| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
January 30, 2007
Sponsored by: Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
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| 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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U.S. Plans Stronger Oversight of 401(k)s
Excerpt: "Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), a member of the Democratic leadership and the new chairman of a committee that has authority on retirement matters, said he planned to hold hearings on 401(k) fees this year as part of a broader effort to examine issues that undermine the financial security of older Americans." (Los Angeles Times; free registration required)
Fiduciary Issues: Default Investment Alternatives and Participant Directed Individual Account Plans
Excerpt: "This article examines selected fiduciary issues faced by persons who make the decisions with respect to the selection and monitoring of default alternatives, typically plan sponsors. . . . The author hopes to enable plan sponsors to reduce their risks by providing a detained examination of some of the more obvious risks, and possible responses." (The Wagner Law Group)
Survey Shows QDIA Final Rule Will Mean Some Default Option Changes
Excerpt: "Nearly half of large defined contribution plan sponsors said in a recent survey that they would have to choose a different default investment option if proposed default safe harbor rules are finalized." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
More Companies Offering Self-Directed Accounts with a Wide Range of Choices
Excerpt: "If you thought having 10 investment options in your 401(k) plan was overwhelming, imagine having thousands. By adding brokerage windows, also known as Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts (SDAs), to their retirement plans, more companies are offering a vast array of choices to their employees." (BusinessWeek Online)
More Companies Offer Socially Responsible Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "If companies wanted to offer its employees a diverse socially responsible retirement plan before 2006, it did not exist. Many plans offered one or two options, if any, until the emergence of Social( k ), the nation's most diverse socially responsible retirement plan, offering more than 100 screened socially responsible funds from which to choose." (AccountingWEB.com)
Regulators Seek Comments on Guidance for 'Non-Traditional' Defined Benefit Plan Benefits
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are asking for public comment on how the agencies should regulate the inclusion of certain non-traditional benefits in qualified defined benefit plans." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
PBGC Draws the Curtain on § 4011 Notices, Making Way for Annual Funding Notice
Excerpt: "Beginning in 2008, all PBGC-insured defined benefit plans will be required to provide the annual funding notice ('Notice') to the PBGC, to each plan participant and beneficiary, and to each labor organization representing the plan's participants or beneficiaries. Additionally, multiemployer plans will be required to provide the Notice to each employer that is required to contribute to the plan." (Deloitte)
IRS Updates Life And Annuity Rules
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service is changing its procedures for dealing with life insurance contracts, annuity contracts, and variable life and annuity contracts that accidentally fail to meet federal standards for those products." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free registration or paid subscription required)
An Overview of the A.M. Best Special Report on the U.S. Retirement Savings Market
Excerpt: "The U.S. retirement savings market--broadly defined as personal savings, defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans and annuity products--continues to remain the most strategically important market for the U.S. life insurance industry, according to a special report by A.M. Best Co." (InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc.)
Presentation: ESOPs in Government Contracting Firms (PDF)
29 pages. (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP)
Advisory Opinion 2006-09A: Whether IRA's Investment Is a Prohibited Transaction under Section 4975
Excerpt: "This advisory opinion concludes that a self-directed IRA's investment in notes of a corporation, a majority of whose stock is owned by the daughter and son-in-law of the IRA owner, would be a prohibited transaction under the Internal Revenue Code." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
What Are You Waiting For? Your Retirement Is Getting Closer and Your Nest Egg Needs Your Help Now
Excerpt: "History suggests that you need to save about 15% of your paycheck -- every paycheck -- during your entire career in order to have a decent shot at retiring well." (The Motley Fool)
FAA Review Is Expected on Pilots' Age at Retirement
Excerpt: "Airlines and pilots' unions expect the Federal Aviation Administration to announce [today] that it will review its rule requiring airline pilots to retire at age 60, now that the International Civil Aviation Organization has raised the age to 65." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Evaluating Your Small Business Retirement Savings Plan
Excerpt: "As a small business owner who offers a retirement savings plan to its employees, you probably considered a variety of factors before choosing a plan provider for a new retirement plan – carefully evaluating how each offering would meet the specific needs of your company. But as your business has grown and its needs have changed, has your plan continued to measure up?" (Transamerica Corporation)
Advisory Opinion 2007-01A: Guidance Concerning the Application of Section I(a) of PTE 84-14
Excerpt: "Whether transactions between a broker-dealer and a separate account managed by a QPAM under a 401(k) plan fail to satisfy section I(a) of PTE 84-14 where plan participants investing in such account receive investment allocation advice from a subsidiary of the broker-dealer." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Will You Retire by Choice -- or Force? And the Effect on Your Retirement Savings
Excerpt: "According to a survey by the folks at Sun Life Financial, a whopping 22% of retirees in America are not being permitted to retire on their own schedule -- they're being forced into retirement! They may be laid off, or they may be offered an early retirement package." (The Motley Fool)
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. |
| (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
The Mounting Cost of Deferred Responsibility in Government; The Future Impact in Wisconsin (PDF)
22 pages. Excerpt: "State and local governments . . . have made promises that they cannot afford and have financed their decisions by passing IOUs along to future generations. . . . . Now those IOUs are coming due and the amount is staggering. The IOUs discussed in this paper are the ones related to benefits promised to public employees when they retire. This paper will detail the price tag of the promises of pension and health care payments made to retired state and local government workers." (Wisconsin Policy Research Institute)
Overview: SEC's Interpretive Guidance on New Executive Compensation Disclosure Rules (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 24, 2007 issued interpretive guidance on the new executive and director compensation proxy disclosure rules. The guidance is in the form of 28 questions and answers of general applicability to the new rules, as well as 18 interpretive responses regarding particular situations." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Unions Take Stance on Executive Pensions at AmEx
Excerpt: "In response to a request from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, American Express Co. is slicing retirement benefits for top executives by more than ten percent." (Pension Risk Matters)
Opinion: There Is No General 'Entitlement Crisis'
Excerpt: "Many pundits and policymakers . . . have mistakenly described the projected rise in federal expenditures as an 'entitlement crisis.' That phrase is problematic, as it can mislead policymakers and the public into thinking that the source of expenditure growth is most or all entitlement programs, rather than just the 'big three.'" (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Role of In-House Legal Counsel in Claim Investigation Proper Delegation of Authority
Excerpt: "[N]othing set forth in ERISA prohibits plan administrators from relying on information provided by and following the recommendations of either in-house or outside attorneys for the employer who sponsors the plan. Ford v. Motorola Inc. Involuntary Severance Plan, Slip Copy, 2007 WL 162680 (D. Ariz. 2007)(January 18, 2007)" (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
EBSA Achieves Over $1.4 Billion in Monetary Recoveries for FY 2006
Excerpt: "The Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has announced over $1.4 billion in monetary recoveries for fiscal year 2006. This figure includes $829 million in assets restored to plans and benefits recovered by individual workers." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Newly Posted Events
A Company of Entrepreneurs: Getting Employees Involved
Nationwide on April 11, 2007
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Communicating the Valuation Process to Employees
Nationwide on March 1, 2007
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Indiana on February 13, 2007
presented by Women for a Social Security Choice (WSSC)
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Nebraska on February 13, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Iowa on February 14, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Michigan on February 14, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Michigan on February 15, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Iowa on February 15, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Wyoming on February 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Colorado on February 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Arkansas on February 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Tennessee on February 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Missouri on February 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Wellness Programs After the Final HIPAA Nondiscrimination Regs -- What’s Allowed, What Isn’t, and What Designs Work Best?
Nationwide on January 25, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Pension Act Regulations Could Mean Significant Changes For 401(k) Sponsors
Watson Wyatt
National Penn Insurance Agency Selects Benefit Software's Fringe Facts® Communicator to Produce Employee Benefits Statements for its Corporate Clients
Benefit Software Inc.
New Twist on 350-Year Old Investment Instrument Could Help Secure Retirements of Those Without Pension Plans
Mellon Financial Corporation
Work & Family Benefits, Inc. Launches The Workplace Resource Center to Provide Online Tools for Addressing Behavioral Workplace Issues
Work & Family Benefits Inc.
FMLA Survey Data Submitted to the DOL
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Making Health Insurance Affordable for More Americans
U.S. Department of Treasury
Dorsa Consulting Launches Asset/Liability Modeling to Pension Plan Sponsors
Dorsa Consulting
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Consultant
for Kravitz - Louis Kravitz & Associates
in CA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for FM International
in NY
Defined Benefit Retirement Plan Administrator
for Loren D. Stark Company, Inc.
in TX
401(k) Administrator
for TSP Associates, Inc.
in CA
Compliance Testing Consultant
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
Actuary
for Pension Administrator
in NJ
Benefits Consultant
for The Scotts Company
in OH
Director of Pension Operations
for Taft-Hartley Benefit Fund – New York City
in NY
Retirement Sales Executive
for Benefitstreet, Inc.
in IL, MA
Benefits Leave Coordinator
for Chugach Alaska Corporation
in VA
Benefits Analyst
for Chugach Alaska Corporation
in VA
401k Administrator
for McGregor & Associates, Inc.
in IN, KY, OH
Regional Sales Director
for DailyAccess Corporation
in AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, ND, NE, NJ, OH, OK, SD, VA, WI, WV
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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