The 2023 ASPPA Winter Symposium offers in-depth, technical education for retirement plan professionals who provide consulting services for clients and prospects. It takes a deep dive into the application and implementation of ERISA rules, covering topics such as plan design, distribution planning, tax incentives, and the latest guidance from IRS and DOL. Topics are consultative in nature. The Ask the Experts session provides an opportunity for attendees to ask and engage in the industry’s most pressing questions.
Join us December 4-5, 2023, to get the training you need to interact effectively with clients and provide them with the specialized expertise they need while enhancing your ability to forge new relationships and grow your practice. Registration Closes November 30.
Quick Links:
Practitioners with intermediate to advanced knowledge of ERISA rules; and CPC, QPA, and QKC credentialed members.
Pricing:
-
$465 – Members
-
$675 – Non-Members
Monday, December 4, 2023
12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. ET
Washington Update – What’s New from the IRS, DOL and on the Hill
Guidance, both formal and informal from the agencies that have oversight regarding retirement plan issues will impact how we design and administer plans in 2024. See what changes are on the horizon from the folks on Capitol Hill and what opportunities they provide for you and your clients.
Session takeaways include:
-
A review of the latest bills that may impact the creation and operation of retirement plans
-
Description of guidance that we still need to administer the SECURE provisions
-
Coverage of SECURE Act guidance from the IRS and DOL (that isn't covered in other sessions)
Robert Richter, J.D., LL.M., APM, Retirement Education Counsel, American Retirement Association
1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. ET
Coping with Rothification in Qualified Plans
It is often said that people like options…well now plans will have the option to have the employer contributions deposited as Roth. In addition, the new rule that catch-up contributions for some participants may only be Roth creates challenges in both administration and communication. This session will review the planning needed to be ready to deal with these changes.
Session takeaways include:
-
The impact of the new rules on existing plans
-
Plan design options that can be used by employers to minimize the impact of the rules on plan operations
-
How the rules interact with vesting and nondiscrimination requirements
Shannon Edwards, ERPA, CPC, QPA, QKC, QKA®, President, TriStar Pension Consulting
2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. ET
EPCRS – To File or Not to File?
This session will focus on the internal process when using the EPCRS program. Self-correction or filing? What is involved in each and who should be included in the discussions and decisions. The speaker will use case studies to emphasize key points of each option.
Session takeaways include:
-
Making the determination to self-correct or use the VCP program; what to consider
-
Which service providers need to be included in the correction
-
The practices and procedures that can be put into place to prevent future issues
Claire Rowland, Associate, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. ET
Another Fine Mess: Case Studies in Ethics for ARA Members
Service providers sometimes find themselves questioning whether ethics violations have occurred when reviewing plan operations. This session will use case studies to help identify situations where action needs to be taken to avoid or correct a potential violation of a code of conduct.
Session takeaways include:
-
Using the ARA Code to identify ethical challenges we may be presented with
-
How to report code of conduct violations to the ARA
-
Knowing who is covered by the ARA code of conduct
Bob Kaplan, CPC, QPA, QKC, QKA®, CFP, Director of Technical Education, American Retirement Association
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. ET
Plan Design Options for Smaller Employers
SECURE 2.0 adds another type of plan for small employers that needs to be considered when starting a plan for the first time. This session will review the pros and cons of the Starter (K), SIMPLE Plans, SEPs and the "solo K" and what you need to consider when recommending plans.
Session takeaways include:
-
Identify prospects for each type of plan
-
Communicating the provisions to your prospects
-
Knowing the pitfalls of each type of plan which need to be avoided
Megan Crawford, Director of Marketing and Sales Director of Marketing and Sales, Williams Benefit Consulting, LLC
1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. ET
Distribution Options in Plans – More Choices
SECURE 2.0 added two more optional types of distributions that plan may incorporated into plan provisions. In particular the Emergency Savings withdrawal provision and the Pension Linked Emergency Savings Accounts have gotten much publicity. This session will review the pros and cons for administration so that you can be ready to discuss with clients and prospects. A review of several other new distribution options will be part of the session.
Session takeaways include:
-
A comparison of the emergency withdrawal options
-
Other distribution options that may be considered for plans
-
Items to consider when making recommendations to your clients
Kelsey Mayo, J.D., Director of Regulatory Affairs, American Retirement Association
2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. ET
Alternative Designs for Long-Term, Part-Time Employees (LTPTs)
With the inclusion of LTPT employees just weeks away, many employers have been asking about ways to design a plan that will ease the administrative burden of tracking and enrolling LTPTs. Items covered will include accelerated eligibility for all employees and the use of exclusions to simplify administrative requirements.
Session takeaways include:
-
Utilizing eligibility provisions to simplify administration
-
How the top-heavy disaggregation rule can be helpful to budgets
-
How vesting calculation will be easier without tracking LTPTs
Lynn Young, EA, FSEA, Partner/Consulting Actuary, Pinnacle Plan Design, LLC
3:00 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. ET
Ask the Experts
The topics in this symposium may create many questions for attendees. This session will be a Q&A on the topics covered. Please submit your questions in advance of the conference or at any point during the two days of sessions. The panel will get to as many of the questions as possible.
Kelsey Mayo, J.D., Director of Regulatory Affairs, American Retirement Association
Claire Rowland, Associate, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Lynn Young, EA, FSEA, Partner/Consulting Actuary, Pinnacle Plan Design, LLC
Megan Crawford, Director of Marketing and Sales Director of Marketing and Sales, Williams Benefit Consulting, LLC
Megan Crawford, ERPA, QPA is a partner at Williams Benefit Consulting, LLC in Quincy Illinois. She has been practicing in the retirement area for 15 years and is known for helping, educating, and supporting clients and their employees as they plan for retirement. Megan is a member of ASPPA and is currently serving on the Plan Consultant Magazine Committee as well as the ASPPA Spring National Conference committee. Outside of the office, Megan enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids. She is also passionate about fundraising for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Shannon Edwards, ERPA, CPC, QPA, QKC, QKA®, President, TriStar Pension Consulting
Shannon and her husband of more than 30 years have three children, two daughters-in-law, and their first granddaughter, Charlotte Hazel. When she is not working to empower participants to be able to retire on their own terms, Shannon enjoys spending time with her family in the mountains, on the golf course, and on the beach. One of Shannon’s hidden talents is the ability to skin and breast a duck in under five minutes. Shannon volunteers and fundraises for several local non-profits in Oklahoma such as Make A Wish Oklahoma, Infant Crisis Services and Cleats 4 Kids. Shannon has been in the retirement plan industry for over 30 years. She founded TriStar Pension Consulting more than 20 years ago. Shannon has been a credentialed member of American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) for over 25 years. She has served on and currently serves on many ASPPA and ARA committees. She has served on the ARA Board of Directors and is currently serving on the ASPPA Leadership Council as well as the ARA Council for Women. In addition to ASPPA, Shannon is also an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent.
Bob Kaplan, CPC, QPA, QKC, QKA®, CFP, Director of Technical Education, American Retirement Association
Bob Kaplan is the director of technical education for the American Retirement Association. Bob’s responsibilities include updating existing ARA educational material and being a Subject Matter Expert for new ASPPA programs. Bob is a frequent speaker for ARA conferences. Bob was previously a co-chair of the ASPPA Government Affairs Committee and a member of ASPPA’s Leadership Council. He also previously served as a member of the Board of Managers of the American Institute of Retirement Education (AIRE) as well as the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA). Bob has provided testimony before the Treasury department on 401(k) issues and other retirement plan issues, and has over 40 years of experience in retirement plan services, including plan design, administration, sales, and consulting.
Kelsey Mayo, J.D., Director of Regulatory Affairs, American Retirement Association
Kelsey Mayo, J.D., is the lead employee benefits partner with Poyner Spruill LLP, a law firm based in North Carolina and serving clients nationwide. She works with TPAs, business owners, and HR executives to understand and manage employee benefits and executive compensation arrangements. Kelsey routinely represents clients before government agencies and has extensive experience in virtually all aspects of employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements. She serves on ASPPA’s Government Affairs Committee as the Chair of the IRS Subcommittee and regularly presents for ASPPA.
Robert Richter, J.D., LL.M., APM, Retirement Education Counsel, American Retirement Association
Robert Richter joined the American Retirement Association (ARA) as Retirement Education Counsel in January of 2019, where he’s primarily responsible for maintaining the ERISA Outline Book and assisting with ARA educational programs. Robert was previously a vice president with FIS (previously SunGard and Corbel) where he managed the consulting department and was responsible for authoring and supporting FIS retirement plan documents. Robert served as President of the American Retirement Association in 2017 and in 2012 (ASPPA). Robert is a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel and is a member of The Florida Bar. Robert received a B.S., with a major in Finance, from the University of Florida, a J.D. from Florida State University, and an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Florida.
Claire Rowland, Associate, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Claire Powell Rowland is an associate with the Employee Benefits practice group at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. She counsels employee benefit plan sponsors in all industries, including public and private companies, startups, PEOs, governmental entities, higher education institutions, and non-profit organizations. Claire's prior experience as a third-party administrator provides her with a unique insight into the practical administrative and operational issues facing plan sponsors, and the interaction of these issues with the legal requirements applicable to their plans. She leverages this insight to clients’ advantage by combining creative problem-solving approaches with real world, business-minded advice in employee benefit plan design, regulatory compliance and corrections, M&A transactions, IRS, DOL and PBGC audits, and ERISA class action litigation defense. Claire is most inspired by the ultimate goal of employer-sponsored retirement plans – helping workers save for retirement – and is a staunch advocate of employer retirement plans, regularly volunteering to lobby Congress regarding federal tax law, proposed legislation, and retirement plan policy.
Lynn Young, EA, FSEA, Partner/Consulting Actuary, Pinnacle Plan Design, LLC
Lynn Young is a Partner at Pinnacle Plan Design, LLC. She is an Enrolled Actuary with over 39 years of experience in the consulting and administration of qualified defined benefit, cash balance, and defined contribution plans. As an Enrolled Actuary, Lynn specializes in actuarial consulting and third‐party administration of defined benefit retirement plans, both for direct clients as well as for other TPAs as their back‐office actuary. Lynn is a past President of the American Society of Enrolled Actuaries (ASEA, formerly ACOPA) and a current member of the Board of the American Retirement Association (ARA). In 2021 she was named a Fellow of the Society of Enrolled Actuaries, the highest achievement within ASEA. In 2022, Lynn was the recipient of the ASPPA Educator of the Year Award and ASEA’s Edward E. Burrows Distinguished Achievement Award.
ASPPA Members
The 2023 ASPPA Winter Symposium offers up to 9 hours of ASPPA, NAPA, NTSA, and PSCA CE credit, including 1 hour of Ethics CE credit. Credit is only available for attending live sessions.
Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents (ERPA Credit)
The 2023 ASPPA Winter Symposium is designed to offer up to 9 ERPA credits, including 1 ERPA Ethics credit. The program is currently under review for final determination. Credit is only available for live session attendance.
Enrolled Actuaries (JBEA Credit)
The 2023 ASPPA Winter Symposium is designed to offer up to 9 hours of JBEA CE credit. The program is currently under review for final determination. Credit is available only for live session attendance.
Event Policies
ASPPA, The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, is a part of the American Retirement Association (ARA), the umbrella organization for five affiliate organizations: ASPPA, ASEA, NAPA, NTSA and PSCA. The following event policies apply to ASPPA Annual:
Registration Refund Policy
Requests for refunds should be submitted to [email protected] by November 27, 2023. A refund of the conference fee, minus a $100 processing fee, will be given for cancellations received by that date. No refunds will be granted for requests received after this date. Please note that refunds will not be given for no-shows.
Substitution Policy
Substitution of registrations is permitted prior to the conference. Only one substitution is permitted per original registrant. The individual submitting the substitution request is responsible for updating any contact information. Requests for substitutions should be submitted to [email protected] by November 27, 2023. No substitutions will be accepted after this date.
Program Content
The views and opinions expressed by speakers or others who have provided materials to and for this conference are not necessarily those of ASPPA or ARA or its affiliate organizations. ASPPA, ARA, and its affiliate organizations assume no responsibility for, nor endorse, any of the comments, recommendations or materials that are provided.
Event Code of Conduct
The American Retirement Association, the umbrella organization for the individual membership organizations: ASPPA, ASEA, NAPA, NTSA and PSCA (collectively the “ARA”), is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all participants at ARA events. All participants, including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors, service providers and ARA staff members, and all others are expected to abide by this Events Code of Conduct. This policy applies to all ARA events (in-person and virtual), including all meetings and conferences, as well as events sponsored by organizations other than ARA but held in conjunction with ARA events. Read the full Event Code of Conduct.
Antitrust Policy
The American Retirement Association, the umbrella organization for five affiliate organizations, ASPPA, ASEA, NAPA, NTSA and PSCA (collectively the “ARA”), assigns the highest priority to full compliance with both the letter and the spirit of antitrust laws and it is vital that any ARA meetings be conducted in a manner consistent with this policy. Read the full Antitrust Policy.
Questions
Our customer care team is standing by to answer all your questions from the technology, CE credits, to the structure of the agenda! Feel free to contact us at [email protected].