| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
April 6, 2006
Today's sponsor: ASPPA • Working for America's Retirement™
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| DOL Speaks: The 2006 Employee Benefit Conference |
| This is the conference for Title I ERISA issues. DOL Speaks is co-sponsored by The Department of Labor/EBSA and ASPPA. Discuss employee benefits issues with colleagues. Interact with local, regional and national government employees from the Department of Labor. Register Today! |
| (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) |
Companies Fight to Preserve Conflict of Interest Provision in Legislation
Excerpt: "Financial services companies are fighting to keep a provision in the US House pension reform measure passed last year dealing with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) rules on conflicts of interest." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Sponsors Need to Plug the Plusses of Defined Benefit Pension Plans
Excerpt: "It is definitely not the best of times for defined benefit pension plans, and plan sponsors and participants know it. But for those plans that remain intact and solvent, some experts are saying it is high time to promote their value to workers." (Employee Benefit News)
U.S. Pension Reform Draft Legislation Won't Be Ready This Week, According to Thomas
Excerpt: "Congressional negotiators are making progress on a bill to rewrite U.S. pension laws but will not finish before spring break, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas said on Wednesday." (Reuters via The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Designing 401(k) Plans that Encourage Retirement Savings: Lessons from Behavioral Finance (PDF)
19 pages. Excerpt: "A weakness of the voluntary pension system is that many individuals make poor choices. In this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Brief, John Turner explains how behavioral finance theorists have used their insight into worker inertia and procrastination to propose solutions that preserve employee choice while achieving better long-run outcomes for many workers." (AARP)
Opinion: Pension Reform -- We'd Pay More, Not Less
Excerpt: "Recent media reports have inaccurately suggested that pending pension reform legislation would weaken current law and allow companies to reduce pension funding. This perception is wrong." (USATODAY.com via Yahoo! News)
United Kingdom Government Contemplating Hybrid Pension Savings Scheme
Excerpt: "The UK government is looking at a hybrid national pension savings scheme that would incorporate both Lord Turner's recommendations and a model put forward by the insurance industry." (Insurance Business Review Online)
Editorial: Will Your Pension Be There? Congress May Raise Risk
Excerpt: "The Bush administration has been pushing for years to shore up the nation's increasingly shaky private pension systems. As Vice President Cheney put it at a Washington conference in March, 'If you put in your hours, and do your part ... your promised pension will be there for you when you retire.' Or will it?" (USA TODAY)
Long-Term Analysis of S. 2427, the Sustainable Solvency First for Social Security Act of 2006 (PDF)
69 pages. Response to request of Robert F. Bennett, Vice Chairman, Joint Economic Committee. Excerpt: "As requested in your letter of April 3, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed the long-term effects of S. 2427, the Sustainable Solvency First for Social Security Act of 2006. The proposal would reduce scheduled Social Security benefits, primarily by adjusting the benefit formula but also by accelerating the increase in the normal retirement age." (U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
Companies Fight to Preserve Conflict of Interest Provision in Legislation
Excerpt: "Financial services companies are fighting to keep a provision in the US House pension reform measure passed last year dealing with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) rules on conflicts of interest." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
FleetBoston Cash Balance Suit Moves Forward
Excerpt: "The US District Court for the District of Connecticut has ruled that a FleetBoston Financial Corp. employee can continue to pursue her claims against the company's cash balance plan." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Editorial: It's Not About the Trustees -- The Annual Social Security Report
Excerpt: "It's bad enough that the government's 2006 annual reports on Social Security and Medicare are late. It's worse that the White House explanation for the delay is so lame." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: FASB to Change Employers Balance Sheet for Pensions and Retiree Health Benefits in 2006 (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has entered phase one of a two-phase project to change current accounting rules for postretirement benefit plans. .... This Alert details the proposed changes, their bearing on different entities, when they will become effective, and other important decisions made by FASB." (Aon Consulting)
Credit Suisse Group Analysis Estimates $255B FASB Rule Impact
Excerpt: "The recently finalized Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposal to force companies to put pensions and other post-employment benefits on their balance sheets will cut 7% from total shareholder's equity from the S&P 500." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of April 4, 2006
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt Associates)
We thank and invite your attention to our additional sponsor: ASPPA • Working for America's Retirement™
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| 2006 Great Lakes Benefits Conference |
| Co-sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service and ASPPA.
The Great Lakes Benefits Conference provides an opportunity to discuss employee benefit issues with colleagues and local, regional and national government employees from the IRS and the DOL. The program focuses on exchanging information and educating attendees about current regulatory, legislative, administrative and actuarial topics. |
| (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) |
Newly Posted Events
Control and Affiliated Service Group Determinations
Nationwide on June 1, 1906
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
HIPAA and Health Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
in New Mexico on May 9, 2006
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
Personal Health Records-A Missing Part of A Consumer Driven Plan
Nationwide on April 12, 2006
presented by MediKeeper
To Roth or Not: Recent Guidance on Roth 401(k) Arrangements
Nationwide on April 11, 2006
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Newly Posted Press Releases
Thomas Preusker Joins Stifel Nicolaus' Racine Office
(Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Ancillary Benefits Specialist
for Administaff
in TX
Senior Retirement Plan Consultant
for Invesmart, Inc.
in TX
Retirement Plan Analyst
for Invesmart, Inc.
in MA
Employee Benefits Manager
for Catholic Health Initiatives
in KY
Sr. Administrator - Defined Benefit Pension Plans
for Washington Group International, Inc.
in ID
Health Benefits Consultant / Account Manager
for Financial Directions Group
in NC
Client Information Administrator
for The Newport Group, Inc. (Lake Mary/Orlando, FL location)
in FL
Benefits Manager
for $2B Consumer Packaged Goods Company
in OH
Associate Internal Sales Consultant
for Wachovia
in NC
Participant Services Center Supervisor
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Pension Consultant
for CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc., a leading Third Party Administration firm
in MD
Relationship Manager II
for AST Trust Company
in AZ
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2006 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.
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