Media Mentions
2011
“401(k)s: Watch Out for Speed Bumps”
CFO.com, November 15, 2011
Joseph Adams advised that fast-growing companies can avoid discrimination problems with 401(k) plans that are over-weighted in key executive contributions, saying, ““You can basically buy your way out of the discrimination tests by setting up matching safe harbors.” Mr. Adams noted that options to do this and achieve safe-harbor status include employers committing to match at least 3% of employees’ contributions, vesting the contributions faster, and in some cases automatically enrolling employees in the plan.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
“Tweaking ‘Target” Lineups”
The Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2011
Joseph Adams noted that companies are increasingly skeptical of standardized target-date mutual funds as 401(k) investment choices because “plan sponsors recognize that simply taking an ‘off the shelf’ solution may not be the best choice” for employees. Mr. Adams added that “a lot of people are looking … more seriously” at customized funds instead, because “if you do more of the work, you get the savings. But,” he concluded, “it has to be done … properly.”
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
“For Gay Employees, an Equalizer”
New York Times, May 20, 2011
Joseph Adams estimated that it would cost an employer about $2,000 to $2,500 to increase (“gross up’) the pay of an employee to cover the extra federal taxes of $1,200 to $1,500 on the health benefits of a same sex partner. Although the numbers will vary depending on such factors as the employee’s tax bracket and state of residence, Mr. Adams assumed a 25% federal tax rate and additional state, local, and employment taxes that make a total rate of about 40%.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
“A Progress Report on Gay Employee Health Benefits”
New York Times, updated March 1, 2011
Joseph Adams estimated that it could cost an employer about $2,000 to $2,500 to reimburse — or “gross up” – an employee who incurred extra federal taxes of $1,200 to $1,500 on the health benefits of a same-sex domestic partner. This assumes a 25 percent federal tax bracket and additional state, local and employment taxes that could bring the rate total to 40 percent, although the actual figure will vary by income and state of residence.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
2010
“A Progress Report on Gay Employee Health Benefits”
New York Times, December 14, 2010
Joseph Adams estimated that it could cost an employer about $2,000 to $2,500 to reimburse — or “gross up” – an employee who incurred extra federal taxes of $1,200 to $1,500 on the health benefits of a same-sex domestic partner. This assumes a 25 percent federal tax bracket and additional state, local and employment taxes that could bring the rate total to 40 percent, although the actual figure will vary by income and state of residence.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
“Roth Conversions in 401(k)s for Real in 2010”
Forbes.com, December 9, 2010
Joseph Adams warned that, although a new law allows employees to convert a traditional 401(k) to a Roth 401(k) late in 2010, such a move should be made carefully because company stock could get better tax treatment under net unrealized appreciation rules in traditional plans. He added that although many big employers felt it was too late to offer the conversion option this year, many more are expected to do so in 2011.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
Joseph Adams was quoted by CFO on August 31 about companies’ use of retention bonuses to keep chief financial officers from leaving for stated future periods. Such payments “have been around forever and I don’t think they’re viewed as overly excessive, particularly since they’re not a flow of cash out the door,” Mr. Adams said. He added, however that “the fact that someone has taken [a retention bonus] doesn’t mean they are staying. [It] may actually just increase someone else’s cost to buy out the executive.”
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation
2009
Joseph Adams commented on November 16 for BNA Tax Management Weekly Report regarding two documents that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has developed to help its agents examine nonqualified plans subject to Tax Code Section 409A, including guidelines to help develop information document requests (IDRs) for cases with potential Section 409A issues during the years 2006-2008. Likening the IDRs to “an information gathering process” to identify areas of noncompliance, Mr. Adams said the IRS is possibly following the same audit development initiatives used to gauge compliance with other Code sections, namely to identify issues and common violations and to train field agents. He added his hope that the IRS audits will focus on “big ticket issues” and not “esoteric issues that minds differ” over concerning interpretation.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
2008
Joe Adams was quoted in the February 2008 issue of CFO Magazine about how companies can help retiring employees transition from savers to consumers. Despite the improvements, annuities aren't without both downside and risk. Risks include the possibility of inflation topping 4 or 5 percent or, said Mr. Adams, "if the provider goes under."
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
2006
Joe Adams was quoted in the April 2006 issue of FA Magazine about how the two varieties of restricted securities are flowering, aiding executives, business owners–and now investors. The latest twist in the genre is restricted stock units. They are rights to own the employer's stock (tracked as bookkeeping entries) rather than actual stock. A primary difference: The Section 83(b) election is not available for RSUs, said Mr. Adams.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
2005
Joseph Adams was quoted on October 5 on Forbes.com on the proposed regulations released by the U.S. Treasury Department giving companies an additional year to comply with a new law restricting many types of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements for top executives. Mr. Adams noted that notwithstanding the one year extension, certain executives may still wish to take action before the end of 2005.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, Labor & Employment, Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation
Joseph Adams was quoted by Bloomberg on September 29 regarding new proposed regulations released by the U.S. Treasury Department giving companies an additional year to comply with a new law restricting many types of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements for top executives.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation
Joseph Adams was quoted in the June 2005 issue of PlanSponsors in an article regarding how plan sponsors increasingly view the practice of offering investment advice to retirement plan participants as a manageable risk. "There's a clear reason to offer advice—almost everyone needs it," he observes, "But the reasons not to do it are: Are we capable of selecting the people to provide the advice? How are we going to monitor them? Will people really use it—regularly? Is there a risk of prohibited transactions? There's still a significant portion of the employer base that says, 'Well, we can articulate more clearly what might go wrong if we offer investment advice than if we don’t, so we’re not going to do it.'"
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
Joe Adams was quoted in the February 28 issue of Investment News in regard to life insurance agents asking the IRS to make it clear that separate life insurance contracts used in 403(b) tax-sheltered annuities are allowed to provide incidental death benefits. "The insurance companies are saying these are just individual contracts," said Mr. Adams. He continued by commenting that requiring the plans to have formal documents with employers switches the balance of power.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
2004
Joe Adams was quoted by Forbes.com on September 22 in regard to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that details conflicts of interest that can arise when a company's pension plans casts proxy votes for company stock held in the plan and recommends certain new measures designed to curb such conflicts. Although Joe indicated that the GAO recommendations are unlikely to be implemented anytime soon, Mr. Adams recommended that companies think about the report as part of a much larger debate about the risks associated with holding company stock held in pension plans. "Companies should be thinking about how to manage fiduciary risk, so the company's officers and directors don't get dragged into an ERISA lawsuit every time the company stock hiccups," Mr. Adams said.
Joseph S. Adams, Employee Benefits
Joe Adams and Todd Solomon were referenced in a February 26 article on Kiplinger.com which described the employee benefits challenges of responding to same gender marriages and civil unions. The book they coauthored ( Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer's Guide )was referred to as "a guidebook widely used by employees."
