Products July 21, 2022

BPAS Launches Updated Financial Planning Tool for Participants

The new version provides real-time updates to present a bigger picture of a participant’s overall financial health.

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BPAS, a national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration and collective investment trusts, has released version 2.0 of its Roadways Mile Marker financial planning tool for retirement plan participants.

The interactive Roadways Mile Marker 2.0—a key feature in the new BPAS Participant Portal introduced earlier this month—uses wizard technology with real-time updates and projections that go beyond retirement savings to present a bigger picture of each participant’s overall financial health.

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The new Roadways Mile Marker allows advisers and corporate trustees to meet with participants and use the tool on demand as part of ongoing planning exercises. Both parties are able to control the inputs and assumptions to see how the participant is doing, identify gaps and set a strategy to close them.

“The new Roadways Mile Marker is unique, user-friendly, engaging and [makes it] easy to see results with just a few inputs so participants have time to take action to shape their financial journey through various life and career stages,” says Elizabeth Kaido, senior vice president of BPAS sales and relationship management.

“We knew we needed a tool that would paint a full picture of participants’ overall financial health,” says Paul Neveu, CEO of BPAS. “In developing the new Roadways Mile Marker, we focused on one key question: How can we create a tool that paints a reasonably accurate picture of financial health in a manageable about of time for the participant? It needed to look at compensation, savings rates, retirement plan balances, outside assets, home equity and total debt, so participants have time to take steps to shape the rest of their retirement journey.”

Compliance July 21, 2022

IRS Addresses Mergers Involving DB Plans That Have Received SFA

The ongoing plan must still separate special financial assistance funds and invest them according to final regulations.

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Following the release of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s final rule on multiemployer plan special financial assistance, the IRS has weighed in on its effect on certain plan mergers.

In Revenue Ruling 2022-13, the IRS answers the question: “If a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan that has received special financial assistance (SFA) from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is merged into a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan that has not received SFA, and the plan that has not received SFA is designated as the ongoing plan after the merger, is the ongoing plan deemed to be in critical status under section 432(b)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) solely as a result of the merger?”

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The question is important because DB plans that are in critical status are required to enter into a rehabilitation plan and are subject to certain benefit restrictions. The IRS says the plan designated as the ongoing plan after a merger with a plan that has received SFA is not deemed to be in critical status.

The IRS notes, however, that following the merger, the ongoing plan must comply with the restrictions and conditions that applied to the plan that received SFA. For example, the ongoing plan will maintain a separate account for the SFA funds received and invest the assets of that separate account in permissible investments in accordance with the PBGC’s final rule.

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