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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Allows Pension Annuity Purchases with Rollovers from Sponsor's DC Plan
"IRS's Revenue Ruling 2012-4 provides retirement plan sponsors guidance that permits their qualified defined benefit (DB) plan the ability to accept a direct rollover from their qualified defined contribution plan (DC), allowing participants to purchase an annuity that is incremental to the amount the DB plan would ordinarily provide."
(Milliman)
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[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Offers Temporary Relief for Premium Nonpayment
"If required PBGC premiums were never paid for a plan, it is also possible that annual Form 5500s were not filed for that plan. If so, the administrator should take advantage of the Department of Labor's Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program to file all required past-year Form 5500s."
(McGuireWoods)
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[Guidance Overview]
DOL's Final Service Provider Fee Disclosure Regulations (PDF)
"[Responsible Plan Fiduciaries] should consult the DOL's website regarding fee disclosure failure notices. The DOL is currently developing the online filing system for such notices and provides that the system will available before the date needed to comply with the exemption."
(Buck Consultants)
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Good Pension Governance: There Is a Return on Investment (PDF)
"This article discusses what good pension governance is and how it can be measured to quantify a return on investment (ROI). It also shows how to determine what differentiates effective governance from mediocre governance. Finally, it discusses the benefits of good pension governance and concludes with an example of a company that went wrong — to show that the costs of inadequate governance can be considerable."
(Buck Consultants)
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Public Pension Plan Investment Returns (PDF)
"For fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, state and local government retirement systems had a median investment return of 21.6 percent. With a slow economic recovery and ongoing global market volatility, it is important to keep in mind that a long-term focus is an overarching factor in public pension investment strategies and projections. This issue brief discusses how investment return assumptions are established and evaluated and compares these assumptions with public funds' actual investment experience."
(National Association of State Retirement Administrators)
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Assessing Reasonableness of 403(b) Fees (PDF)
"In an environment of change, adopting best practices for a disciplined and prudent process can help your organization evaluate fee reasonableness and provide a practical defense against fiduciary liability. Whether you have a 403(b) or a 401(a) plan, this process should include identifying the individual(s) at your organization responsible for evaluating plan fees and service quality."
(TIAA-CREF)
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Bank of America to Freeze DB Plans
"All eligible U.S. employees will move to a single 401(k) plan while retaining all the pension plan benefits earned up to June 30, the spokesman said."
(Business Insurance)
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Seven 401(k) Strategies for 2012
"Some strategies for maximizing the performance of 401(k) plans, spurring greater participation levels, and achieving regulatory compliance are boilerplate at this point for many plan sponsors. But they should consider some other, specific measures in response to recent events and trends in the defined-contribution-plan space[.]"
(CFO)
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Upcoming IRS Phone Forum: Indian Tribal Government Retirement Plans, April 24, 2012
"This forum will address possible standards for determining whether a plan of an Indian Tribal Government is a governmental plan within the meaning of section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. The standards under consideration are described in Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking REG-133223-08."
(U.S. Internal Revenue Service)
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Maine Restrictions on 'Double Dipping' May Be Revamped
"[A state senator] is sponsoring a new bill meant to limit the restrictions to superintendents and principals, not classroom teachers and state workers.... Those limits sought to reduce the number of double dippers, estimated to be in the hundreds, who some say retire on a Friday and return to work the following Monday newly eligible to collect both their retirement checks and a paycheck."
(Kennebec Journal)
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Spending Adjustments Made by Older Americans to Save Money (PDF)
At page 7. "Using old-age consumption data to calculate required retirement income is better than calculating ad hoc income replacement rates. However, one problem with relying on consumption data for such a study is that falling consumption may be involuntary, reflecting an inability to spend due to lack of funds rather than optimal spending behavior."
(Employee Benefit Research Institute)
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For Many Elderly, Little Left in Savings and Investments As Life Ends
"[A] frightening share of the elderly seems to run out of money, and plausible explanations run the gamut. They may have started with few financial assets as they entered retirement, a well-documented problem. Inadequate retirement income from employer pensions or Social Security is another reason to deplete assets rapidly. And a mere $10,000 in the bank at the end of one's life provides no clues as to how many corners were cut during years, even decades, of retirement."
(Financial Security Project at Boston College)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Notice of 160th Meeting of Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (PDF)
"The meeting will [be held on March 13, 2012, in Washington, DC]. The purpose of the open meeting ... is to welcome the new members, introduce the Council Chair and Vice Chair, receive an update from the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and determine the topics to be addressed by the Council in 2012."
(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
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Use of Electronic Distribution of SPDs Continues to Grow
"Employers are realizing that not only does electronic distribution of Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) save money; it results in faster distribution of SPDs that better reflect current plan provisions than materials distributed as printed hard copies."
(HighRoads)
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Tax Relief and Health Care Acts Shape 2011 Returns
"Although most of its major provisions will take effect in subsequent years, the health care reform legislation passed in 2010 contained some provisions that were effective in 2011."
(Journal of Accountancy)
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Press Releases
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