Products January 13, 2010

Freedom One Adds vWise SmartPlan to Platform

Freedom One Financial Group has added vWise SmartPlan Enterprise to its education and communication service offering to plan participants.
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A vWise press release said SmartPlan Enterprise provides the benefits of a personal financial professional in a Web site. The solution combines a video-based presentation of detailed financial information with an interactive application that prompts users to make informed investment decisions.

vWise video hosts offer a brief video overview of 401(k) basics, followed by a discussion of selected plan features—such as automatic enrollment, matching contributions, and loans—that plan sponsors can customize. Using interactive forms, the video hosts then guide participants through a short process, including individual retirement needs and risk profile surveys and selection of investment types and contribution amounts, and generates a personalized investor profile.

Compliance January 13, 2010

DoL Gives Small Employers Seven Days to Deposit Contributions

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) announced the publication of a final rule to protect employee contributions deposited to small pension and welfare benefit plans with fewer than 100 participants.
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According to the announcement, the final rule amends the participant contribution rules to create a safe harbor period under which participant contributions to a small plan will be deemed to comply with the law if those amounts are deposited with the plan within seven business days of receipt or withholding.

Currently, employers of all sizes must transmit employee contributions to pension plans as soon as they can reasonably be segregated from the general assets of the employer, but no later than the 15th business day of the month following the month in which contributions are received or withheld by the employer. The latest date for forwarding participant contributions to health plans is 90 days from the date on which such amounts are received or withheld by the employer.

The DoL said it did not expand the safe harbor to cover plans with 100 or more participants due to a lack of information and data sufficient to evaluate current practices of such employers and assess the costs, benefits, and risks to participants associated with extending the safe harbor to large plans.

The final rule is to be published in the January edition of the Federal Register and will be effective on the date of publication.

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