QACA Automatic Enrollment: Benefits and Pitfalls from a Record Keeper Perspective

W. Frank Porter, QPA, QKAAssistant Vice PresidentEmpower Institutional

f.porter@retirementpartner.com

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▪ Types of Automatic Contribution Arrangements▪ Understanding of the challenges and benefits of automatic

enrollment Investment defaults and escalation trends▪ New hire vs. total eligible sweeps and periodic re-sweeps▪ Best practices to avoid operational pitfalls and improve the

chances of success▪ Gain insight into the success or failure of various plan

designs▪ Marketing & communication strategies ▪ Administration and recordkeeping considerations

Automatic Enrollment

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How Big an Issue is Auto Enrollment?

2018 PlanSponsor DC Survey indicates

▪ 48% of 401(k) plans auto enroll(including 23.3% in the micro-market – under $5M)

▪ Most common rate is 3% (39.6% of plans)

▪ 48% use GREATER than 3%

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Participation Rates and Retirement Readiness

▪ 57% for Traditional Enrollment

▪ 81% for all plans

▪ 92% for Auto Enroll

Empower Institute: Road to Retirement Success, Aug. 2018

Vanguard: How America Saves, June 2018

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Increased Participation

▪ Testing results improve

▪ More employees saving for retirement

▪ Help create a “healthy” plan

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▪ Pension Protection Act of 2006 facilitated the adoption of automatic enrollment policies ▪ Additions to Sec. 401(k)(13), 401(m)(12), and 414(w) to the Code, and

▪ Amendments to Sec. 411(a)(3)(G)

▪ Additional guidance that followed:

• Notice 2009-65 on how to amend for automatic enrollment

• Rev. Rul. 2009-30 on how automatic enrollment can work when there is an escalator feature included

• Notice 2016-16 Mid-Year Changes to Safe Harbor Plans and Safe Harbor Notices

Background

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From a policy perspective only, do you like automatic

enrollment?

– Yes

– No

– Neutral

Poll Question #1

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From a provider perspective only (TPA or recordkeeper), do you

like automatic enrollment?

– Yes

– No

– Neutral

Poll Question #2

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▪ Three types of automatic enrollment: – The basic automatic contribution arrangement (ACA),

– the eligible automatic contribution arrangement (EACA), and the

– qualified automatic contribution arrangement (QACA)

▪ Timing the basic automatic contribution arrangement (ACA)– added at any time, given the timing of the amendment.

– satisfy applicable notice requirement

– before the amendment is effective

▪ Safe harbor designed QACA– Amendment timing considerations

Types of AutomaticContribution Arrangements

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Types of ACAs

▪ ACA is any arrangement that does not qualify as an EACA or QACA

▪ Will become clearer after we define those two types

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QACA

▪ Safe Harbor Plan

▪ Tax Code Section 401(k)(13)

▪ Eliminates ADP/ACP testing

▪ Avoids Top Heavy

▪ Most provisions are the same as the current SH under Section 401(k)(12)

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QACA Requirements

▪ Automatic Deferral (obviously)

▪ Option to opt out

▪ Notice Requirements

▪ Deferral Percentages

▪ SH Employer Contributions

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QACA Requirements

▪ As indicated earlier, most of the provisions of the Regulations match the existing SH rules

Example:▪ Plan must be amended PRIOR to the beginning of the PY

▪ QACA must be in place for 12 month period

▪ Plan may limit deferrals as long as maximum match can still be achieved by NHCEs

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QACA Deferral Rules

▪ Applies to all employees without an affirmative election in place (cannot exclude existing employees or participants)– Employees must opt out or elect a different percentage

– If an employee had an election in a CODA prior to the effective date of the QACA, then it counts as an affirmative election

– Plan can set an expiration date for elections (so employee has to re-elect)

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Uniformity Requirement

▪ Default deferral must be uniformly applied, with these exceptions:

– Years of QACA participation

– Affirmative election on file

– Hardship withdrawal required suspension

– Contribution or deferral limits have been met

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Minimum Deferral Percentage

▪ May provide a larger % at each level

▪ May not exceed 10% at any level

▪ Note: Hardship suspensions must recommence at level prior to withdrawal

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Employer SH Contributions

▪ 3% nonelective

Or

▪ Matching Contributions$ for $ on first 1%, and

50 cents on dollar for next 5%

Total 3.5%

Note: Can be a greater match

Cannot increase match % as rate of deferral increases

Required Notice

▪ Timing:

– Reasonable period

– 30-90 deemed to be reasonable

– Date of Hire for immediate eligibility plans

▪ Content:

– Current SH content, plus▪ Level of default deferrals

▪ Right to change deferral %

▪ Default investment account, if applicable

▪ May combine notices (EACA, QDIA)

▪ Delivery method:

– To each employee (not posted)

– Electronic is allowed▪ Directly to participant

▪ No kiosk or posting on website

Required Notice

▪ Whoops, I forgot

– Max of $1,100 per day per failure

Required Notice

▪ Do you think more employers would add automatic contribution arrangements to their plans if the IRS expanded the self-correction options under EPCRS? – Yes

– No

– Neutral

Poll Question #3

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Types of AutomaticContribution Arrangements

ACA Type Description

Basic ACA (ACA) • Does not allow a permissible withdrawal option

• Does not require employer to match contributions

• Does not require Scheduled Increases

• No additional rules or restrictions apply to scheduled increases

Eligible ACA (EACA) • Allows a permissible withdrawal option

• Does not require employer to match contributions

• Can generally only be established effective at the beginning of the Plan

Year

• Does not require Scheduled Increases

• No additional rules or restrictions apply to scheduled increases

Qualified ACA (QACA) • Meets the Safe Harbor plan requirements that may exempt plan from annual Actual Deferral Percentage (ADP) and Actual Contribution Percentage (ACP) Non-discrimination Testing

• If the QACA also satisfies EACA criteria, then QACA allows a

Permissible Withdrawal option

• Requires minimum percentages of participation, which may be met by

scheduling automatic annual deferral increases

• Requires employer to match contributions

• Can generally only be established effective at the beginning of the Plan

Year

• Requires Scheduled Increases, unless the initial participant default

contribution percentage is 6%.• Participant paycheck contribution percentages must be at least 6% of their

salary by their fifth plan year of participation up to a maximum of 10%

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Considerations

▪ Cost

▪ Increased administration

▪ Low average account balances

▪ Budget for match

▪ More distributions in high turnover companies

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Considerations

▪ Can HR implement timely?

▪ Do Payroll Company and Record Keeper have access to information timely?

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Considerations

▪ Am I setting myself up to fail?

▪ Notice requirements

▪ How do I identify auto enrolled employees in a plan (especially a takeover)

▪ Penalty for failure to providenotices

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Auto Escalation

▪ Once in the plan – will the participant increase deferrals?

▪ Many do not

▪ Plan design to increaseat a specific pointin time may help

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▪ Increases participation in retirement plans

▪ Lessens the burden on taxpayers

▪ Saves employers money

Why Automatic Enrollment

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Increases Participation

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Not covered by anEmployer Plan -

Deductible IRA Only

Covered by anEmployer Plan

Automatically Enrolledby Employer

4.6%

71.5%91.0%

Participation Rates

AARP’s Public Policy Institute

The Power of Auto-enrollment

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Lessens Burden on Taxpayers

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31% 31% 30%37% 38% 40% 38%

45% 44%53% 52% 50%

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40%

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National Retirement Risk Index, 1983 – 2016

Center for Retirement Research, National Retirement Risk Index /Retirement Research at Boston College

Households at Risk of FinanciallyInsecure Retirement on the Rise

1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016

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The National Institute on Retirement Security

Average Household has $3K Saved

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Average Household Has $3k SavedNearing Retirement Only $12K Saved

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The National Institute on Retirement Security

▪ The total cost to taxpayers for new retirees will top $3.7B over the next 15 years

▪ 18% of retirees will retire with more debt than savings

▪ 10% increase in net worth of the 1/3 least prepared for retirement will save taxpayers $194M through 2030

Source: Notalys

Impact on Taxpayers

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Saves the employer money

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▪ While the cost of funding matching contributions may be top of mind for the Plan Sponsor, the real cost is a workforce not in a position to retire

▪ Studies indicate that this could be one of the most expensive components for employers when designing total benefit packages

Saves the Employer Money

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Total Workforce Costs by Component

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Why Employers Should Care About the Cost of Delayed Retirements, Prudential 2017University of Connecticut's Goldenson Center for Actuarial Research

Cost to Employers for Retirement Delay

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▪ Availability

▪ Ease of investment

▪ Auto-enrollment

▪ Auto-escalation

▪ Plan reset

Essentials for Adequate Savings

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▪ Is automatic enrollment appropriate for the plan sponsor and their employees?

▪ For Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement (EACA), which employees will be covered?

▪ Which features does the Plan Sponsor want?

Considerations

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▪ Know what your record keeper can and cannot do, then ask if it differs by size of plan

▪ Anticipate challenges

– Payroll provider to record keeper

– Payroll vendor changes

– Gauge the employers sustained commitment

Administration and Record KeepingConsiderations

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The Good and the Bad News

▪ Obviously many are deferring who weren’t participating before

▪ Would those defaulted (example 3%) have actively enrolled at a higher rate

▪ Auto enroll is generally limited to new hires

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The Good and the Bad News

▪ When I change employers do I resume where I left off or get re-enrolled at a lower rate?

▪ Industry stats indicate that 6% auto enroll has the same success rate as 3% (employees who do not lower or opt out)

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Strategies

▪ When recommending – get input from all parties (HR, payroll and record keeper)

▪ Design entry date that works for all

▪ Immediate entry may be problematic

▪ How about 1 month

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Strategies

▪ Document flow of information for new employees and changes

▪ Do I know when a participant has affirmatively elected an amount or has been defaulted (this could impact disclosures and re-enrollment)

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Strategies

▪ How will we deal with those that later decide – “I did not know, I did not understand, you never told me, etc.…”

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Participant ExperienceWhen newly eligible employees receive an initial notice indicating they will be automatically enrolled into the plan at the plan’s default deferral rate, employees can take one of the following actions:

Action DescriptionDecline Participation in the Plan

• Change their contribution rate or percentage to zero prior to the automatic enrollment date.

• Employees may change deferrals online via the participant website or by contacting a Participant Services Representative.

Affirmatively Enroll with Custom Options

• Customize contribution or deferral elections, allocations, and select from the plan’s available investment options.

• Participants may complete these actions online via the participant website or by contacting a Participant Services Representative.

Accept Automatic Enrollment

Employees who do not take any action are automatically enrolled into the plan.

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Recordkeeping – Service Guide

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Plan Provides

Notices

Service AvailabilityAll

Additional Recordkeeping Service RequirementsDeferral Recordkeeping, Online Enrollment

Description

• Plan Administrator or TPA prepares Initial and Annual ACA Notices.

• Plan Administrator or TPA distributes Initial and Annual ACA Notices to impacted

employees and participants.

Recordkeeper

Provides Notice

Services

Service Availability

• All• Additional recordkeeping services fees may apply

Additional Recordkeeping Service RequirementsDeferral Recordkeeping, Online Enrollment

Description

• Recordkeeper generates Initial and Annual ACA Notices according to plan’s

Automatic Enrollment provisions.

• Recordkeeper distributes Initial ACA Notices to impacted employees at least 30 daysprior to automatic enrollment contribution effective date.

• Recordkeeper distributes Annual ACA Notices to impacted participants.

• If annual scheduled increases apply, scheduled increase information is included in the Annual Notice and distributed to impacted participants at least 30 days prior to effective date of the scheduled increase.

Recordkeeping – Service Guide

Description Responsible

Receive Initial ACA Notice Participant

• Receives initial ACA notice.• Note: See Automatic Enrollment Service Levels described above for options and requirements

related to ACA Notices.• Takes appropriate action:

− Decline participation in the plan− Affirmatively enroll with custom options− Take no action and accept Automatic Enrollment

Report Contribution ChangesRecordkeeper

• Collects all defaulted contribution or deferral elections for automatically enrolled participants.• Collects all deferrals for participants who enrolled with custom options or who elected zero.• Delivers deferral feedback file to Plan Administrator.• Deferral changes are reported on the deferral feedback file closest to the payroll cycle in which they

are to go into effect.

Adjust Payroll DeductionsClient / Payroll

Provider

• Reviews deferral feedback file and adjust payroll deductions.• Reports and deposits updated contributions on next payroll file.

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Recordkeeping Considerations – How it Works

Description Responsible

Receive Annual ACA Notice Participant

• Receives annual ACA notice.• If automatic increases apply, takes appropriate action:

− Change deferral− Take no action and accept automatic increase

Report Contribution Changes Recordkeeper

• Collects all scheduled automatic increase deferrals for automatically enrolled participants.

• Collects all deferrals for participants who changed deferrals to remove them from the automatically enrolled population.

• Delivers deferral feedback file to Plan Administrator.• Note the payroll cycle in which they are to go into effect.

Adjust Payroll Deductions

Client/Payroll

Provider

• Reviews deferral feedback file and adjust payroll deductions.• Reports and deposits updated contributions on next payroll file.

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Recordkeeping Considerations – How it Works

Marketing of Auto-enrollment, Auto-escalation, Plan Reset

Plan Sponsor and Employee Communications

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Automatic EnrollmentA Guide for Plan Sponsors

Executive Summary.......................................................................................................2

Automatic Enrollment Benefits Overview.................................................................4

How It Works.....................................................................................................................5

Selecting Default Investments.................................................................................12

Empower Retirement Services................................................................................14

Ongoing Plan Sponsor Responsibilities..................................................................16

Participant Experience..............................................................................................20

Setup Overview.............................................................................................................22

Key Terms and Definitions.........................................................................................25

Content

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▪ Who to target

– Only newly hired employees

– Total eligible employee population

▪ When to target

– Offer periodic re-sweeps

– Timing auto-escalation following annual pay increases

Know the Employer and Know the EmployeePopulation Base

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Auto-enrollment Trends

Automatic enrollment and auto-increases, TowersWatson

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Auto-enrollment Trends

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Example –

▪ Auto-enrollment and auto-escalation

▪ After the change to auto-enrollment, participation increased by 67% and employees increased their contribution

rates.

Plan Design Successes

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Example –

▪ Industry group with high turnover

▪ Lower paid employees

▪ Results lackluster for the Sponsor

▪ Higher administration costs due to added participants and heavy distribution requests

▪ CFO not happy with the added cost

▪ HR not pleased with outcome

Plan Design Failures

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▪ Neglected to provide notices

▪ Provided notice but neglected to follow in execution of administration

▪ Lack of monitoring payroll data

▪ Penalty for corrections

Challenges and Pitfalls

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▪ Engaging employer to recognize that this is important aspect in helping individuals save for retirement

▪ Creates a healthy plan

▪ Key design success use stacking auto-enroll, auto-escalate, and plan reset

Best Practices

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▪ What is the default contribution?

▪ What will the default investment be (QDIA)?

▪ Will you default to regular pre-tax or Roth?

▪ How will you handle disclosures?

Considerations

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▪ Multiple avenues and many considerations prior to execution– timing of the desired strategy

– the plan document provisions

– associated notices to employees

– the type of automatic contribution arrangement

– and money-type options allowed in the plan

▪ Key factors in determining the lead-time needed for implementation

Considerations and Conclusions

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Focused Efforts Lead To……Positive Results

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Questions?

2019 ASPPASpring Virtual Conference

Thursday, May 169:00 am to 5:00 pm

Five Sessions Including:Washington Update and Late-Breaking Regulatory Developments

Ask the Experts Panel

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