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| March 26, 2008 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| DC/401(k) Administration Software from DATAIR |
| DATAIR's Defined Contribution System for Valuations, Discrimination Testing, and Proposals. Handles New Comparability Plans, Sole Proprietorships, 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Live, expert support.
DATAIR's DC/401(k) System includes
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[Guidance Overview] FASB Proposes to Expand Disclosure of Asset Categories and Asset Valuation Techniques
Excerpt: "The proposal would expand the list of asset categories that must be disclosed separately by sponsors of defined benefit plans and defined benefit postretirement plans. The fair value of the following major categories, if significant, would have to be disclosed . . . ." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview] Plan Amendment Can Correct Some Mistakes Using Self-Correction Program
Excerpt: "Some corrections for failure to follow the plan terms in operation can be made using plan amendments through the IRS's Self-Correction Program (SCP). Generally, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) is a series of correction programs that can be used to correct plan mistakes, that, if left uncorrected could result in the loss of tax-favored benefits for a plan." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview] Kraft 401(k) Plan Fee Suit Plaintiffs Lose Jury Trial Effort
Excerpt: "Because 401(k) participants suing Kraft Foods Global Inc., over plan fees are relying on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for their claims, they do not have a right to a jury trial. That was the bottom line of a recent ruling by a federal judge in Illinois in the Kraft participants' excessive fee suit. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois asserted that Section 502(a) (2) of ERISA does not give litigants a right to a jury trial." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Pennsylvania upholds D.R.O.P. for City of Erie Firefighters
Excerpt: "The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has ordered the city of Erie to restore the lump-sum retirement plan for its firefighters. The board, in a March 18 ruling, upheld a proposed decision issued by one of its hearing examiners in early January. The PLRB said the city was guilty of an 'unfair labor practice' by failing to negotiate with firefighters before eliminating the program, known as the Deferred Retirement Option Plan." (Erie Times-News)
Worry-Free Retirement for All Personality Types
Excerpt: "In talking to retirees and advisers across the country, we found that people with a clear idea of what they wanted from retirement -- people with distinct retirement 'personalities' -- sidestepped much of the worry. Above all they had an edge when it came to making sound plans and saving the right amount. Five personalities emerged from our reporting." (SmartMoney)
Six Blunders That Ruin Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "Regular contributions to an IRA or 401(k) are a good start, but accumulating money is only part of the retirement-planning equation. Securing a comfortable retirement is a tricky process that requires careful planning; a few bad moves can cost you dearly in the long run." (U.S. News & World Report)
San Diego Mayor Proposes Hybrid Pension Plan
Excerpt: "Mayor Jerry Sanders is proposing to switch new non-safety employees to a hybrid pension system that includes a lower-paying defined benefit plan, a mandatory 401(a) defined contribution plan and a voluntary 401(k) plan. Under the mayor's proposal, new city employees' benefits would get fewer benefits from the existing $5.05 billion defined benefit plan." (Pensions & Investments)
What Are Pensions Worth?
Excerpt: "[T]he new proposal would require plan sponsors to disclose separately on its annual balance sheet the fair value of each 'significant' category of plan assets. The categories would include cash and cash equivalents; equities; national, state, and local government debt; corporate debt; asset-backed securities; and structured debt." (CFO.com)
CalPERS Tackles Private Equity Legislation - Opposes Proposed Legislation on Allocations to Private Equity Funds of Sovereign Wealth Investors
Excerpt: "Sovereign wealth funds have drawn much attention from many corners, including Congress. But, proposed legislation in California seeking to restrict pension fund allocations to sovereign wealth-backed private equity firms is taking center stage in the institutional investor community." (IDDmagazine.com)
457 Plan Sponsor of the Year - the State of Hawaii
Excerpt: "Participation in the State of Hawaii Deferred Compensation Plan stands at about 35%. That far exceeds the average 21.6% participation rate among state 457 plans, according to data from the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc. (NAGDCA). Plan officials point to a major education push and a culture that highly values saving as explanations." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
West Virginia Teachers' Pension Plan Revised
Excerpt: "The latest pension proposal, approved in the legislature's recently concluded special session, offers teachers a chance to move from a 401(k)-style defined-contribution retirement system to a defined-benefit program that would give teachers a guaranteed pension upon retirement." (Education Week)
Text and Audio - Pension Funds Looking at Real Estate Investments
Excerpt: "It's not just wannabe homebuyers who are keeping an anxious eye on the real estate market. State pension funds lost billions when the subprime loan crisis hit and the market collapsed. But now they smell a bargain and they're getting back into the game. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports." (American Public Media)
Proposed - that Two Largest Texas Pension Funds Loan Money for Infrastructure Projects
Excerpt: "Senate Finance Committee chairman Steve Ogden floated the idea of a public-private partnership to invest in roads and other infrastructure in Texas, possibly using state pension fund money. His rationale: if the likes of Spanish company Cintra are willing to pony up billions of dollars (eventually) to build and operate roads in Texas, why not get the state's big pension funds into the deals as lenders or investors?" (The Austin American-Statesman)
Retirement Industry Clients Left to Grapple with Longevity Risk
Excerpt: "As more companies continue to freeze their defined benefit plans, individuals are forced to manage their own longevity risks when they retire, said a retirement industry leader today." (Investment News; free registration required)
Bear Investors May Seek Restraining Order on Buyout
Excerpt: "Two pension funds may ask a Delaware court for an emergency order to stall JPMorgan Chase & Co . . . from moving forward with its takeover of Bear Stearns Co Inc . . . a plaintiff's lawyer said . . . ." (Reuters)
New edition of the book S Corporation ESOPs
The NCEO presents excerpts from the new (third) edition of its book S Corporation ESOPs, a guide to the issues involved with having an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in a subchapter S corporation. The third edition features two new chapters, plus updates to other chapters. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
More Employees Borrowing Against 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "Retirement plan participants are taking out loans on their investments at an accelerated rate jeopardizing their future assets, a leading Boston College researcher says. The percentage of participants in 401(k) programs who have taken a loan from their investments rose from 9 percent in 2005 to 18 percent in 2007, said Alicia Munnell, director of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
[Opinion] News That Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Will Diversify Portfolio to Include More Equities Ought to Concern Taxpayers
Excerpt: "The PBGC is a quasi-government agency -- a 'federal corporation' -- created in 1974 to guarantee pension benefits for U.S. workers and retirees. Operating as both an insurance business and pension fund, it is financed by corporate premiums and the assets it inherits when taking over failed pension plans. By the end of last year, the agency had amassed a $14 billion deficit, and the new policy is designed to erase that red ink with higher investment returns." (The Wall Street Journal)
[Opinion] The New Retirement Drama: ESOPs
Excerpt: "As Bear Stearns becomes the latest corporate giant to implode, a new group of employees must face retirement with far less savings than they anticipated. While the Bear Stearns debacle is reminiscent of Enron Corp.'s $2 billion pension disaster, it highlights a different potential employee investment drama. How will retirement savings held in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)--such as the one at Bear Stearns--fare if more companies disappear into the mortgage morass." (Treasury & Risk)
[Opinion] George L. Chimento Comment Letter on Massachusetts Taxing Owners and Partners on 401(k) Savings (PDF)
3 pages. (theworkplace.biz)
Sponsored by: ASPPA
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| The ERISA Outline Book |
| Stay current with The ERISA Outline Book, 2008 Edition, by Sal Tripodi, J.D., LL.M. only from ASPPA. Available in both print or on CD, this one of a kind resource has become the must have for anyone working in the pension industry today. Fully updated with the latest guidance on a variety of PPA 2006 items, the 2008 Edition also includes automatic enrollment guidance including QACAs, final regulations on QDIA's, guidance on benefit restrictions and much more. Stay current and order your copy today. |
| (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
OMB Announces New Cap on Executive Compensation Costs in Federal Contracts
Excerpt: "The ceiling on executive compensation costs under government contracts is $14,284 higher in fiscal 2008 than in fiscal 2007, according to an administration memo released Tuesday." (National Journal Group, Inc.)
National Compensation Survey - Employee Benefits in State and Local Governments in the United States, September 2007 (PDF)
32 pages. Excerpt: "In addition to presenting data on access to and participation in benefit plans, the tables in this release include data on provisions of life insurance plans, employee contributions to costs of medical care premiums, the allocation of medical plan costs between employees and employers, and employer premiums." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Elkhorn, Nebraska, Retention Agreements Promise Severance Pay and Benefits to Town Workers in Case Omaha Annexes
Excerpt: "Former employees of Elkhorn are asking the state's highest court to decide whether the city of Omaha owes them thousands of dollars in severance packages. A lower court has ruled that the contracts the employees had with Elkhorn are against the law." (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Outlook Remains Bleak for Two U.S. Social Insurance Programs
Excerpt: "The Bush administration issued a grim report [yesterday] on the financial outlook for Medicare and Social Security, but said the condition of the programs had not significantly deteriorated since last spring." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs - A Summary of the 2008 Annual Reports
Excerpt: "The financial difficulties facing Social Security and Medicare pose enormous challenges. The sooner these challenges are addressed, the more varied and less disruptive their solutions can be. We urge the public to engage in informed discussion and policymakers to think creatively about the changing needs and preferences of working and retired Americans. A national conversation and timely political action are essential to ensure that Social Security and Medicare continue to play a critical role in the lives of all Americans." (Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees)
The 2008 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds
Excerpt: "The 2008 OASDI Trustees Report . . . presents the current and projected future financial status of the trust funds." (Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds)
Babies-at-Work Programs Let New Parents Stay Close to Their Kids
Excerpt: "At a few companies in Texas and across the country, every day is Bring Your Baby to Work Day. They let employees bring their infants to the office, typically until they're about 6 months old. But some say that dirty diapers and blankies don't mix with coffee pots and cubicles. They say it's a liability issue for employers, they wonder whether babies will distract workers, and they question whether parents will be fully engaged in their work." (The Dallas Morning News)
Social Security's Financial Outlook - The 2008 Update in Perspective
Excerpt: "The Trustees of the Social Security system have just issued the 2008 projections for the system over the next 75 years. The report contains two surprises. First, the 75-year deficit dropped to 1.70 percent of taxable payrolls from the roughly 2 percent it has been for the last 14 years. The decline was driven primarily by a change in the way Social Security projects immigration." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Newly Posted Events
401(k) Plan Workshop
in Massachusetts on April 25, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Plan Workshop
in New York on April 25, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Plan Workshop
in Texas on April 25, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
Annual Spring Employee Benefits Law and Practice Update - Webcast
Nationwide on May 1, 2008
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)
Form 5500 Workshop
in Massachusetts on April 24, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
Form 5500 Workshop
in Texas on April 24, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
Form 5500 Workshop
in New York on April 24, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
Newly Posted Press Releases
Statement by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on the 2008 Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund Reports
U.S. Department of Treasury
Buck's Canadian Health Care Survey Finds Slight Slowdown in Cost Increases, But Double-Digit Trend Continues
Buck Consultants, an ACS Company
PacifiCare Capitulates to Latest Patient Revolt
California Nurses Association
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Director, Plan Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
Employee Benefits / ERISA Attorney
for Hill Ward Henderson
in FL
DC Plan Consultant
for E.A. Edberg Associates, Inc.
in AZ
Plan Administrator
for The Newport Group
in FL
Employee Benefits Manager
for National Federation of Independent Business
in TN
Defined Contribution Administrator
for Pension Resources, Inc.
in PA
Benefits Analyst
for Chugach Alaska Corporation
in DC
Daily 401k Plan Administrator
for The Newport Group
in NC
Senior DC Plan Administrator
for Columbus Retirement Administrators, Inc.
in OH
Pension Plan Administrator/Pension Plan Actuary
for The Waage Law Firm
in CA
Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Administrator
for Loren D. Stark Company, Inc.
in TX
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Northeast Professional Planning Group, Inc.
in NJ
Retirement Plan Conversion Project Manager
for Charles Schwab
in TX
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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