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| June 4, 2007 |
Sponsored by: ASPPA and WP&BC
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| The Western Benefits Conference - July 22-25, 2007 |
| Benefits by the Bay, the best of two in one! Jointly sponsored by WP&BC and ASPPA, this conference has been designed with all retirement professionals in mind. Seven industry specific targeted learning tracks, the latest market trends, compliance issues and networking opportunities await. Get early bird registration discounts and learn more at www.asppa.org/wbc or www.westernpension.org |
Overview: IRS Issues Proposed Mortality Tables for Use with New Funding Rules
Excerpt: "Under the proposed regulations the generally applicable mortality tables would be based on the RP-2000 Mortality Tables Report. . . . The mortality tables the IRS issued earlier this year also provided separate rates for annuitants and nonannuitants. However, those final regulations permit plans to use a blended table instead of separate annuitant and nonannuitant rates for 2007 only." (Deloitte)
Overview: IRS Proposed Rules Provide Mortality Tables to Determine Present Value, Reflecting PPA
Excerpt: "The IRS has released proposed rules providing mortality tables to determine present value under Code Sec. 430, as well as permitting the use of substitute, plan-specific, tables, if certain conditions apply." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Opinion: Company Stock in 401(k) Plans Can Be Damaging
Excerpt: "Even if you think your employer represents the best investment in the world, you are focusing risk in one security, which is perilous. You count on your employer for salary and benefits. You needn't put your retirement on the line as well." (Bloomberg News)
Commentary: An Insider's View of 401k Fees
Excerpt: "It is easy to point fingers at an industry and say fees are high and imply that greedy corporations are making a killing off the common person. Look no further than the pharma.ceutical industry. But in the 401k industry, it is an inaccurate claim. The margins in the industry are generally thin." (Jeb Graham via 401khelpcenter.com)
Opinion: Are We Really Going to Patent Pension Advice?
Excerpt: "It has been suggested that tax advice and retirement planning ideas are patentable. . . . But I don't think it's a good idea. Now I understand that a lot of time and effort goes into making these plans and I understand the resentment when someone else prances in and copies the result, without having invested that time and effort. But justifiable resentment is not a test for a patent." (Pension & Benefits Blog)
Overview of Phase One of Phased Retirement (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The final regulations do not provide an effective date for the rule permitting pension plans to make in-service distributions to those participants who have reached the plan's normal retirement age. Presumably, no effective date was included because this rule was in effect prior to the release of the final regulations." (Dow Lohnes PLLC)
Employee Ownership Measures Up with Social Accounting
Excerpt: "Ernest Morgan's dream was to develop a business that would be based on equality, mutual responsibility and the dignity of people. 'Profit is necessary,' he wrote, 'but it is only a condition of staying in business and not the purpose. The real function of a business is serving human needs.'" (Ohio Employee Ownership Center via Beyster Institute)
Opinion: ESOPs and the Law of Unintended Results
Excerpt: "[P]erhaps 75 percent of all outcomes are unintended. And, more important, an unintended result is far more likely to be negative than positive. And, even more important, that the negative effect of an unintended result will be greater by a significant factor than the positive effect of a planned one." (Beyster Institute)
Federal Employee Savings Program May Require Divestment on Political and Social Issues
Excerpt: "The Thrift Savings Plan, a 401(k)-type program with 3.7 million participants, has practiced neutrality on political and social issues since its start two decades ago. But bills pending in Congress would pressure the TSP to reconsider that stance." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
UK Pensions Update (May 2007)
Excerpt: "The issue includes articles on the Pensions Regulator; Confirmation of 2007/2008 PPF levy calculation; Publication of draft regulations to ease winding-up of occupational pension schemes; Pensions implications of recent changes to maternity and adoption leave; Interplay between scheme contribution rule and the scheme specific funding legislation: British Vita Unlimited v British Pension Fund Trustees Ltd; and, Local Government Pension Scheme: GAD passports cease to be valid." (Baker & McKenzie LLP)
A Guide to Understanding Mutual Funds (PDF)
50 pages. Excerpt: "This guide . . . is intended to explain mutual funds and the basic principles of investing." (investment Company Institute)
Updated Council Cash Balance Plan Litigation Chart, May 2, 2007 (PDF)
18 pages. (American Benefits Council)
JP Morgan Cash Balance Case Gets Class Action Status
Excerpt: "Former and current employees of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. who claim the bank's cash balance plan is age discriminatory were awarded class-action status by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
AARP Segunda Juventud Hispanic Retirement Study: Financial Matters
Excerpt: "The views of Hispanics ages 40-74 on various retirement issues, including the sources of income they feel fairly certain they can rely on in their retirement years, and the reliability of Social Security for their children and grandchildren, are explored in this 2007 AARP omnibus survey." (AARP)
Sponsored by: ASC & The ASC Institute
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| Introducing Silver Support |
| Through ASCi's Document system, you can now ask experienced ERISA experts technical ERISA questions – and get a response within a day. When regulatory questions come up in your day-to-day retirement plan practice you’ll have ready access to the answers you need, providing valuable assistance to your practice and clients. For a small monthly fee, you can email the ASCi Consulting Team lead by Charles Lockwood, J.D., LL.M. and John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. and receive a quick response.
Sign up today! Simply download and complete the ASCi Silver Consulting Service Agreement and return to: ASCi, Attn: Silver Consulting Service, 18321 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 660, Tarzana, CA 91356. |
| (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
Connecticut Takes Up Fight Over GASB Accounting Rules
Excerpt: "The state is poised to enact a bill that would empower its comptroller to diverge not just from one accounting rule, but from all of them." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Overview: Executive Compensation and Bankrup.tcy: Retention Payment Rules
2 pages. Excerpt: "Federal trial courts have begun interpreting changes made to the Bankrup.tcy Code in 2005 that were designed to restrict retention pay and severance benefits. Several recent cases have addressed what constitutes a retention payment, so as to be subject to the special and strict rules on the addition of that type of compensation during bankrup.tcy." (NASPP Advisor via Utz Miller & Kuhn LLC)
Text of IRS Notice 2007-49: Determination of 'Covered Employees' Under Code Sec. 162(m)(3) (PDF)
Excerpt: "Section 162(m)(1) provides, in general, that in the case of any publicly held corporation, no deduction shall be allowed for applicable employee remuneration with respect to any covered employee [as defined in section 162(m)(3)] to the extent that the amount of such remuneration for the taxable year with respect to such employee exceeds $1,000,000." (Internal Revenue Service)
Listing of IRS Published Guidance for January-May 2007
Excerpt: "The target page links to guidance published by the Service relating to retirement plans: Treasury Regulations; Revenue Rulings; Revenue Procedures; Notices; and, Announcements." (Internal Revenue Service)
Newly Posted Events
Automatic Enrollment: Is It Appropriate for Your Clients? - Webcast
Nationwide on October 30, 2007
presented by McKay Hochman
Employees' Rights, Benefits and Obligations under USERRA: Legal and Practical Advice for the Employer - Webcast
Nationwide on June 7, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Newly Posted Press Releases
BenefitStreet Launches Direct Exchange Traded Fund 401k Platform
BenefitStreet, Inc.
Transamerica Adds Two New Fund Families to its Retirement Plan Offering
Transamerica Retirement Services
Metrics Partners Achieves 401k Electronic Marketing Milestone
Metrics Partners
ING Enhances Rollover Tool to Enable Employees to Rollover Assets Online
ING Group
The Online 401k Upgrades Integrated Customer Relationship Management Platform
The Online 401(k)
The Online 401k Partners With Two Financial Advisors
The Online 401(k)
SEC Plans Roundtable on Mutual Fund 12b-1 Fees
Securities and Exchange Commission
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Senior Plan Administrator
for American National Insurance Company
in TX
Internal Sales Consultant
for Transamerica
in MA, NJ
Retirement Services Consultant
for Administaff
in TX
Director, Benefits System
for 20th Century Fox
in CA
401(k) Plan Administrator
for Eisner Retirement Solutions
in NY
Actuarial Testing Director - Defined Benefits
for Fidelity Investments
in NY
Manager, Health and Welfare Plan
for Rockwell Automation
in WI
Paralegal - ERISA Claims And Appeals Analyst -- Excellent In-house Opportunity! Will Relocate!
for PROVIDUS
in TX
Programmer -- Senior Actuarial and Defined Contribution Programmer
for Leggette Actuaries, Inc.
in TX
401(k) Plan Administrator
for Actuarial and Administration Company
in TX
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Fred S. Shapiro & Associates, Inc.
in MD
Communications Strategist
for CitiStreet
in MA
Experienced Relius Benefit Administrator
for Employers Administrative Services, Inc.
in IA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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