Headlines about "Ret plans - design"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Guidance Overview] Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 Contains Several Provisions for Military Service Personnel That Affect Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has not yet issued any regulations on most of the HEART Act's provisions, but advisors need to know that each provision has its own qualifications, effective dates and retroactive dates." (Financial Planning)

[Guidance Overview] Trends in Capital Accumulation Plans, August 2008 (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Over the past 15 to 20 years, Capital Accumulation Plans (CAPs) have become popular retirement vehicles for many Canadian employers. Unlike Defined Benefit (DB) pension plans, which provide a particular level of retirement income, CAP sponsors commit only a specified contribution to their employees' retirement plans, which are most often managed by the individual members." (Towers Perrin)

[Opinion] Why 401(k) Retirement Plans Really Don't Work
Excerpt: "The differences between retirement programs and savings programs are very real, extremely fundamental, and politically incomprehensible to legislators--- so long as it's not their money. Retirement programs are income machines designed to support people, not to make them feel wealthy, investment savvy, or temporarily tax-free. Pension plans produce fixed amounts of monthly income that don't change appreciably when dot-coms, real estate, CDOs, or index funds (they're next) self-destruct. You just can't buy dinner or medications with currency futures, gold bars, or appreciated acreage." (American Chronicle)

Boeing Agrees to Keep Pension
Excerpt: "The Boeing Co.'s second contract proposal to the Machinists union does not include its request to close its pension plan to new employees. According to the Everett (Washington) Herald, the company said on Tuesday that it had eliminated three out of four of the issues the Machinists said they would strike over: pension for new employees, retaining Wichita in the bargaining unit, and outsourcing. The company is still attempting to eliminate early retiree medical benefits for Machinists hired after January 1, 2010." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Retiree Question About Leaving the Government's Thrift Savings Plan
Excerpt: "I am a Federal government retiree and 68 years old. I currently have $122,500 in my Thrift Savings Plan. I did not yet roll it into an IRA. What is a good company to roll the TSP into -- Vanguard? T Rowe Price? Fidelity? Which company might have the lowest fees? All three of the companies you mentioned would be solid choices. However, I would probably put in a plug for keeping your money where it is. The government's Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is as close to perfect a plan as you will likely find." (The Boston Globe)

West Virginia DC to DB Migration Could Mean Big Savings for State
Excerpt: "West Virginia lawmakers were informed Monday that the movement of nearly 15,000 teachers and educational workers from a defined contribution plan to a traditional pension plan will shave about $22 million off the state's retirement benefit expenses. A Charleston Gazette news report said the estimate given to lawmakers by state actuary Harry Mandel was radically different from early statements that the DC to DB migration would actually cost the state as much as $78 million . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Employee Benefits Developments, August 2008 Issue
Includes ESOP Dividends -- New Tax Reporting Rules; Mere Posting of SPD on Intranet Does Not Ensure Actual Receipt; Trilogy of IRS Guidance Regarding Health Savings Accounts; Service by Director as Interim CEO Results in Loss of Tax Deduction for Corporation; IRS Proposes Regulations Regarding 'Greater of' DB Plan Formulas; and No FICA Tax Refund On Nonqualified Deferred Comp Plan Benefits Never Received; Kentucky Retirement System Does Not Violate the ADEA. (Hodgson Russ)

Freezes Often Precede DB Plan Terminations, GAO Study Finds
Excerpt: "For participants, while a freeze generally implies a reduction in anticipated future retirement benefits, the study indicated that this reduction may be somewhat offset by increases in replacement savings plans, such as defined contribution (DC) plans. The vast majority of sponsors with frozen plans studied (83 percent) had alternative retirement savings arrangements in place for participants affected by the freeze, it was noted. Of course, the shift to DC plans also means a shift of investment risk and responsibility for saving to employees." (Wolters Kluwer)

Phased Retirement Encouraged by PPA, But Companies Slow to Adopt
Excerpt: "Hewitt recently surveyed more than 140 midsize to large employers and found that only 5 percent have formal phased retirement programs. While not many consider it a major need now, three times as many said it might be valuable in five years as the exodus of boomers from the workplace increases." (Martha Hamilton, published by AARP BulletinToday)

[Guidance Overview] E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Company v. Ampthill Rayon Workers, Inc., August 25, 2008 Unpublished Decision
Excerpt: "Ampthill Rayon Workers represents about a thousand Dupont employees. Dupont changed the terms of a number of its [ERISA] plans and the union asserted that the changes to the plan violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The union demanded arbitration under the CBA. Dupont contends that the union's claims should not be subject to arbitration, but should be resolved 'by utilizing each plan's internal claim procedure or in the alternative, by filing a civil suit in federal court under §501(a)(1)(B) of ERISA.'" (ERISABoard.com)

Mid-Columbia [Oregon/Washington] Fire Board OKs Volunteer 'Retirement' - Volunteers Earn Points for Activities with Fire District
Excerpt: "A Length of Service Awards program -- in essence a retirement plan for volunteer firefighters with Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue District -- was adopted by the board when it met Aug. 18. . . . The volunteers earn points for a variety of activities -- showing up at fires, drills, meetings, special activities, etc. -- to be eligible for the program. They have to earn 160 points to qualify and . . . volunteers with years of service would be vested up to two years of participation in the plan, which will not go into effect until next year." (The Dalles Chronicle)

[Opinion] Baby Boomers Had Better Plan on Working Past Age 65; Procrastination and DC Plan Designs at Fault
Excerpt: "The inconvenient truth that most investors in their 40s and 50s need to hear is that no investment product can make up for decades of little or no saving. That is why baby boomers must stay in the 'accumulation phase' until they have achieved a minimum of 10 times their final salary." (Jane White in Investment News)

Pension Expert Discusses the 'New Retirement'
Excerpt: "As one of America's leading researchers on finance, employee benefit plans and retirement economics, Olivia S. Mitchell was tapped by the National Institute on Aging, or NIA, to collaborate on one of the most comprehensive studies on aging ever undertaken. . . . The result, The Health & Retirement Study, or HRS, is a cooperative effort managed by the NIA and the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. Bankrate.com caught up with Mitchell as she was returning from an international conference for pension fund managers in Lima, Peru." (Yahoo! Inc.)

Orange County, California, Officials Haven't Learned Yet from Troubling Results of Excessive Pension Increases for Government Workers
Excerpt: "[T]he United States is facing massive financial problems caused by the granting of unsustainable pension and medical benefits to government workers and dependents. . . . The Bay Area city of Vallejo has been in the news lately for declaring bankruptcy and perhaps facing a state takeover after city officials gave government unions – especially police and fire unions – CEO-level pay and benefit packages that have consumed more than three-quarters of the city's $80 million general-fund budget and have led to massive shortfalls. . . . So what are local city officials doing in the face of this daunting evidence that pension-spiking is unsustainable? Spiking pensions, of course, and putting their taxpayers at risk of a Vallejo-like scenario." (The Orange County Register)

Filipinos Get New Retirement Plan
Excerpt: "PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday signed into law the Personal Equity and Retirement Account which gives employees in the private and public sector an incentive to save money which they can use when they retire. The scheme encourages savings by granting tax breaks to employees, particularly migrant Filipino workers, on products that will be listed under the Pera system." (Manila Standard Today)

Using a 401(k) Loan for a Down Payment on a Home Loan
Excerpt: "While a 401(k) loan can indeed help provide the down payment on a home, keep in mind that lenders typically treat the money as a form of debt. That could have an impact on your qualifying debt-to-income ratio for the size of the home loan for which you can qualify. The flip side is that using 401(k) money for a down payment could provide the needed equity to avoid paying mortgage insurance. Retirement-fund loans have to be repaid within five years. But there is no set time frame for paying back the loans if they are used to make a down payment on a primary home." (San Jose Mercury News)

Chattanooga Fire and Police Pension Fund Closer to Resolution
Excerpt: "Chattanooga officials and fire and police pension fund personnel on Friday afternoon moved one step closer to approving a plan that would help correct the underfunded pension fund. But the pension fund board must work with the City Council to determine exactly how the improvements will be implemented. Should the council and board agree, the matter would begin the process to become an ordinance, not a referendum in November as some stakeholders feared." (Chattannooga Times Free Press)

[Opinion] A Pension Deficit Disorder - Pension Debts Loom As the Next Financial Crisis
Excerpt: "Pension deficits are not like market crashes (although their severity can obviously be exacerbated by them); rather, their malign evolution is something of a slow-burner. To put it another way, banking and property crises are short term. But an underfunded pensions system is the issue of a lifetime." (The price of everything)

[Opinion] New Jersey Early Retirement Programs for State Workers
Excerpt: "early retirement deals offer up- front savings at the expense of long-term pension costs. The current buyout, for example, was expected to incur $250 million in long-term pension costs if the target number of employees opted for it. That means it would take about three years of salary savings to offset the added pension costs. Adding more debt to the state pension system is like throwing gas onto a raging fire. The state is already about $26.8 billion in the hole for its pension obligations, according to one conservative estimate. And on Wednesday, we learned that the state's debt ballooned by almost $2.2 billion last year to $32.9 billion. Similar buyout deals in 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2002 failed to achieve the savings that had been anticipated." (nj.com)

Can Cities Afford to Keep Paying Pensions?
Excerpt: "While many employees in the private sector sock away part of their incomes into 401(k)s and IRAs for retirement, full-time government employees can bank on a pension that is guaranteed to support them for the rest of their lives. But pensions for public workers are a sore spot for some homeowners, who have to foot part of the pension bill through their property taxes." (Naperville Sun)

[Guidance Overview] Assessing the Implications for Asian Plans of IASB's Preliminary Views on Changes to IAS 19 (PDF)
Excerpt: "This paper describes some of the significant implications of the [International Accounting Standards Board's] thinking for plans typically found in major Asian markets, focusing on two of the themes highlighted in the Discussion Paper -- the definition of contribution-based promises, and the measurement approaches outlined for these promises." (Towers Perrin)

[Official Guidance] Proposed DOL Regs on Investment Advice to Self-Directed Plan Participants by Fiduciaries Receiving Fees (PDF)
29 pages. Excerpt from DOL press release: 'The PPA amended [ERISA] by adding a new prohibited transaction exemption that allows greater flexibility for participants of 401(k) plans and IRAs to obtain investment advice. One of the ways in which investment advice may be given under the exemption is through the use of a computer model certified as unbiased, the other is through an adviser compensated on a 'level-fee' basis. Several other requirements also must be satisfied, including disclosure of fees the adviser is to receive." (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)

[Official Guidance] Proposed DOL Class Exemption for Investment Advice to Self-Directed Plan Participants by Fiduciaries Receiving Fees (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he proposed exemption would permit the provision of investment advice described in section 3(21)(A)(ii) of the Act by a fiduciary adviser to a participant or beneficiary in an individual account plan or individual retirement accounts (and certain similar plans), the acquisition, holding or sale of a security or other property pursuant to the investment advice, and the direct or indirect receipt of fees or other compensation by the fiduciary adviser (or any employee, agent, registered representative or affiliate thereof) in connection with such transactions." (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)

[Official Guidance] ERISA Advisory Council to Meet in D.C. Next Month; Open to Public, Comments Accepted; September 2 Deadline (PDF)
Excerpt: "The focus of the Working Group meeting on September 9 will be on phased retirement, including issues facing employers who wish to create phased retirement plans, as well as the issues facing employees who wish to take part in phased retirement programs, and whether there are any legal impediments that discourage American workers from continuing to work in their retirement years. The focus of the Working Group meeting on September 10 will be on spending down retirement assets, including the issues and barriers facing plan fiduciaries, plan sponsors, and plan participants as they attempt to evaluate approaches that guarantee periodic income levels at retirement. The focus of the Working Group meeting on September 11 will be on hard to value assets and target date funds, including potential risks and the roles of fiduciaries, trustees, investment managers, accountants/auditors and participants when employee benefit plans invest in hard to value assets, a review of regulatory policy involving assets for which there is not a generally recognized market, and challenges and risks associated with plans' use of target date funds." (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)

NAGDCA 2008 Survey of State and Local Government Defined Contribution Plans II
Excerpt: "This report contains two sections. The National Summary provides a narrative overview of the key areas involved in administering governmental 457, 401(k), 401(a), and 403(b) plans. The Overall Survey Results section, provided as a PDF, offers a look at the survey through charts and responses from all participating entities." (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.)

Target Date Funds: Selecting the Right One for Your Plan (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Although the asset arrangements and allocations of target date funds vary, they include a broad range of alternatives which are designed to achieve a desired risk/return profile for the fund's investors over a relatively 'long time horizon,' attempting to provide a diversified investment structure similar to a traditional DB plan. [This paper offers observations on evaluating the funds.]" (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.)

Retirement Research Consortium Conference, Determinants of Retirement Security
The 10th annual conference of the Retirement Research Consortium (RRC), Determinants of Retirement Security, was held August 7-8, 2008, in Washington, DC. The target page includes links to the papers and presentations that are currently available. (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Next Generation of 401(k)s Shows Automatic Enrollment and Step-Up Provisions Doubling Among Employers
Excerpt: "Employers are taking decisive actions to make 401(k) plan participation as easy as possible for employees, according to the 2008 401(k) Benchmarking survey, conducted by Deloitte, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and ISCEBS." (International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists)

The Issue of Debit Cards Attached to 401(k) Loans
Excerpt: "Recently, the SEC issued a bulletin warning consumers that such 401(k) 'debit' cards were, in fact, credit cards against funds that must be repaid. If borrowers fail to repay the loan within five years, or if they miss three consecutive months of payments, that loan will be treated as a 401(k) distribution, and taxes will be assessed on the balance. If the borrower is under 59 and one-half years old, they'll also get slapped with a 10-percent penalty for early withdrawal." (Human Resource Executive Online)

IRS Rules That Wall Street Cannot Buy Your Company's Pension Plan - at This Time
Excerpt: "The proposal has its advocates and its detractors. The fact that the idea has arisen now certainly reflects the desperate situation in which many defined benefit pension plans find themselves in light of the recent bear market, which has exacerbated an already troubled funding situation. One has to wonder, however, whether the timing of such a proposal is propitious, in light of the current instability of financial institutions and the ongoing credit crisis. Furthermore, a Democratically controlled Congress presumably would be reluctant to adopt such a measure, particularly in view of the strenuous opposition that has been voiced by the AFL-CIO and AARP, among others." (Tax Management Inc.)

[Guidance Overview] An Insurance Company, an Agent, and ERISA Preemption
Excerpt: "[The defendants] recommended that the [plaintiff Maria Miara and her husband Richard] purchase a Defined Benefits Plan ('DBP'), and represented to the plaintiff that under the DBP the 'Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ('PBGC') guaranteed 100% spousal benefits in the event that anything was to happen to either [Miara or her] husband.' . . . 'In a letter dated June 12, 2002 and addressed to the estate of Richard A. Miara, the PBGC informed Miara, in her role as executrix of her late husband's estate, that under the remnants of the DBP, she was entitled to a monthly payment of $531.76 for the remainder of her life [rather than the earlier-quoted amount of $2,664.35]." (Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly)

Workers Swearing Off 401(k) Loans, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Credit crunched consumers aren't raiding their employer-sponsored nest eggs any more than usual, with the percentage of workers with outstanding 401(k) loans increasing by less than 1% so far this year, according to data provided to Financial Week by Hewitt Associates. Specifically, the benefits consulting firm estimates that about 22% of workers are now borrowing from their 401(k) plans." (Financial Week; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Feuer on a Curious ERISA Case Before the Supreme Court
Excerpt: "Friend of the blog and prominent ERISA practitioner, Albert Feuer, has penned an indispensable commentary for anyone who is following the ERISA Supreme Court case of Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for Dupont Savings and Invest Plan. Kennedy is set to be argued in front of the Supreme Court this October." (Workplace Prof Blog)

3 Reasons Pensions Need Less Funding per Worker Than 401(k)s
Excerpt: "401(k) plans save employers money because workers fund a portion of them. But a new analysis says 401(k)'s are an inefficient way to finance a secure retirement. The nonprofit National Institute on Retirement Security calculated that a 62-year-old with a final salary of $50,000 would need to have $550,000 in a 401(k) to have an adequate retirement income, determined by the authors to be $26,684 a year. To achieve the same income, a traditional pension would need to have only $355,000 set aside for that worker, nearly $200,000 less." (U.S. News & World Report)

IRS Releases Anticipated Update and Expansion of Its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS)
Excerpt: "The IRS has released the anticipated update and expansion of its system of voluntary correction programs for retirement plans, known as the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). The system includes three levels of correction programs -- a Self-Correction Program (SCP), the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), and the Audit Closing Agreement Program (Audit CAP). The updated EPCRS revenue procedure generally will be effective January 1, 2009; however, plan sponsors will be permitted to apply the provisions of the updated revenue procedure beginning September 2, 2008." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

Do Workers Gain by Sharing? Employee Outcomes under Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options
Excerpt: "We find that greater involvement in the programs is generally linked to greater participation in decisions, higher quality supervision and treatment of employees, more training, higher pay and benefits, greater job security, and higher job satisfaction. We also find positive interactions of shared capitalism with high-performance policies in predicting participation in decisions and overall job satisfaction, and negative interactions of shared capitalism with close supervision in affecting almost all of the outcomes. Overall the results support the idea that workers can gain by sharing, but whether this happens is contingent on other workplace policies." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

[Guidance Overview] IRS's Retirement News for Employers, Summer 2008 (PDF)
13 pages. This edition includes articles titled: New Resource Helps Keep Your SEP Plan Compliant; Desk Side Chat with Monika Templeman - Responsibilities to Employees; Form 5307 Has Been Revised; SARSEP Plans Examination Trends; Have a HEART for Our Heroes; Things to Remember - 2007 Forms 5500/5500-EZ; ERPA Contract Awarded - Testing to Begin January 2009; Recent Guidance; Fixing Common Plans Mistakes: Participant Loans in 401(k) Plans. (Internal Revenue Service)

What Small Business Owners Need to Know About 401(k)s
Excerpt: "An October survey by ING DIRECT's ShareBuilder401k, which designs 401(k) plans for small businesses, found that 'not enough employees' was the top reason cited by small-business owners as to why they do not have a 401(k) plan. That's despite the fact that even sole proprietorships with no other employees can have 401(k)s." (U.S. News & World Report)

[Guidance Overview] Current Initiatives by IRS to Assist Small Employers that Adopt Pre-Approved Qualified Retirement Plan Documents
Excerpt: "The IRS has taken this matter very seriously, and is currently contacting many of the banks and financial institutions that sponsor M&P plans. One of the Employee Plans Compliance Unit's (EPCU) featured projects generates a compliance contact letter that asks the targeted M&P sponsors to provide information on how they are meeting their requirements and responsibilities." (Tax Management Inc.)

Career Status Bonus/Redux a Bad Deal for Military Servicemembers
Excerpt: "While the bonus has been frozen at $30,000 since it was introduced in 2001, individuals who take it today forfeit, on average, nearly $100,000 more in lifetime retired pay than bonus takers did seven years ago . . . ." (Stars and Stripes)

Private Pensions: GAO Survey of 401(k) Plan Sponsor Practices, an E-Supplement to Report
Excerpt: "To learn more about how sponsors select plan features and oversee plan operations, [GAO] conducted a Web-based survey of sponsors in coordination with Plansponsor Magazine (Plansponsor). This e-supplement presents results from our survey and includes a summary of respondent views on proposed legislative changes to 401(k) requirements." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

Private Pensions: Fulfilling Fiduciary Obligations Can Present Challenges for 401(k) Plan Sponsors (PDF)
45 pages. Excerpt: "GAO examined: (1) common 401(k) plan features, which typically have important fiduciary implications, and factors affecting these decisions; (2) challenges sponsors face in fulfilling their fiduciary obligations when overseeing plan operations; and (3) actions Labor takes to ensure that sponsors fulfill their fiduciary obligations, and the progress Labor has made on its regulatory initiatives." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

[Guidance Overview] HEART Act Provides Additional Private Pension Benefits to Members of the Military (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "[The target document includes a chart which] summarizes the pension provisions of the HEART Act and identifies affected plans and applicable effective dates." (Prudential Retirement)

Indiana Taxpayers Contribute Millions to Lawmakers' Generous Pension Plan
Excerpt: "[U]nder the lawmakers' plan, taxpayers hand out a $4 match for every $1 lawmakers invest in their accounts. Year after year, the state contributes an amount equal to 20 percent of a legislator's salary, including hefty per diem payments in many cases." (IndyStar.com)

Texas State Lawmaker Proposes Teacher Pay Be Tied to Legislative Benefits
Excerpt: "A state lawmaker says he has a plan that would raise the pay of Texas classroom teachers to the national average. Kelly Fero, chief strategist for State Representative Hubert Vo of Houston, says the plan proposed by Vo would change the way legislative retirement benefits are calculated, 'and link those benefit calculations to the average pay of Texas classroom teachers.'" (Emmis Austin Radio Broadcasting Company, Lp)

A Better Bang for the Buck: The Economic Efficiencies of Defined Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "[S]ome have proposed replacing traditional defined benefit (DB) pensions with 401(k)-type defined contribution (DC) retirement savings plans in an effort to save money. But decision-makers would be wise to look before they leap. To deliver the same level of retirement benefits, a DB plan can do the job at almost half the cost of a DC plan. [At the target page, you can download the full report in PDF, the Report Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions, and a PowerPoint presentation.]" (National Institute on Retirement Security)

H.R. 6500, The Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "On July 16, 2008, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved H.R. 6500, the Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008, by voice vote. [This report describes the legislation.]" (U.S. Congressional Research Service)

[Guidance Overview] 403(b) Retirement Plan Will Get a 401(k)-Like Makeover
Excerpt: "Q: What are the 'major' changes going into effect Jan. 1 on the 403(b) program that the IRS and U.S. Labor Department are implementing? A: On July 23, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service finalized new regulations for 403(b) retirement plans -- savings plans for tax-exempt workplaces -- to make them look more like their cousins, 401(k) retirement plans sponsored by private-sector companies." (Houston Chronicle)

[Guidance Overview] Another Question is Answered in the 401(k) Plans Q&A Column
What is a "traditional IRA"? (BenefitsLink.com)

[Guidance Overview] Roth 401(k): A Tool for a Broad Spectrum of Employees (PDF)
Pages 1-4 of 8 pages. Excerpt: "Many more organizations are considering adding Roth accounts to their 401(k) plans now that the rules that govern them have become permanent . . . . Doing so could provide valuable tax benefits for many employees, including expanded income deferral opportunities for those whose contributions are limited by 401(k) plan deferral limits . . . . It may also benefit employees who think their tax brackets will be higher when they retire than they are currently." (Aon Consulting)

[Opinion] Massachusetts Governor Casts a Prudent Veto on Pension Hike
Excerpt: "The pension hike approved by the Legislature would have changed the base amount used to calculate annual cost-of-living increases, and that would have cost the state an estimated $3 billion over the next 20 years. That's simply unaffordable in today's economic climate, no matter how much one might wish to support retirees and former teachers and state workers." (The Republican)

Storm Clouds Ahead for 401(k) Plans? (PDF)
10 pages. The paper is an overview of recent issues concerning 401(k) plans highlighting 'A Progress Report on Automatic 401(k) Plan Features' and 'The Threat from LaRue." (Urban Institute)

A Public Employer's Ability to Modify Retiree Benefits
Excerpt: "Three trends pushing public-sector employers to reduce retirement costs are: (1) new accounting rules requiring employers to show on their books how much promises to retirees will cost; (2) the spiraling cost of providing medical benefits to retirees; and (3) the increasing longevity of retirees." (Jones Day)

Update on the IRS Governmental Plans Initiative
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is preparing to survey a small group of randomly-selected governmental plans as part of its new 'compliance' initiative, to then be followed by a much larger survey effort. NCTR has registered its strong objections to both the scope and methodology of this questionnaire/survey effort, and Congressional concern has been expressed to the IRS as well. The IRS initiative coincides with a push to encourage public plans to seek determination letters." (National Council on Teacher Retirement)

Verizon Contract Includes Health Care, Pension Reform
Excerpt: "A new tentative three-year union contract with Verizon will continue providing health care for both active and retired workers and increase wages and pensions for 65,000 workers." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Public Sector Eyes DC Plans to Offset Benefit Costs
Excerpt: "Taking a page from the private sector's playbook, more state and local jurisdictions may start to call for their workers to take on more responsibility for financing their own retirement through defined contribution plans. Total assets in DC plans for public sector employers increased almost 10% over 2006, Bob Wuelfing, president of RG Wuelfing & Associates and the SPARK Institute, told attendees at the group's 2008 conference in June." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Anheuser-Busch Releases Details of Enhanced Retirement Program to Be Offered to Certain Employees
Excerpt: "The nation's largest brewer announced this summer that it would offer early retirement to salaried employees in the third quarter. Of the 8,600 employees eligible for the program, including 1,300 who are 55 and older, the company expects 10 percent to 15 percent will accept the plan. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the maker of Bud Light and Budweiser said it is boosting its retirement plan options for salaried employees who will be at least 55 by the end of the year." (AP via Google)

Government Workers Have Greater Access to Benefits, DOL Data Show
Excerpt: "According to the [Bureau of Labor Statistics] release, access to and participation in retirement and medical care benefits were greater in government employment than in private industry." (PLANSPONSOR.com)

For One San Diego School Chief, An E-mail Asking for Delay in Employment Termination Seemingly Saved a Pension
Excerpt: "When Peter Iverson's job was sliced from the payroll at San Diego Unified, he didn't tote a sign to save his livelihood, as did the hundreds of employees who staged protests and press conferences outside the school board . . . as the school district grappled with budget cuts and its new superintendent reorganized its upper ranks. Instead, Iverson wrote a short e-mail to the school board, the superintendent and top school district officials. He had only one request: to stay employed another six months so that he would qualify for a public pension." (Voice of San Diego)

Public Entities Generally Keep Traditional Pension Plans
Excerpt: "While public entities may continue to fine-tune elements of their defined benefit pension plans to make them less costly, it is unlikely that they will soon adopt the defined contribution approach as the private sector did when its defined benefit plans became too expensive, experts say. In fact, no state has created a broad-based defined contribution plan since Alaska did so in 2005 . . . . Michigan is the only other state to offer a defined contribution plan as its primary retirement vehicle, which has been in place since 1999." (Business Insurance)

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