| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
March 12, 2007
Sponsored by: ASPPA
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| Advanced Actuarial Conference -- Boston, MA, June 5-6, 2007 |
| Designed by practicing pension actuaries specifically to address their unique and specialized needs, this conference covers a wide variety of current and timely issues. Workshops and general sessions will be dedicated to topics including PPA, Future DB Policy Initiatives, Yield Curve, RP 2000 Mortality Tables and Hybrid Plans. Join your fellow pension actuary colleagues at this one of a kind event. |
Shaky Time for Retirement Plan Security, According to GAO Report
Excerpt: "Workers feeling uneasy about their retirement safety nets will find little comfort from a new government watchdog report that is critical of the Labor Department's enforcement of employer retirement-plan laws. The Government Accountability Office criticizes the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Labor Department office charged with enforcing retirement-plan laws, for failing to fully implement enforcement upgrades that GAO recommended several years ago." (Chicago Tribune: one-time registration required)
U.S. Panel Suggests Ways to Boost Competition
Excerpt: "Responding to complaints that the United States is losing its edge to foreign markets, a panel set up by the nation's biggest business lobby has recommended structural changes at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the end of quarterly earnings guidance and a boost in the nation's retirement savings, The Wall Street Journal reported." (Reuters via The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Investment Expenses Higher Than They Seem
Excerpt: "When our money earns a return, its manager is like the taxman. He stands, just as Kurt Vonnegut's Sen. Lister Ames Rosewater always preferred to stand, between us and the return on our money. Before we ever see a dime, management expenses are tactfully removed. In the world of managed mutual funds, variable annuities and other widely available financial products, we're told the expenses are modest." (The Dallas Morning News; free registration required)
New and Improved 401(k)s
Excerpt: "There may be more change happening now in 401(k) plans than at any time in the 25 years since their inception. Part of the reason is that as defined-contribution plans have become the dominant type of employer-sponsored retirement plans -- with more than 47 million participants -- it matters far more how well they work." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Overview: DOL Issues PPA-Mandated Regulation Relating to Timing & Order of Domestic Relations Orders
Excerpt: "As stated in the preamble, the DOL 'has not deviated from the narrow Congressional directive' in issuing this regulation. The examples 'merely provide interpretative guidance by explaining how the statutory language would apply to specific facts.' But plan administrators faced with the challenging issues presented by post-death and multiple DROs will appreciate the specifics provided by these examples." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
The Difference Between the Two Methods of Identifying Marital Portion of a Defined Benefit Pension
Excerpt: "There are two ways to identify the marital portion of a pension. The most equitable in an immediate offset or deferred distribution case is the Matured Full Benefit approach." (www.divorcenet.com)
Can A Defective Domestic Relations Order Be Corrected?
Excerpt: "When a domestic relations order is accepted and approved by a plan, they often will respond with a letter stating their interpretation of the terms of the order and how the pension assets will be divided. At that point the attorney may realize that the implementation proposed was not what he or she intended for their client and is now confronted with a dilemma." (www.divorcenet.com)
Get Tax Credit for Retirement Savings Contributions
Excerpt: "If you make eligible contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or to an individual retirement arrangement, you may be able to take a tax credit." (Akron Beacon Journal)
Younger Boomers Will Have Insufficient Funds for Retirement
Excerpt: "America's 45 million younger baby boomers are following a road to retirement that could lead over a financial cliff. They're approaching their 60s with less savings, flimsier pensions and a shakier government safety net compared with their predecessors." (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
Most Boomers Can't Count on Inheritance
Excerpt: "This generation of 78 million contains an abundance of beautiful dreams - and wishful thinking. Among the fantasies is the Great Boomer Inheritance. Almost as beloved as tales of boomers' disposable incomes are the theories about how they will spend the vast wealth they stand to inherit - $41 trillion, by some media accounts - to feather their post-retirement years." (The Baltimore Sun; free registration required)
Whether You Work for The Man or You Work for Yourself, Retirement Looms
Excerpt: "If you're self-employed, you've got a lot more options and a lot more decisions to make. It's worth the time and effort to check them all out, though, because you'll get benefits similar to those of your company-man neighbors." (The Motley Fool)
Overview: DOL Lets Plans Use Several Channels for Investment Advice
Originally published February 6, 2007. (Thompson Publishing Group Inc.)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Plan Participants in Suit May Obtain Draft Communications Regarding Benefit Plan Changes
Excerpt: "This decision reminds us that even though a plan sponsor may generally design its benefit plans free of ERISA's fiduciary restrictions, actions taken to implement plan design (such as communicating with employees about new or amended plans) will be subject to the fiduciary rules." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
409A Regs Due Out Soon, Says Treasury Official
Excerpt: "Final deferred compensation regulations under Code Sec. 409A have 'a little way to go' and hopefully will be out in the next month or so, Treasury Attorney Daniel Hogans told pension and benefit practitioners on February 28, 2007." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Workers Spend an Average 1.4 Hours Annually Reviewing Benefits
Excerpt: "The average person spends or will spend 1.4 hours reviewing their benefits packages each year and nearly half of Americans spend either no time or less than an hour, according to a recent study." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
401(k) Plan Workshop
in Missouri on April 19, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Plan Workshop
in Illinois on April 20, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Plan Workshop
in Colorado on April 20, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Plan Workshop
in California on April 20, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Testing Techniques - Added Location
in Texas on March 29, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Testing Techniques - Added Location
in Florida on March 29, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Testing Techniques - Added Location
in Arizona on March 29, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Form 5500 Workshop
in Missouri on April 18, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Form 5500 Workshop
in Illinois on April 19, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Form 5500 Workshop
in Colorado on April 19, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Form 5500 Workshop
in California on April 19, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Participant Forms and Notices Workshop - Added location
in Texas on March 29, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Participant Forms and Notices Workshop - Added location
in Florida on March 29, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Participant Forms and Notices Workshop - Added location
in Arizona on March 29, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
The State of Generational Equity, 2007: Weighing the Interests of Younger and Future Generations
in District of Columbia on May 1, 2007
presented by Americans for Generational Equity
Why Everything You Think You Know About DC Pension Plans is All Wrong!!
in Connecticut on March 21, 2007
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators-CT Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
White Horse Advisors Named BC Superstars
White Horse Advisors, LLC
Fidelity Research Institute Retirement Index Finds Working Americans On Track To Replace 58 Percent Of Income In Retirement
Fidelity Research Institute
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Plan Consultant
for Cassidy Retirement Group
in MA
Retirement Plan Specialist
for Goodman & Company
in VA
Benefit Analyst
for CCA Strategies
in IL
401(k) Daily Valuation Plan Administrator Consultant up to Senior Level Consultant
for Pension Management Corporation, Inc.
in NY
Trust Operations Manager
for Regions Financial
in AL
Senior ERISA Consultant (Principal)
for Tofias PC
in MA
401(k) Plan Administrator
for Tofias PC
in MA
Pension Administrator
for Small, full service administration firm in greater Los Angeles area
in CA
Retirement Compliance Testing Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Relationship Manager
for Vanguard
in PA
Associate Attorney
for Haynes Benefits PC
in KS, MO
Voluntary Sales Representative: CTA
for Standard Insurance Company
in CA
Voluntary Sales Representative: CTA
for Standard Insurance Company
in CA
Assistant Vice President of Insurance Plan Services
for Nolan Financial Group
in DC, MD
Nonqualified Plans Consulting Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Benefits Analyst
for Cassidy Retirement Group
in MA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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