To EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com To BenefitsLink home page

BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter

February 28, 2012 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Sr. Retirement Plan Administrator
for First Savings Retirement Services in PA

Sr. 401(k)/DC Plan Admin Specialist
for CUNA Mutual Group in WI

Pension Plan Lead Administrator
for PBGH , LLP in DC, VA

Recordkeeping Administration, Development & Technical Support
for Educators Financial Services in MN

Daily Valuation Recordkeeper
for Northwestern Bank in MI

Plan Administrator
for EJReynolds, Inc. in FL

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

RSS feed for jobs RSS Feed: All Jobs


Webcasts and Conferences

"Church Plans: How Much Flexibility Do They Have?" Web Seminar
in Alabama on March 22, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

Benefits & Total Remuneration - Public Sector
in Texas on March 6, 2012 presented by Hay Group

Preparing the Summary of Benefits and Coverage for Open Enrollment Webinar
Nationwide on March 14, 2012 presented by Warner Norcross & Judd LLP

US Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council to Hold Public Meeting
in District of Columbia on March 13, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Webinar: Final 408(b)(2) Rules - Unexpected and Under-covered Issues
Nationwide on March 14, 2012 presented by The SPARK Institute


We also publish the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter (free): Subscribe

[Guidance Overview]
Terminated Employee's Claim Failed because He Did Not Show that Employer Interfered with His Retirement Benefits
"The court further explained that ERISA only protects employees from interference with rights attained under a plan. Therefore, to the extent that the employee complained that the employer did not make a special exception for him by adjusting the points, he failed to carry his burden. ERISA does not require a company to alter its retirement plan for a particular employee to help the employee to otherwise qualify." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)


The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT is Bigger and Better in New Orleans!   [Advert.]

Sponsored by ASPPA

Come to the Big Easy for the unparalleled 401(k) SUMMIT. Join over 1,500 attendees including Broker Dealer Registered Reps, Registered Investment Advisors, Plan Administrators (TPAs) and Product and Service Professionals. Register now and save!


[Guidance Overview]
IRS Proposed Regs and New Guidance Regarding Lifetime Income Payments under Retirement Plans (PDF)
"In determining the maximum amount that can be applied to purchase the longevity annuity, all amounts previously applied to purchase such annuities would be counted toward the current limit. In addition, employers generally will be permitted to rely on an employee's representation regarding premiums paid under plans of other employers and IRAs (other than Roth IRAs) toward the $100,000 cap." (Buck Consultants)

Workers Would Trade Pay for Retirement Security
"Nearly half (44%) of U.S. workers are worried about reductions in their retirement benefits over the next two years, according to a survey by Towers Watson. In addition, 55% of respondents said they are willing to pay a higher amount from each paycheck to ensure they have a guaranteed retirement." (PLANADVISER.com)

How Much Does Retirement Really Cost?
"A new report from the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute looks at the interaction of income, expenses and savings in retirement. Using survey data from 5,000 retired households from 2000 to 2009, the report details how different socioeconomic groups of older Americans are faring in retirement." (Employee Benefit News)

Seven Ways to Beat the Retirement Draw-Down Blues
"Saving for retirement is something most Americans know they have to do, but many people are confused, scared and literally frozen when it comes to flipping the switch from saving to withdrawing. [Schwab] data shows that people even just a year or two away from retirement don't know how to tap their savings effectively once they transition to retirement." (The Street)

PBGC Doubts Need of American Airlines Parent to Terminate Defined Benefit Plans
"Since AMR's bankrup.tcy, [the PBGC Director] has repeatedly and publicly challenged the airline to justify why it needs to ditch its pension plans. 'There are reasons why we think this ought to be doable (without terminating pensions),' Gotbaum said." (Chicago Tribune)

Social Security Programs Throughout the World: The Americas, 2011
"The information [allows researchers] to review different ways of approaching social security challenges that will enable [adaptation of] social security systems to the evolving needs of individuals, households, and families. These efforts are particularly important as each nation faces major demographic changes, especially the increasing number of aged persons, as well as economic and fiscal issues." (Social Security Administration)

To Pay New York Pension Fund, Cities Borrow From It First
"[C]ities throughout the state, wealthy towns such as Southampton and East Hampton, counties like Nassau and Suffolk, and other public employers like the Westchester Medical Center and the New York Public Library are all managing their rising pension bills by borrowing from the very same $140 bil.lion pension fund to which they owe money." (The New York Times; free registration required)

The 4 Critical Elements of a Successful 401(k) Plan Education Program
"Being able to speak to different styles and values in one program represents the greatest impediment to success for any 401(k) plan education program. While education might best be left to professional teachers, 401(k) plan sponsors might not find that a viable option. The four key elements presented here offer a few simple steps every plan sponsor can easily afford to take." (Fiduciary News)

Cuomo Urges Mayors to Take New York Pension Overhaul Fight Home
"Governor Andrew Cuomo urged the state's mayors to rally their communities in support of his proposal to raise the retirement age for new workers and offer a 401(k)-type alternative to government pensions." (Bloomberg)

Retirement Plans: What to Look For in 2012
Analysis of the continued effect of low interest rates and market volatility on funding of defined benefit plans, and of cost and effect of new fee disclosure requirements that will become effective for defined contribution plans. (Milliman)

2012's Top 12 Advocacy Issues for Financial Executives
Priorities include: Alleviate uncertainty in the U.S. Tax Code for private companies.; enact corporate tax reform that lowers the statutory corporate income tax rate; achieve pension funding stabilization and avoid significant PBGC premium increases; and preserve tax treatment of employer-provided retirement plans. (Financial Executives International)

Do Financial Planners Advise Us to Save Too Much for Retirement? (PDF)
"There is abundant advice about how much to save, much of which urges individuals to aim to replace 80 percent of their preretirement pretax income. However, those who wait to save for retirement and follow this rule of thumb would save far too much of their gross income, and many would see their annual resources spike upward when they retire." (Urban Institute)

Here's What's Happening with Normal Retirement Age Regs
"As things currently stand, in just over 10 months, governmental pension plans will be required to comply with regulations issued in final form by the [IRS] in 2007 dealing with distributions from a pension plan upon attainment of normal retirement age. The IRS and Treasury have stated for the last several years that they would address serious public plan concerns with these regulations as they relate to the use of service as a component in determining the earliest age or date when a participant can retire with an unreduced benefit." (National Council on Teacher Retirement)

IRS Free Phone Forum on EP Determination Letter Program Update Scheduled for March 30, 2012
"Important changes to the Employee Plans determination letter will be discussed by [the] Area Manager in the IRS Employee Plans determination letter program. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions in advance to ep.phoneforum@irs.gov on or before March 16, 2012." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

IRS Interim Report on 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire
"Because 401(k) plans represent the 'fastest growing' type of retirement plan, they have become a key focus of the IRS's retirement plan compliance efforts. The questionnaire was designed to help the IRS measure the overall compliance levels of 401(k) plans and determine how best to allocate resources to foster greater compliance. [O]ne of the results of the questionnaire would appear to be the IRS's increased focus on pre-approved plan sponsors ... and providers[.]" (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Updated PBGC 2010 Pension Insurance Data Tables Now Available Online
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has released in electronic form its 2010 pension insurance data tables, the core of the PBGC Pension Insurance Data Book. The data tables provide researchers, journalists and others interested in the federal pension insurance program easily accessible, detailed statistics for the single-employer and multiemployer plans that PBGC insures. The tables are available both as a PDF and in an Excel format that allows users to examine and sort the data. (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Opinion]
New York Governor's Pension Proposal Looks Good
"The governor estimates that over the next 30 years, the pension fix, which has the support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and many other mayors, could save $30 bil.lion for New York City and $83 bil.lion for other state and local workers. Despite predictably strong opposition from unions and some of Mr. Cuomo's fellow Democrats, it is a generally sound approach." (The New York Times; free registration required)

[Opinion]
California Bill Gives K-14 Educators a Second Chance at 403(b) Reform
"On February 23, 2012, [an assemblyman] introduced [a bill] that would permit competitive bidding in K-14 California 403(b) plans. The bill would 'authorize a school district, a county office of education, or a charter school to select 4 or more vendors[.]'" (403bwise)

[Opinion]
Response to DOL Definition of Fiduciary IRA Data Request (PDF)
"The data request suggests that the Department could draw conclusions — sufficiently reliable to base an enormously consequential regulation like the ERISA fiduciary definition — about the 'impact, if any, of conflicts of interests faced by brokers or other[s] who advise IRAs ... on IRA investors' from investment returns or trading histories in IRA accounts, analyzed against a (unavoidably, select and less than comprehensive) range of variables. [FSI] respectfully [disagrees.]" (Financial Services Institute)

[Opinion]
At the Intersection of Insurance and Plan Fiduciaries
"In ... Federal Insurance Company v. IBM, the Court [of Appeals of New York] denied insurance coverage for IBM under an excess fiduciary liability (apparently) policy, for a settlement by IBM of a claim that amendments to benefit plans in the 1990s violated ERISA. The Court ... found that the claim did not invoke IBM's status as a fiduciary under ERISA, essentially because it involved settlor, rather than fiduciary, functions ... [and concluded] that policy language that applied to claims against a fiduciary involving ERISA meant claims where the insured qualified as a fiduciary under that statute, and did not, contrary to IBM's arguments, involve any broader meaning of the word fiduciary." (Boston ERISA & Insurance Litigation Blog)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Under New U.S. FATCA Rules, Some U.S. Employees Need to Report the Value of Non-U.S. Equity Compensation, Deferred Compensation and Pension Benefits on 2011 U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns
"Temporary regulations issued in December 2011 under Section 6038D require 'specified individuals' annually to file a statement with their income tax returns to report interests in 'specified foreign financial assets' on IRS Form 8938 if the aggregate value of those assets exceeds certain thresholds for a year." (Baker & McKenzie)

Maryland Governor to Sign Same-S.ex Marriage into Law on Thursday
"The legislation [makes] Maryland the eighth state in the nation to legalize g.ay and les.bian nuptials ... Opponents of same-s.ex marriage in Maryland were working to get a referendum seeking to repeal the law on the ballot in November." (Provda Law Firm)

Press Releases



BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
Phone (407) 644-4146
Fax (407) 644-2151

Jeanette Hull, News Editor
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Lois Baker, J.D., President
Holly Horton, Business Manager

Copyright © 2012 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

Links to Web sites other than those owned by BenefitsLink.com, Inc. are offered as a service to readers. The editorial staff of BenefitsLink.com, Inc. was not involved in their production and is not responsible for their content.

More useful links: