| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
February 5, 2007
Sponsored by: ASPPA
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| The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT! |
| Join over 1,300 retirement sales and investment professionals at the premier event of the year. Continuing education credits, 19 individual workshops, networking opportunities and more await you in San Diego, CA, February 25-27, 2007. Don’t miss your opportunity to attend. Save money and register NOW! |
The IRS Employee Plans News, Special Edition, February 1, 2007 (PDF)
3 pages. The edition includes: Opening of the Pre-Approved (Volume Submitter and Master & Prototype) Defined Benefit Plans Program Announced; Determination Letter Program Open for Cycle B Individually Designed and Multiple Employer Plans; and, IRS Employee Plans Director Comments on Staggered Remedial Amendment Cycles. (Internal Revenue Service)
DOL Sets Out Fiduciary Adviser Selection/Monitoring Guidelines in Field Assistance Bulletin 2007-01
Excerpt: "While plan sponsors and other fiduciaries must exercise prudence in choosing a fiduciary investment adviser and periodically monitor the adviser's abilities and qualifications, they do not have to oversee the providing of specific advice." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
New Law Bulks Up Pension for All Employees
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." (Dow Jones/AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
PPA Implementation Issues: Summary of Guidance Applicable to Governmental Retirement Plans (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "On January 10, 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2007-7 providing implementation guidance on several provisions of the 2006 Pension Protection Act (PPA). This memorandum summarizes portions of the guidance applicable to governmental retirement plans, including 403(b), 457(b), and grandfathered 401(k) plans . . . ." (Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company)
Overview: IRS Distribution Guidance in Notice 2007-7 (PDF)
Pages 5-8 of 10 pages. Excerpt: "The Notice addresses . . .: Interest rate assumptions for lump sum distributions from defined benefit plans; Hardship distributions for medical, tuition, or funeral expenses of beneficiaries; Direct rollovers for non-spouse beneficiaries; Early distributions for public safety employees; Distributions to pay for accident or health insurance for public safety officers; Vesting of nonelective contributions to defined contribution plans; . . . ." (Trucker Huss)
Benefits News Scan, January 2007 (PDF)
6 pages. This edition includes: GASB Proposes New Pension Disclosure Requirements for Governmental Plans; IRS Proposes Guidance to Implement Pension Protection Act Provisions; U.S. House Passes Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Act; and, American Academy of Actuaries Releases Monograph on Social Security Reform. (Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company)
Retirement Funds Can Aid Beneficiaries in Hardship
Excerpt: "We can now receive distributions from our retirement account to help a niece, nephew, cousin and even close friends who are dear to us and may be experiencing a hardship or unforeseeable emergency. Think parents with Alzheimer's, brothers and sisters with cancer, etc." (El Paso Times)
Opinion: The Concern That the Baby Boomers Could Start a Market Meltdown
Excerpt: "There's a lot you can blame on the baby boomers . . . . But will you be able to blame us for taking the market down when we start to cash out of our retirement plans?" (The Washington Post; free registration required)
TIAA-CREF Delaying Transfer of Connecticut Pension Assets to ING
Excerpt: "Officials with the Connecticut comptroller's office say they have not been able to completely change over the administration of state employees' retirement plans to ING Group, because one of the fund old administrators won't arrange for the appropriate asset transfers without individual participant authorizations." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Taking Advantage of the Pension Protection Act
Excerpt: "The greatest onus is upon plan sponsors . . . but the PPA will allow advisors to offer advice and help their clients take advantage of new saving strategies, opening up new avenues of business. One such area is income planning, for people who want to retire early or are getting close to their official retirement." (Investment Advisors)
Practitioner Highlights Advantages of Cash Balance Plans After PPA
Excerpt: "The advantages of converting a traditional DB plan to a hybrid include the following: It satisfies employees' clamoring for DC plans. It allows underfunded DBs to continue to fund a shortfall over time. It allows overfunded DB plans to avoid excise tax on reversions and use the surplus to provide future benefits." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Sponsored by: ASC & The ASC Institute
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| ASC Retirement Plan Software, Documents & Education for Over 20 Years! |
| We’re so confident you can create retirement plan documents, amendments & forms in one-half the time or less we’re waiving the initial fee for a limited time and you can start for only $50/month. Learn more at www.asc-net.com |
| (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
Compensation Costs in State and Local Government, September-December 2006
Excerpt: "Benefit costs for State and local government workers increased 1.4 percent in the December quarter, compared with the 1.5-percent gain in September." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Overview: New Jersey Becomes Third State to Recognize Civil Unions (PDF)
Excerpt: "When considering the new law plan sponsors should: Determine what changes in their benefit offerings must be made in light of the new law, Review what coverage is insured (under a New Jersey contract) and what is self-funded, Identify changes they would like to make in their benefit offerings that may or may not be legally required, Address imputed income issues, as health benefits for civil union partners will likely not be federally tax qualified . . . ." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Court Bars Government Benefit for Same-Sex Domestic Partners in Michigan
Excerpt: "Same-sex domestic partners are not entitled to health benefits from public universities or local and state governments under the State Constitution's two-year-old marriage amendment, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a ruling released Friday." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Michigan Court Rebuffs Appeal for Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a 2004 amendment barring same-sex marriages prevents public employers from offering health benefits to same-sex domestic partners." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
New York City Employees' Retirement System Alleges Questionable Stock Option Practices at Apple
Excerpt: "The intent of this post is not to single out any one company nor to imply that the filing of a complaint supports any or all of the allegations. That's for the trier of fact to determine. What is important is to understand that executive compensation practices can (and often do) impact shareholder value." (Pension Risk Matters)
Senators Say Deferred Compensation Provisions 'Overreached' and Will Be Changed
Excerpt: "Key members of the Senate Finance Committee made clear late last week that provisions of Senate legislation that would severely deter use of deferred compensation plans as a retirement tool are not the final word." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free registration or paid subscription required)
Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Provision Survives Senate Vote
Excerpt: "U.S. Senators may have overwhelmingly approved a bill that includes a provision limiting non-qualified deferred compensation programs (NQDC), but the NQDC provision may still be changed in a later legislative conference committee, according to one lawmaker." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Bush Says Medicare and Social Security Must Change As He Prepares to Release Budget
Excerpt: "President Bush, poised to submit his new budget to Congress next week, warned Saturday that unless programs like Medicare and Social Security are changed, future generations will face tax hikes, government red ink or huge cuts in benefits." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Best Practices for Managing Absenteeism and Presenteeism
Nationwide on February 14, 2007
presented by CCH Incorporated
FMLA and Workers' Compensation -- What Employers Need to Know A 90-minute, interactive audio conference
Nationwide on March 6, 2007
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group
Health & Wealth: The Use of Tax Policy to Shift Responsibility to the Individual
in District of Columbia on February 23, 2007
presented by Corporate & Business Law Society at The George Washington University Law School
Labor Law Issues in the Health Care Arena - Webcast
Nationwide on February 8, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Newly Posted Press Releases
New Course Helps Evaluate Role of Alternative Investments in Institutional Portfolios
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Reacts to Michigan Court Ruling Stripping Domestic Partner Benefits from Public Employees
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for Pension Dynamics Corporation
in CA
Relationship Manager for Institutional Trust and Custody
for U.S. Bank
in CA
Account Executive - Client Relationship Development
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
Associate Account Executive
for Lockton Companies, LLC
in TX
Senior Associate
for Benefits Group WorldWide, Inc.
in CA
401(k) Client Service Representative
for Professional Capital Services, LLC
in PA
Senior Project Representative, Retirement Services
for NRECA
in VA
Recruiter Specializing in Retirement Services
for Professional Staffing of St. Louis, LLC
in ANY STATE
Defined Contribution Pension Administrator
for American Pensions, Inc.
in SC
Retirement Compliance Testing Manager
for Vanguard
in PA
Senior Relationship Manager / Relationship Manager
for Fidelity Investments
in TX
Plan Review Consultant
for Vanguard
in AZ
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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