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| May 29, 2007 |
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Pick and choose the software modules you need: DC/401(k) Proposals & Administration -- DB Proposals & Administration -- Retirement Plan Documents (Prototype and Volume Submitters) -- Government Forms (5500s, 1099-Rs, 5300s) -- Cafeteria Plan Administration & Documents -- Participant Termination Calculations -- FAS 132 Reporting Contact sales@datair.com or call 1-888-328-2474. |
Text of IRS Prop. Regs on Calculation of Present Value Under Retirement Plans, Including Sec. 415 (PDF)
17 pages. Excerpt: "These proposed regulations set forth the methodology the IRS and the Treasury Department would use to establish mortality tables as provided under section 430(h)(3)(A) to be used for participants and beneficiaries to determine present value or make any computation under section 430. These mortality tables would apply as well for purposes of determining the current liability of a multiemployer plan pursuant to section 431(c)(6)(D)(iv)(II)." (Internal Revenue Service)
Substitute Mortality Table Proposal Unveiled
Excerpt: "The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service have issued proposed rules (REG-143601-06) and mortality tables, including substitute mortality tables, for determining present value and pension funding computations." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Stock-Drop Suits Hitch 401(k) Ride
Excerpt: "The heyday of stock-drop lawsuits may be over, but plaintiffs' lawyers have found a new vehicle -- ERISA, with its easier standard of proof -- and are using it to target companies that offer their own stock in their 401(k) plans." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Opinion: When Baby Boomers Cash in - What Difference Will It Make?
Excerpt: "Will stocks suffer a multidecade bear market as the baby-boom generation sells its shares to support its retirement? Some have predicted such an outcome, but a new study -- which projects huge growth in 401(k) assets in future decades -- paints a far more sanguine picture." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Overview: Safe Harbor 401(k) Notice Rules: for a New Plan and for a New Employee
Excerpt: "A brand new 401(k) plan is established with safe harbor provisions. The plan has immediate eligibility provisions and entry date coinciding with the effective date of the plan for deferrals and employer contributions. The plan will need to provide the safe harbor notice at anytime between 90 days before the effective date of the plan and up to the actual effective date of the plan." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Overview: Final Roth Regulations on Distributions, Rollovers and Reporting
Excerpt: "The final regulations overwhelmingly represent the retention of the proposed regulations. However, there are a number of changes due to the Pension Protection Act and some from suggestions from commentators that were incorporated.' (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
401(k) Plan Contributions, Social Security Benefits, and Income Taxation
Excerpt: "[L]et's consider the composition, and disposition, of each dollar that goes into a typical 401(k) plan. In a typical plan, every dollar of employee contribution is matched by 50 cents of employer contribution. So each dollar going in is 67 cents of employee money and 33 cents of employer money. Question: What is the composition of each dollar coming out? Answer: There are four levels, depending on your tax status." (The Dallas Morning News: free registration required)
Fiduciaries Rebuffed in 401(k) Forfeiture Account Usage
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Virginia has rebuffed efforts by two executives and admitted fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan to apply a $39,000 plan forfeiture account balance to their overall liability for admittedly breaching their plan responsibilities." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Overview: Liability Driven Investing for Defined Benefit Plan Trustees (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "Liability driven investing (LDI) is an asset allocation framework that focuses on the relationship between pension assets and liabilities with the ultimate objective of reducing plan sponsor financial statement and funding volatility. . . . Fueling the interest in LDI are recent changes in financial accounting and federal funding standards for DB plans and their sponsors and the anticipation of additional accounting rule changes in the near future." (Pyramis Global Advisors)
Working Paper: The Impact of Pension Freezes on Firm Value
Excerpt: "Many large corporations have recently announced that they are freezing their defined benefit plans, which generally means that no new accruals are permitted. We examine whether the announcement of such pension freezes contribute to company value creation." (Pension Research Council; registration required to download full-text of paper)
D.C. Metro Gives Staff Free Ride to Retirement
Excerpt: "Unlike most American workers, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority employees receive handsome pensions without ever contributing a penny to their pension fund. The annual pension payments, some unusually generous, are funded entirely by Metro riders an d taxpayers." (The Examiner)
Air Line Pilots Association Sets Lobbying Course on New Pilot Retirement Rule
Excerpt: "Commercial airline pilot union officials on Friday dropped their support of the government's Age 60 retirement rule and pledged to work with lawmakers and the Bush Administration on new retirement regulations." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Airline Provision Would Allow Higher Interest Rate
Excerpt: "U.S. airlines that haven't frozen their pension plans, including AMR Corp. unit American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., would be allowed to use substantially higher interest rates to value plan liabilities under legislation President Bush is expected to sign . . . ." (Business Insurance)
Overview: IRS Final Rules on In-Service Distributions Upon Attainment of Normal Retirement Age
Excerpt: "The IRS has issued final regulations permitting distributions to be made from a pension plan upon the attainment of normal retirement age prior to a participant's severance from employment with the employer maintaining the plan." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Plan Forfeitures Cannot Be Used to Offset Personal Liability for Fiduciary Breach
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This lawsuit, brought by the DOL to recover the funds owed to the plan, highlights that one of the DOL's enforcement priorities is the timely deposit of participant contributions and loan repayments into the plan's trust and that 'timely deposit' means as soon as the contributions can reasonably be segregated from the employer's assets (that is, as soon as possible)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Overview of the 2007 IRA Reporting Changes - IRS Addresses PPA Provisions
Excerpt: "This article will discuss specific changes and new information affecting traditional and Roth IRA reporting on Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., and Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Policy Proposal: a Pathway Financial Security for All Americans-- Savings for Life
Excerpt: "[We propose] a package of four complementary savings vehicles that can significantly improve the savings options for all Americans across the lifespan: Child Accounts . . . Home Accounts to be used for a down payment on a home. . . . America's IRA . . . for Americans who do not have access to an employer plan . . . . [and] Security Plus Annuities to . . . partner the familiar and universal Social Security program with the private market . . . ." (Lisa Mensah and Pamela J. Perun via Social Science Research Network)
7th Cir. Upholds Mandatory Retirement for Chicago Firefighters
Excerpt: "When Congress extended the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to state and local governments in 1974, no exception was made for individuals employed as police officers and firefighters; consequently, age limits were permitted only to the extent that employers could establish that age was a bona fide occupational qualification for the job." (Cypen & Cypen)
Overview: The Final 415 Regulations Addressing the Correction of Excess Annual Additions
Excerpt: "[T]he new 2007 regulations explain that the excess annual addition correction methods we have used since the release of the 1981 regulations remain available under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS; Rev. Proc. 2006-27)." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Overview: IRS Final Regulations Under Section 415 of Internal Revenue Code (PDF)
Excerpt: "Section 415 sets limits on benefits and contributions for tax-qualified retirement plans." (Dechert LLP)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Out of Retirement and Into an Uncertain Workplace
Excerpt: "It often takes many weeks, or even months, for older workers to find jobs, distinctly longer than their younger counterparts. In 2006, for instance, workers age 55 or older spent an average of 22 weeks looking for work." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Editorial: A Say on Executive Pay
Excerpt: "Executives have always been paid at the top of the corporate scale, but as the gap between them and average workers widens into a chasm, more people have begun to ask how much is too much." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Why Benefits Matter and How to Maximize the ROI (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "This article complements the third report from the 2006 Rewards of Work Study." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Third Report of Results from the 2006 Rewards of Work Study (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This report focuses on findings about benefit satisfaction, retention and productivity." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
CalPERS to Withhold Director Votes on Backdating Concerns
Excerpt: "The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is opposing the re-election of four more directors to the boards of companies named in the backdating of employee stock options." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Final Code § 409A Regulations: A "Nuts and Bolts" Approach
Nationwide on June 4, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
HIPAA and Health Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
in Wyoming on June 12, 2007
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Public Pension Plan Trends Teleweb
Nationwide on June 28, 2007
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Smoking Cessation and Other Wellness Programs -- Design and Compliance Teleweb
Nationwide on June 7, 2007
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
Rising Health Care Costs Worrying Workers, Watson Wyatt Survey Finds
Watson Wyatt
Remarks of Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao at Benefits Conference
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U. S. Labor Department Extends Annual Reports Deadline After Severe Storms And Flooding Hit Kansas
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Ability To Offer Uniform Health Benefits Essential For Multi-state Employers
American Benefits Council
Employers Coping with Military Leave
Human Resource Executive Magazine
New Study Explores Impact of Emotions on Retirement Investors
Prudential Financial, Inc.
Allied Pilots Association Cautions American Airlines Management about Pension Relief Contained in Spending Bill
Allied Pilots Association (APA)
MassMutual Sponsors First-Ever Study of Plan Sponsor Views of Retirement Advisors
MassMutual
Progress Made In Hospital Patient Safety ... But More Work Is Needed
Midwest Business Group on Health
WSJ.com/Harris Interactive Survey: Sixty-Nine Percent of Employed U.S. Adults Receive Some Type of Retirement/Savings Benefit from Their Employer
Wall Street Journal
RedBrick Health: First Consumer-Owned Health Company
RedBrick Health
The Flip Side of Higher Healthcare Costs - Lower Life Insurance Premiums
David Lindsey Agency
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Defined Contribution Testing & Reporting Consultant
for Fidelity Investments
in KY, TX
Pension 401(k) Administrator
for Actuaries and Associates
in TX
Office Manager -- Paramus Pension Office
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in NJ
Benefit Plan Administrator (Non-qualified)
for M Benefit Solutions
in OR
Compliance Manager, Retirement
for TRI-AD Actuaries
in CA
Disability Benefits Analyst
for Standard Insurance Company
in NY
Sr New Business Defined Contribution Analyst
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Investment Consultant - Entry
for Hewitt Associates
in CT
YTR Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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