with all plan providers to ensure these services are still needed and are of high quality. Make sure the plan administrator and service providers are administering the plan in accordance with the plan document. 5. Ensure ERISA compliance— ERISA Sec. 404(c) protects plan sponsors ...