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Retirement News for Employers, Summer 2007 (PDF)
9 pages. The newsletter contains: Announcing the New Interactive Navigator; Critical FewPoints ... by Monika Templeman (Director, EP Examinations); The Fix Is In: Common Plans Mistakes; DOL News; The Filing Cabinet; Net Gains; Let's Just Take One Three-Month Period at a Time; and the 'Timing is Everything' Flyer." (Internal Revenue Service)
Is This Newsletter Meeting Your Needs?
Is this newsletter meeting your needs? Give publisher Dave Baker a birthday present today (49!) by letting us know. Click the link to go to a short online form. Thanks! (BenefitsLink.com)
Overview: Rev. Rul. 90-24 Transfers after the Final 403(b) Regulations
Excerpt: "Under existing rules, participants in section 403(b) tax-sheltered arrangements generally had the ability to transfer assets out of their plan accounts on a tax-free basis to another investment provider. The new final regulations will have a major (possibly phrased 'crippling') impact on this ability." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Law Professor Writes about an Improved American Retirement System
Excerpt: "Jon Forman (Oklahoma) has written an interesting op-ed in the Journal Record about how he believes America is in the process of building a better retirement system. [This blog relates some of his thoughts.]" (Workplace Prof Blog)
Working Paper: Rethinking Social Security Claiming in a 401(k) World
Excerpt: "This chapter argues that previous research on Social Security take-up alternatives has failed to recognize critical factors that greatly impact the discussion on when it is most beneficial to start Social Security retirement benefits. We show that the effect of taxes can have a dramatic effect on the financial security of retirees, yet the taxation caused by IRA withdrawals and the interaction with Social Security has been largely misunderstood." (Pension Research Council; registration required to download fulltext of paper)
Working Paper: Planning and Financial Literacy - How Do Women Fare?
Excerpt: "Of particular concern is the relative position of older women, who are more vulnerable to old-age poverty due to their longer longevity. This paper uses data from a special module we devised on planning and financial literacy in the 2004 Health and Retirement Study. The evidence indicates that women display much lower levels of financial literacy than the older population as a whole." (Pension Research Council; registration required to download fulltext of paper)
Overview: Expiring Soon: Charitable Donations from an IRA
Excerpt: "Pension Protection Act Section 1201 permits an IRA owner who is age 70-1/2 or older to make a direct, tax-free donation of up to $100,000 per year from his or her IRA to a qualified charitable organization during the 2006 and 2007 tax years. This option expires December 31, 2007." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Overview: IRS Temporary Relief from Regs Permitting In-Service Distributions on Attainment of NRA
Excerpt: "The IRS has issued a Notice providing temporary relief from certain provisions of recently-issued final regulations that permit pension plans to commence payment of retirement benefits prior to the participant's severance from employment, as long as the participant had attained 'normal retirement age.'" (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
'The IRA Rollover Market 2007' Report Shows IRA Rollover Market Makes Strong Comeback
Excerpt: "The IRA rollover market grew by 38% from 2004 to 2007, rebounding from an 11% decline in assets rolled over from 2000 to 2004." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Defined Benefit Plan Participants Not Entitled to Surplus Plan Assets
Excerpt: "The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Moore Wallace North Inc. never went through with its plan to terminate its defined benefit plan, so plan participants are not entitled to $200 million in surplus assets." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Don't Be Pushed Into IRA Early-Withdrawal Schemes
Excerpt: "[F]ederal regulators last month began a 'sweep' of broker/dealers that focuses, according to published reports, on clients' retirement accounts and the use of a section of the tax code allowing them to withdraw money before turning 591/2. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is focusing on 'all seminars and/or other events directed at potential or early retirees, including prospects that are under 59-and-a-half years old.'" (Yahoo! Finance)
Corporate Pension Funds Have Top Institutional Investor Returns
Excerpt: "Institutional investors tallied double-digit returns over the last year as the bull market raged on, with corporate pension funds earning better than the average fund, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service, which benchmarks more than 1,470 institutional investment plans with nearly $3.2 trillion in assets." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States
Excerpt: "Overall, the authors provide for the reader expectations about the key forces in the economy today and their implications for the future workforce and workplace, including the size, composition, and skills of the workforce; the nature of work and workplace arrangements; and worker compensation. [Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available.]" (RAND)
Are SEC Filings Subject to ERISA Fiduciary Standards? (PDF)
Excerpt: "When defined contribution pension plans invest in company stock, a number of federal courts have held that plan fiduciaries may be liable under ERISA for misrepresentations (or omissions) contained in the sponsoring company's SEC filings. This result effectively creates a companion ERISA case for most federal securities fraud actions. Until recently, these holdings were limited to cases where the Summary Plan Description ('SPD') expressly incorporated by reference the sponsor's SEC filings." (Alston & Bird LLP)
New Resource: AltLaw Proposes to Compete with Lexis, Westlaw by Providing Free Case Law Access
Excerpt: "Search the full text of the U.S. Supreme and Circuit Appeals Courts . . . ." (Columbia Law School's Program on Law and Technology / Silicon Flatirons Program, University of Colorado Law School)
Apology Sent Over CalPERS Privacy Error
Excerpt: "State pension fund officials apologized . . . to hundreds of thousands of retirees whose Social Security numbers were printed on brochures mailed out last week and vowed to take immediate steps to ensure that such an error does not happen again." (The Sacramento Bee; free registration required)
SEC Kicks Into Phase One of Pay-Disclosure Review with Letters to Select Companies
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun sending comment letters to a select group of mostly large companies asking for more information about their executive pay programs, sources told Financial Week." (Financial Week; free registration required)
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in FL
Retirement Plans Business Development Officer
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Director of Benefits
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in IA
Director, Office of Research and Strategic Planning
for Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
in DC
Financial Transactions Specialist
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ
Not-for-Profit Regional Consultant
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
401(k) Sales
for A.N. Ansay & Associates, Inc.
in WI
Documents Supervisor
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA
Implementation Specialist
for McCamish Systems
in GA
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