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January 23, 2007


Sponsored by: Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

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EBIA's 401(k) Plans Manuals and Seminars!

A must-have resource for employers, administrators, and advisors, our 401(k) Plans manual explains the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA requirements for 401(k) plans, and it explores all sorts of plan design and administration issues. Subscribers love the depth of our legal analysis and our practical, real-world tips. Topics include eligibility, vesting, contributions, distributions, plan loans, hardship withdrawals, discrimination testing, fiduciary duties, plan investments, plan corrections, and much more.

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Long-Term Implications of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and a Guide for Employers' Actions
Excerpt: "In this new pension environment, all sponsors of defined benefit and defined contribution plans will have to do things differently. The prospect of stricter requirements and fresh opportunities will shape sponsors' short-term decisions and long-term strategies for their plans." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

New Accounting Rules Require New Investment Strategies
Excerpt: "Panel members at PLANSPONSOR's DB Summit in Washington, D.C. last month were in agreement that new pension accounting rules hatched by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) will prompt plan sponsors to utilize new investment strategies." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Pension Funding Improved in 2006, According to Studies
Excerpt: "The rollicking 2006 stock market and higher interest rates made pension plans at the largest U.S. companies healthier than any time since 2000, according to two studies released Monday, reversing the slide in funding levels at the beginning of the decade." (AP via Forbes.com)

IRS Web Page Collects PPA Guidance and Other Information
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: By listing and providing links in one place to various PPA guidance and other information, this web page will be a useful reference tool in assisting plan sponsors and their advisors as they scramble to implement the PPA's sweeping changes." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

UBS's New Tracker Finds 2006 Pension Funding Improvement
Excerpt: "The inaugural pension fund tracking system unveiled Monday by UBS Global Asset Management shows a dramatic improvement in pension plan funding ratios in 2006." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Communicating Defined Benefit Plan Change to Participants --- Be Relevant, 'Real'
Excerpt: "At a time when new retirement legislation and pension accounting rules are prompting plan sponsors to make changes to their defined benefit offerings, whether it's a DB plan freeze, cash balance conversion, or restructuring of DB benefits, panel members at PLANSPONSOR's 2006 DB Summit in Washington, D.C., advised audience members to just be real when communicating the change to participants." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Overview: Guidance on PPA Distribution Rules -- Hardships, Nonspousal Rollovers and Notice Periods
Excerpt: "The guidance covers a number of issues, including interest rate assumptions for lump-sum distributions, hardship distributions, rollovers to nonspousal beneficiaries, and notice and consent periods." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Inside Eileen Fisher's Employee Stock Plan
Excerpt: "Eileen Fisher, the New York clothing designer, faced a dilemma common to a growing number of baby-boomer entrepreneurs pondering the future of companies they built from scratch: how to cash out some of her closely held company and diversify her holdings. Last fall she found a solution. She set up an employee stock-ownership plan, or ESOP, for her 624 employees, transferring nearly a third of the shares of the company into it." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Presentation: What Employers Need to Know About Fiduciary Liability (PDF)
44 pages. Excerpt: "Fiduciary Responsibilities: Execute responsibilities with care, skill and due diligence of a prudent expert; Make decisions in the sole interest of participants and beneficiaries; Select a diverse range of investments; Monitor prohibited transactions; Respond to inquiries; Follow the plan document; and, Be 'bonded.'" (Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC via Swerdlin & Company)

U.S. Senate Votes Pension Ban for Convicted Members
Excerpt: "The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to ban lawmakers convicted of conspiracy, perjury or taking bribes from receiving their congressional pensions." (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Italy Pension Reforms Just Need Adjustments, No Radical Overhaul
Excerpt: "The Italian pension system only needs adjustments, after following reforms carried in the 90s and in 2004, and not a radical overhaul, said EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia in an interview with the daily La Repubblica." (AFX News Limited via Forbes.com)

Opinion: The Elusive Appeal of Income for Life
Excerpt: "A benefits strategist looks at retirement planning through a 90-year lens." (Views & Vents via Employee Benefit News)


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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Commentary: Settlor Function Case at Supreme Court
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court has decided to review a case decided on the issue of what constitute settlor functions. The ERISA fiduciary duties do not apply to actions taken by the plan sponsor in its capacity as employer/sponsor, which raises the question of where the line gets drawn." (403(b)-457 Plans Blog; posted by Thomas L. Geer)

Grant of Discretionary Language in Plan Document Need Not Also Appear in SPD to Be Enforceable
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Although this court and its 'sister circuits' (i.e., the Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits) have held that the discretionary language need not be in a plan's SPD, we think it is a good idea to include it in both pension and welfare plan SPDs, in part to avoid these types of lawsuits." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

SEC Rule Change Forces Firms to Redo Numbers
Excerpt: "Even before the SEC finalized its rules on executive compensation disclosure last summer, most companies had scurried into action, preparing to provide greater transparency into salaries and perks." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

The Senate Finance Committee Takes Aim at Executive Compensation -- Again (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "On January 17, 2007, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously passed the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007 (the 'Act') containing two provisions that could significantly change the tax treatment of executive compensation arrangements." (Groom Law Group)

Issues in Brief: Households 'At Risk' in Retirement -- A Closer Look at the Bottom Third
Excerpt: "This brief takes a closer look at the [National Retirement Risk Index] for the bottom third of the population. The brief focuses on three issues. The first is the relative change in the NRRI for the bottom third as opposed to the upper two-thirds over the period 1983-2004." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

WP: Labor Market Status and Transitions During the Pre-Retirement Years -- International Differences (PDF)
111 pages. Excerpt: "Cross-country differences in the prevalence of early retirement are clearly related to differences in financial incentives (Gruber and Wise, 2003). The fraction of workers on disability insurance is vastly different across countries with similar levels of economic development and comparable access to modern medical technology and treatment." (Michigan Retirement Research Center)


Newly Posted Events

401k Service Training Program™
in Pennsylvania on February 8, 2007
presented by Financial Service Standards, LLC

Leaves of Absence and Health Plans -- What’s Required by the FMLA, USERRA, and Other Laws?
Nationwide on February 22, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)


Newly Posted Press Releases

Financial Health of Pension Plans Improving, Watson Wyatt Analysis Finds
Watson Wyatt

Major Employers Express “Strong Opposition” To Deferred Compensation Amendment
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)

Third Annual Workplace Class Action Report from Seyfarth Shaw of 2006
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

White Horse Advisors, LLC Named in Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Book of Lists.
White Horse Advisors, LLC

Mandated Health Insurance Will Not Be Affordable Until Insurers are Regulated to Control Costs
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights

State of the Union
Destiny Health

The Battle for Position — Health Insurers Align Their Operations with Changing Markets
A.M. Best Company


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Pension Administrator
for The Senex Group
in CA

401 (k) DC/DB - all experience levels
for Polycomp Administrative Services in San Diego and Woodland Hills
in CA

OmniPlus Consultants
for Chesapeake Benefit Partners
in ANY STATE

Retirement Sales Consultant/Sales Executive
for BenefitStreet, Inc.
in NY

Actuary
for Westchester NY Consulting Firm
in NY

Retirement Plan Specialist
for Goodman & Company
in VA

401(k) Enrollers/Independent Contractors-Part Time
for Transamerica Retirement Services and Diversified Investment Advisors
in ANY STATE

Director of Benefits
for Schering-Plough Corporation
in NJ

Senior Analyst HR Compensation
for Philip Morris USA
in VA

Associate Consultant, Employee Benefits
for Hay Group
in PA

Operations Manager (Insurance/TPA)
for Zenith Administrators
in NV

Actuarial Analyst
for Lynchval Systems Worldwide Inc.
in VA

Client Relations Assistant
for The Allocation Company, Inc.
in TX

Plan Administrator
for Windes & McClaughry Acct. Corp.
in CA

Retirement Plans Client Services Manager
for The NIA Group
in NJ

Installation Administrator
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA

Defined Contribution Analyst II
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR

Retirement Plan Sales Trainer
for BenefitStreet, Inc.
in CA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Goodman & Company
in VA

Pension Software Benefit Calculations Analyst
for Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc.
in IL




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