March 19, 2007 Sponsored by: ASPPA (Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Insurers and Funds Spar Over Plan Autopilot Options Excerpt: "Insurers are still trying to persuade the U.S. Department of Labor to add annuities, stable value funds and guaranteed investment contracts to the list of acceptable investment choices for employees who are enrolled in 401(k) plans automatically." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free registration required) Battle Raging Over 401(k) Default Investments Excerpt: "Insurance companies are fighting a proposed Department of Labor regulation under which they would lose the ability to have annuities and guaranteed investment contracts used as default investments for 401(k)s in favor of more equity-oriented offerings from mutual fund companies." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free registration required) Comments on Notice on Diversification Requirements for Qualified DC Plans (PDF) Excerpt: "The American Benefits Council (Council) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the transitional guidance provided in Notice 2006-107, Diversification Requirements for Qualified Defined Contribution Plans Holding Publicly Traded Employer Securities, and topics that should be addressed in the upcoming proposed regulations on the same subject." (American Benefits Council) Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Plan Fees (PDF) 16 pages. Excerpt: "The Standard has recently created this guide to help educate plan sponsors on all of the key issues around 401k plan fees." (StanCorp Equities, Inc.) An Interview with Matthew D. Hutcheson, Recent Congressional Witness on 401k Fees Excerpt: "On March 6th of this year, Mr. Hutcheson appeared before the Committee on Education and Labor, United States House of Representatives, to provide input and insight into fees charged to 401k plans. We decided that it would be helpful to get a better understanding of his viewpoint, so we arranged this exclusive interview." (401khelpcenter.com) Overview: New Benefit Statement Requirements for Retirement Plans 6 pages. Excerpt: "An employer that fails to provide the new benefit statement by its due date can be required to pay to each participant and beneficiary a penalty of up to $110 for each day that the statement is late." (Utz, Miller & Kuhn LLC) Oral Pension Promises Found Insufficient for Plan Setup Excerpt: "A federal appellate court has ruled oral promises of pension coverage later committed to paper were not enough to create a legal pension program." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required) Court Says Summary Plan Description Can Be Benefit Plan Document Excerpt: "A federal appellate court has ruled that the provisions of a benefit plan summary plan description (SPD) are legally controlling if the SPD was the only formal written benefits document an employer had." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required) Overview: Reporting Qualified Charitable Distributions Excerpt: "Several provisions in the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 were intended to encourage charitable giving. One of the most significant of those provisions allows tax-free distributions of otherwise taxable individual retirement account (IRA) assets when given to charity. . . . This article will review the basic rules for this new provision as well as the proper IRS reporting of these distributions for both IRA custodians/trustees and IRA owners." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services) Governance of the Federal Thrift Savings Plan Excerpt: "The Thrift Savings Plan has grown into a $200 billion retirement behemoth, but its nearly 4 million participants might be surprised to learn how their money is managed." (GovExec.com) Nevada Legislator Proposes Establishing State Worker Retirement Age Excerpt: "Sen. Bob Coffin said Thursday he is working on a proposal to reduce the $6 billion unfunded liability of the public employees retirement system by setting a mandatory minimum retirement age similar to what is used for Social Security. Coffin, who said he still is researching his proposal, also wants to require existing public employees, who are either 10 or 15 years away from retirement age, to work longer to obtain full retirement benefits." (Las Vegas Review-Journal) New Hampshire Retirement System Under Scrutiny: Compromise May Up Employees' Payments Excerpt: "With public employers and employees alike concerned about the state of the New Hampshire Retirement System, lawmakers are considering a range of bills to revise the pension and benefits programs for teachers, firefighters, police officers and government workers.' (Concord Monitor Online) Kentucky Spending Bills May Hinge on Future of Public Pensions Excerpt: "Currently, a plan pending before the legislature seeks to overhaul state government's pension plan, which covers retirement benefits for state and county public employees, and police and firefighters across the state. Public school teachers are covered under a similar plan, which would also receive a financial boost under the proposal." (Lexington Herald-Leader) Opinion: Pension Reform in Chile: Closing the Gap, Not Scrapping the System Excerpt: "Chile's president recently proposed several modifications to its pension system, including a new retirement benefit funded by general government revenues. Long-time critics of Chile's pension system have been quick to claim the proposed reforms are proof of the system's failure. Unfortunately, the critics fail to distinguish between a system that functions well for contributors versus one that is designed to give benefits to noncontributors." (National Center for Policy Analysis) UK Group Says Pension Proposal Could Undermine Generous Employer Contributions Excerpt: "A UK pensions trade group said that offering workers a government pension scheme when they already have a workplace plan to which their employer contributes, could be a disincentive for employers to offer generous schemes, according to British newspaper The Guardian." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required) Staggered Amendment Cycles Working Well, IRS Official States Excerpt: "The new process of working on determination applications based on remedial amendment cycles has already demonstrated its superiority over the previous determination letter program, according to IRS Employee Plans Director Joseph Grant, in remarks made at a recent benefits conference held in Los Angeles." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business) Some More Numbers to Juggle in Figuring Out Retirement Excerpt: "When a group of economists argued recently that Americans might be saving too much for retirement, Fidelity Investments could not have disagreed more." (The New York Times; free registration required) Sponsored by: ASC & The ASC Institute (Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Employee Benefits Developments, March 2007 The newsletter covers rulings, opinions, etc. and cases. (Hodgson Russ LLP) More Executive Perks Disclosed to Public Excerpt: "Corporations are revealing more executive perks than they have in the past, according to a study released by The Corporate Library." (Investment News; free registration required) Newly Posted Events Elements of State Health Reform: Creating a Marketplace for Expanding Coverage - Webcast Nationwide on March 28, 2007 presented by KaiserNetwork.org ERISA Update Seminar in Florida on April 26, 2007 presented by GrayRobinson, P.A. Executive Compensation - Strategy, Design, and Implementation in New York on June 21, 2007 presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association) Executive Compensation - Strategy, Design, and Implementation - Webcast Nationwide on June 21, 2007 presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association) Form 5500 -- What You Need to Know for 2006 Plan Years Nationwide on April 19, 2007 presented by CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business Web Enrollment and the Employee Experience - Lewis "Chip" Balser, Regional VP, West Region Univers Worksite in California on April 4, 2007 presented by International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists - Orange County Chapter Newly Posted Press Releases More Companies Offering Consumer-Directed Health Plans, Watson Wyatt/National Business Group Health Survey Finds Watson Wyatt PBGC QDRO Booklet Updated Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Council States That Health Care Reform Will Succeed Only By Combined Efforts Of All Stakeholders American Benefits Council Towers Perrin Acquires Global Employee Research Firm ISR Towers Perrin Retirement Plan Providers Ready For Rule 22C-2 Compliance Deadline, According To The SPARK Institute SPARK Institute Majority of Organizations Use Newsletters to Communicate Information on Employee Benefit Issues International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans March of Dimes Calls for Health Coverage for Women of Childbearing Age and Children March of Dimes New Product Launched to Provide Web-hosted Fiduciary Compliance Tools Fiduciary Risk Assessment LLC American Media Ignore Swiss Vote - Single Payer Rejected by 71% of Voters Consumers for Health Care Choices New SEC Executive Compensation Disclosure is Significantly Less Clear and More Lengthy Than Anticipated DolmatConnell & Partners, Inc Employer Survey Points to Need For Health Management, Including Incentives for Employees IncentOne Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Plan Administrator for Third Party Administration Firm in FL Compliance Testing Consultant for Diversified Investment Advisors in NY Retirement Plan Coordinator for The Capital Group Companies in CA Retirement Plan Coordinator for The Capital Group Companies in TX DB Administrator for Matthews, Gold, Kennedy & Snow, Inc. in AZ Senior Business Analyst for 401(k) Recordkeeper and Administrator in NJ 401k Plan Technician/Analyst for YHB Retirement Services LLC in CT 401(k) Account Administrator for INTRUST Bank in KS Conversion/Transitions Manager - Institutional Trust for M&I Trust Company in WI Pension DC/DB Manager for PR and Associates in ND Benefits Manager for Continuiti Interim HR Professionals in AZ Sr. Retirement Analyst for Altivity Packaging, LLC in IL Client Coordinator for Hill, Chesson & Woody in NC Handy Links:
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