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January 29, 2007
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An Executive Guide to Automatic Features in Defined Contribution Retirement Plans (PDF)
16 pages. (Schwab Retirement Plan Services)
Text of IRS Notice 2007-14: Request for Comments on Permitted Benefits Under Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "[The IRS is] concerned that certain qualified defined benefit plans may include nontraditional benefits that are not subject to the protections of § 411 and other qualification rules of § 401(a) [such as] (1) benefits that are payable only upon the involuntary termination of an employee or in other limited circumstances that are unrelated to retirement; and (2) benefits that could exceed the amount of the accrued benefit payable under the plan." (Internal Revenue Service)
Segal Bulletin on GASB's Exposure Draft on Pension Disclosures (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "[This bulletin] discusses an Exposure Draft from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), which proposes additional financial reporting requirements for pensions similar to what GASB requires for other postemployment benefits . . . ." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
A Return to Better Funding for Pensions in 2006
Excerpt: "Watson Wyatt has been tracking plan funding levels for several years. Between 2002 and 2005, aggregate funding status for large pension plans increased from 82 percent to 92 percent. For 2006, pension funding at these companies will continue to improve, reaching a projected aggregate funding level of roughly 100 percent for the first time since 2001 . . . ." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Opinion: Pension Funding 'Crisis' Is Now Over
Excerpt: "Well, the funding part of the crisis, anyway. No fewer than three separate studies* were published this past week that essentially said that the pension plans of larger employers are either fully or nearly fully funded again." (planadvisor ponderings)
Overview: IRS Issues Final Electronic Media Rules (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "On October 20, 2006, the IRS issued additional final rules regarding the use of electronic media, such as email, Websites, automated telephone systems, and CD-ROMs, to provide certain notices, to make participant elections or to provide consent under employee benefit arrangements." (Prudential Retirement)
Judge Accepts Washington State QDRO as ERISA Valid
Excerpt: "Because a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) allowing a participant's common-law wife a portion of his pension is valid under state law, it is also valid under federal law, a judge has ruled." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Overview: Rollovers to IRAs for Plan Beneficiaries
Excerpt: "Notice 2007-7, 2007-5 I.R.B. 395, includes guidance on the new rules allowing beneficiaries, other than surviving spouses, to make rollovers of plan distributions from qualified plans to IRAs. These rules became effective January 1, 2007." (BNA Tax Management)
Federal Employees Are Cautious When It Comes to Retirement Investing, According to Survey
Excerpt: "That's a generalization that can be drawn from a recent survey of government employees, retirees and others who participate in the Thrift Savings Plan, a 401(k)-type program where retirement accounts have been established by more than 3.7 million people." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Judge Nixes West Virginia Teacher Pension Merger
Excerpt: " Kanawha County circuit court judge ruled Friday that a merger of the state's teacher pension plans is unconstitutional." (West Virginia Media via WBOY-TV)
New Jersey Proposal Would Switch to DC Plans for Elected Officials
Excerpt: "Under the measure, officials elected after July 1 would no longer receive taxpayer-funded pensions." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Global Retirement Perspective Special Edition: The 7th year
Excerpt: "Traditionally, the seventh year has been a time for standing back and taking stock. Mercer believes that 2007 provides employers a great opportunity to re-examine their global retirement benefits in light of their overall business goals and statutory and regulatory requirements." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; free registration required)
Calculators Can Show What You Need to Save and How Close You Are to Getting There
Excerpt: "In all the debate over whether Americans are saving too much or too little, there is considerable agreement on a few things. For instance, it pays to start saving early because the power of compounding, especially in a tax-free account, means you'll have more money later. The other advice that everyone gives the nod to is that you need a plan and you need to revisit that plan every year." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Working Paper Abstract: Do Analysts Herd? An Analysis of Recommendations and Market Reactions
Excerpt: "This paper develops and implements a new test to investigate whether sell-side analysts herd around the consensus when they make stock recommendations. Our empirical results support the herding hypothesis." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve full-text)
New Pension Law Can Benefit Small Businesses
Excerpt: "A major benefit: Business owners and key personnel, who had been limited in their own 401(k) savings, can now sock away more if the company enrolls employees automatically in its plan and contributes a required amount to each account." (AP via Ledger-Enquirer)
Global Pension Risk Survey
Excerpt: "More than half of survey respondents (56 percent) reported that their pension plans represent at least a 'moderate' financial risk to their organization; another 16 percent said it posed a 'great' risk." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; free registration required)
A Contrarian View: Save Less, Retire with Enough
Excerpt: "[T]he loose confederation of well-regarded economists, who have not been working in concert, say their research points to the startling conclusion that many Americans are saving too much, not too little. Indeed, their studies of the savings and spending habits of the generation born between 1931 and 1941 revealed that at least 80 percent had accumulated more than enough wealth for retirement." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Spanish Tax Law Changes Have Significant Effect on Pensions
Excerpt: "Wide-ranging reforms to the way occupational pension plans in Spain are taxed became effective on January 1, 2007. These reforms have greatly reduced the tax breaks available on these pension arrangements and affect both contributions and emerging benefits." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Sponsored by: Investment Company Institute
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| February 7: The Latest Word from Washington on Retirement Plan Issues ... |
| Get up-to-the-minute insights from Labor Department and IRS officials on the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the most comprehensive revision of pension law since ERISA in 1974, at the Investment Company Institute’s Pension Protection Act Developments Conference in Washington, DC on February 7. The conference also features an address by Vanguard Group Chairman and CEO John Brennan.
ICI is the national association of U.S. mutual funds, which manage more than half of 401(k) assets. |
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: SEC's Revised Rules Regarding Stock Based Compensation (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "In an unexpected move, on December 22, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission . . . released updated rules regarding stock awards and option awards in order to provide disclosure of the compensation cost recognized by the registrant over the requisite service period under Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No 123 (revised 2004) Shares-Based Payment (FAS 123R)." (Haynes and Boone, LLP)
Overview: Senate Finance Committee Unanimous Approval of Limits to Deferred Compensation (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "On January 17, 2007, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007 . . . ." (LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP)
FEI Tax Committee Letter Opposes Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Provisions (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The provision would amend the Internal Revenue Code to impose a dollar cap on the aggregate amount of compensation that may be deferred by any individual." (Financial Executives International)
Senate Finance Committee Approves Small Business Tax Bill that Would Cap Executive Comp Deferrals
Excerpt: "Under the SFC bill, the annual amounts deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan by an individual could not exceed the lesser of (1) $1 million or (2) the individual's annualized includible compensation." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Which Employee Benefits Are Most Popular Among Workers?
Excerpt: "Employers and employees have widely divergent views on the appeal of a whole range of benefits, and the differences are wider now than they have been in years, according to several recently released surveys." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Overview: New Litigation Rules that Will Affect Claims Processing
Excerpt: "The changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which went into effect on December 1, 2006, relate to the manner in which electronically stored information (ESI) is treated in federal court litigation. The new rules generally permit greater access to ESI by adverse parties in the early stages of a lawsuit (called 'discovery'). ESI includes e-mails, spreadsheets, word processing documents, databases, voicemail, instant messages, and data stored on hard drives." (BNA Tax Management)
How 10 Companies Achieved Business Success Because of - Not in Spite Of - Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "Ten successful companies have discovered the formula for managing many of today's biggest challenges for employers--like skyrocketing health care costs and lackluster retirement savings. The practical, real-world solutions used by these organizations, The Principal(R)10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security--2006, are revealed in a new guide that provides a blueprint for achieving business success through employee benefits." (BusinessWire via MSNBC.Money)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Analyst - Defined Benefit
for Mercer HR Services
in MA
Actuarial Consultant
for RSM McGladrey Retirement Resources
in IL
Public Policy Analyst II
for National Business Group on Health
in DC
Director, Employer Markets Operations
for The Beam Group
in IL, IN
Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Pension Planning Consultants, Inc.
in NM
Small Plan Actuarial Consultant
for Pension Planning Consultants, Inc.
in NM
Health Benefits Analyst
for The Segal Company
in DC
Pension Implementation Analyst
for Milliman, Inc.
in TX
Pension Analyst
for Milliman, Inc.
in TX
Retirement Services District Manager- Major Accounts
for ADP - Automatic Data Processing
in CA, IL, MN, OH, PA
401K Administrator
for Professional Capital Services, LLC
in PA
Compliance Analyst
for Great-West Corporate
in WI
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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