When Clients Succeed, We All Win

We are pleased to share with you that one of our clients was named a finalist for 401(k) Plan Sponsor of the Year in the Corporate 401(k) $50M-$1B category by PLANSPONSOR Magazine. Congratulations Vermeer - well deserved!

Each year, the editors of PLANSPONSOR magazine—the industry’s leading resource for retirement-benefits related news—recognize plan sponsors that demonstrate leadership in providing a more secure retirement for workers.  

Vermeer Corporation was recognized at PLANSPONSOR’s Annual Awards for Excellence dinner in New York City in March, and was featured in the March issue of PLANSPONSOR magazine.  Alliance Benefit Group has long recognized the commitment of Vermeer Corporation and the quality of the retirement program they have implemented.  To witness an industry-leading publication recognizing the strength and leadership of this sponsor is a prideful experience for our teams here on the recordkeeping side of their program. 

If you recall back in 2013, one of our greatest accomplishments was to witness our client, Mayo Clinic Health Systems - Albert Lea (MCHS-AL), receive the 403(b) Plan Sponsor of the Year award from PLANSPONSOR Magazine.

We are thrilled for the accomplishments of our clients and happy to share in the success of their retirement programs.

The Author: Timothy A. Struck, CRPS

Wholesale Retirement Marketing Consultant

abgncs.com

tstruck@abg-mn.com

Don't Miss the Signs Telling You It's Time for an HRIS System

Do you have a hundred spreadsheets all saved in different places that track various pieces of HR related information?  Do you have a hard time combing through all of those to find what you're looking for?  Do you currently do a paper benefit enrollment, and feel slightly to highly annoyed by keeping track of all of that pulp?  Are you still taking paper applications?  If so, you're experiencing the signs that it's time to invest in a human resource information system (HRIS).  

Each year web based HRIS systems are becoming more and more affordable and user friendly.  Along with these developments, the capabilities are constantly growing and improving.  The options can start to become overwhelming.  Before you dive in, we find it's a good idea to evaluate what's important to you.  Here are a couple of questions to consider when determining which HRIS system to go with.  

1. Do you need Time and Attendance software?  Over the past several years more HRIS systems have gone from integrating with time and attendance systems to having one included.  This makes it easier on the end user because everything is housed in one location!
2. What do you want out of the Employee Self Service?(Commonly referred to ESS)  More and more companies are leaning towards offering employee self service for their employees.  There are a lot of options when it comes to self service, such as viewing online pay stubs, making demographic changes, time off requests, and the list goes on.  Before you start to look at HRIS system, it is a good idea to make a wish list for what you would like out of the ESS.
3. Would you like to use your HRIS for applicant tracking?  There are a lot of software systems out there that are primarily for applicant tracking, but one thing to take into consideration is that if you use your HRIS system also as an applicant tracking system, it streamlines the hiring process because everything is housed in one system!  
4. Do you want it to work with your payroll software?  There are stand alone HRIS systems but one thing to consider is if you would like it to talk to your payroll software.  If the two systems can communicate this will cut down on data entry either for the HR department or the payroll department!  Everyone could use a little more time in their day right!   

All the possibilities are exciting but can also make your head spin. If you want to talk through your needs, we're here to help.  If you have any questions or want to know where to start, please feel free to contact me. 

The Author: Alysha Frie, FPC

Payroll Sales Consultant

abgncs.com

afrie@abg-mn.com

Set Retirement on Autopilot

If you have trouble viewing click here: https://vimeo.com/86523190

Simplify your retirement dreams. Ask about adding auto enrollment and auto escalation to your retirement plan. 

The Author: Cole Thompson

Marketing Specialist

abgncs.com/RetirementAdministration

cthompson@abg-mn.com

Does your plan pass? Understanding Annual Nondiscrimination Testing

Test anxiety isn’t just for students.  The words “nondiscrimination testing” can strike fear into even the bravest of retirement account managers and plan sponsors alike.

Plan testing is required each year in order to make sure your 401(k) plan is in compliance with IRS regulations and maintains its qualified, tax advantaged status.  The IRS allows employees to get a tax benefit by not having to pay taxes on contributions or the earnings from contributions until they withdraw the money.  However, in order to get this tax break, the IRS wants to make sure highly paid employees are not getting a better tax break than everyone else.  

Of the required tests, the Actual Deferral Percentage (ADP) and Actual Contribution Percentage (ACP) tests are more significant because consequences of a failed test need to be addressed within 2 and a half months after the close of the plan year, in order to avoid penalties.  Consequences include corrective distributions or additional employer contributions.  The nondiscrimination rules in regards to these tests require average deferrals and average contributions for the highly compensated employee (HCE) group to be within a certain range of the average deferrals and contributions for the non-highly compensated employee (NHCE) group. 

Clear as mud, right?  Well that's where Alliance Benefit Group comes in to take your worry away.  We will ask you a few questions regarding your plan and have you confirm that the employee information we have in our system is correct.  If we receive this information in a timely manner, it will help us ensure the testing is completed before the deadline.  

In the event the plan fails any of the nondiscrimination tests, we will call you and talk you through the next steps of the correction method and offer guidance on how to avoid testing failures in the future, such as adopting a safe harbor plan or running preliminary tests throughout the year and making adjustments accordingly.

So, if your plan runs on a calendar year, you would have received your questionnaire from us.  If you haven't yet, we need it to be completed and returned to kick off this process.  Please return this to your administration team at your earliest convenience.

The Author: Kelly Wangsness, QKA

Retirement Services Manager

abgncs.com/RetirementAdministration

kwangsness@abg-mn.com

Pondering the New Rules for "Employer Payment Plans"

Anytime a ruling is issued by “the departments”, (Treasury, IRS and DOL) it is met with excitement and anticipation. But on the rare occasion we're left scratching our heads. That's the case with the Friday the 13th ruling, handed down in September. 

This ruling took previous guidance on health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and expanded it to “employer payment plans”. The case was made, that to follow the affordable care act “employer payment plans” must conform with the no annual limit benefit provision, thus no longer pre-taxing individual policies through an employer. I can't quite wrap my head around the notion of why “the departments” would want to make a ruling that counters so much previous guidance by those same departments? 

By taking away the pre-taxing of individual policies through an employer payment plan, the government essentially made purchasing individual policies through the exchanges equal. Instead of figuring out a fair and adequate way to make policies eligible for pre-taxing through the exchanges, they eliminated it for hundreds of thousands of individual policyholders that enjoyed lower premiums, portable coverage and employer help in paying for those policies.

If we're all ready to have a conversation to sort this out, I have an opening Thursday.

The Author: Roger Jorgensen, RHU, REBC

Marketing - HSA/HRA/FSA & COBRA

abgncs.com/HSAFSAHRA

rjorgensen@abg-mn.com

HSA Reporting on W-2s

Ahhh January.  You’ve made it through open enrollment, the holidays and the first blast of cold weather.  Now it’s time to focus on the New Year!  Just as soon as you finish up those W-2’s, that is.

We often get questions this time of year about how health savings account (HSA) contributions are reported on the W-2.  Most employers know HSA contributions have to be included on the W-2 but they aren’t always sure where, how or which contributions to include.  If you’ve looked this one up before you know the answer isn’t exactly crystal clear in the W-2 instructions.  Don’t worry, ABGNCS can help!

Employers are required to report “employer” contributions to employees’ HSAs in Box 12 with the code W.  The catch is “employer” contributions include pre-tax employee contributions.  Why?  Because the IRS considers pre-tax salary reductions through a Section 125 plan to be employer contributions, even though they’re really employee contributions.  Confusing, right?  This is just a technicality because the funds have never been subject income tax. 

Bottom line… Box 12, code W = employer HSA contributions + pre-tax employee HSA contributions. 

The Author: Sadie Wuerflein, CFC

Account Executive - FSA/HRA/HSA

abgncs.com/HSAFSAHRA

swuerflein@abg-mn.com

How to Navigate Unfamiliar Employee Benefit Websites

Nothing is more frustrating than looking up a password for a website that I haven’t been to in a few months. Once I get in, which isn’t a given, then I have to remind myself what I'm suppose to do or not do in order to have a successful outcome. And for some folks that describes their interaction with our COBRA website. So what to do?  

What if we recorded videos that our clients could click on and watch. They could see how to interact with the system and do what they need to do. Well, guess what? That is exactly what we've done. Please visit our website: abgncs.com/Watch and click on any of our tutorials.

Also, if you forget your password just call our COBRA department and we will help you with that! Oh, and you don’t need a password to just watch the videos!

The Author: Julie Dickens

COBRA Account Coordinator

abgncs.com/COBRA

jdickens@abg-mn.com