BenefitsLink |
 |
 |
| August 11, 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.)
| Software for Retirement and Cafeteria Plan Documents |
| Mention this ad for a special discount. Choose your documents: Retirement Plans: DC/401(k), 403(b), DB, Cash Balance Cafeteria Plans: 125, HSA, HRA, 132(f) Plans Choose your formats:
|
[Official Guidance] August 2008 Pension Funding Segment Rates
Generally for plan years beginning after 2007, the rates in the tables . . . apply for minimum funding requirements under section 430 of the Code. (Internal Revenue Service)
[Official Guidance] IRS 30 Year Treasury Securities Rate Updated for July 2008
30 Year Treasury Securities Rate for July 2008: 4.57% (Internal Revenue Service)
[Guidance Overview] DOL's FAQs on Service Provider Fee Reporting for the 2009 Form 5500 (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Plan service providers should get up to speed on this subject soon so that they can adequately disclose the required information to their customers in time to be included on Form 5500 for the 2009 plan year (for calendar year plans, this report generally is due in July 2010). This letter is primarily directed to service provider issues." (Kelly, Hannaford & Battles P.A.)
[Guidance Overview] Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated August 6, 2008, for Retirement Plans (PDF)
7 pages. This Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding retirement plans. (Hewitt Associates)
[Guidance Overview] IRS Mortality Tables for Defined Benefit Plans, Substitute Single-Employer Tables
Excerpt: "The mortality tables for both single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans contained in the final rules are generally applicable for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2008. The final rules concerning the approval and use of substitute mortality tables for single-employer plans are generally applicable for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview] IRS Mortality Tables for Pension Funding Calculations That Reflect Provisions of PPA
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations that provide new mortality tables to be used in determining present value or making any computation for purposes of applying certain pension funding requirements. The final regulations, which reflect provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), appeared in the July 31 Federal Register." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview] In Portugal, New Voluntary Plan Offers Saving Opportunities for Employees (PDF)
Excerpt: "Employees who are registered with the Portuguese social security system are eligible to participate in a new, voluntary defined contribution plan backed by the government. The new plan, which became available March 1, 2008, is known as the Regime Publico de Capitalização (the Public Capitalization System). It is intended to complement private pension plans and compensate for inadequate social security benefits, which the government has been seeking to address with a series of reforms dating back to 2002." (Towers Perrin)
Employers Boost 401(k)s to Meet Workers' Demand
Excerpt: "The trend of companies beefing up and expanding their 401(k) programs was underscored in a poll of senior finance executives from large companies nationwide, released Monday by the Charles Schwab Corp. The survey respondents were not disclosed but evidence of 401(k) upgrades abounds." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Listing of IRS Published Guidance for January - July 2008
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)
Audio: Retirement Reality: The Facts and Fiction of Income Adequacy
Excerpt: "Listen to Hewitt's Webcast, 'Retirement Reality: The Facts and Fiction of Income Adequacy,' featuring [their] expert, Alison Borland, Hewitt's Defined Contribution Consulting Practice Leader. Alison and Hewitt thought leaders Rob Reiskytl and Barb Hogg discuss the current state of the retirement landscape, examine strategies that work, and present results from the Hewitt survey, Total Retirement Income at Large Companies: The Real Deal 2008." (Hewitt Associates)
One-Fourth of DC Sponsors Lack Investment Policy Statement, According to Survey
Excerpt: "In a recent survey by Cowden Associates, 25% of defined contribution plan sponsors reported not having an investment policy statement (IPS)." (planadvisor)
Gender Disparities in Retirement
Excerpt: "Women worry more about their lives after work. And such worries may be valid. Because they live longer and earn less, they need to save more and invest more aggressively. But they're not -- and that's why HR leaders need to step in with help." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Sponsors Lack Confidence in Fee Disclosures
Excerpt: "Nearly one-fourth of plan sponsors surveyed by Mercer express a lack of confidence that fees associated with their 401(k) plans have been properly disclosed." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Employers Shift Retirement Savings Burdens from Participants
Excerpt: "Motivated by fear of a dwindling workforce and concerns about employee retirement readiness, 401(k) plan sponsors are 'diligently seeking better ways to leverage their investment in 401(k) plans to attract, motivate, and retain workers,' according to a report from Deloitte Consulting." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Labor Department Wants Independent Alternatives Valuation - Could Result in Increase in Expense and Work for Plan Fiduciaries
Excerpt: "The Department of Labor's regional office in Boston is investigating how corporate pension plan fiduciaries value their alternative investments. . . . Pension plans often rely on the financial statements of general partners to report the value of those investments in their Form 5500 annual filings with the DOL. But in at least one letter to an unidentified pension plan, James Benages, director of the DOL's Boston regional office, contends that plan fiduciaries need to have a process in place to independently evaluate the alternative assets." (Pensions & Investments)
Employer Mistakes Could Cost 401(k) Participants
Excerpt: "It's unclear how many companies are operating retirement plans that are not in compliance with Labor Department and Internal Revenue Service rules, but enough of them are cropping up in audits and voluntary compliance programs that the IRS is issuing new instruction manuals and talking to employers about these common mistakes. IRS investigators are finding compliance problems at about 65 percent of the companies they have audited over the past year . . . ." (Chicago Tribune)
A Retirement Plan Where Everything Goes Wrong
Excerpt: "[The 'Retirement Income IQ' study conducted this year by the MetLife Mature Market Institute] shows Americans continue to underestimate how long they may live and how much money they'll need in retirement, and to overestimate, often by large amounts, how much they can safely withdraw from their savings." (Chicago Tribune)
[Opinion] Frozen Pension Plan Sales Could Help Employers
Excerpt: "It's a fact that employers for years have been moving away from defined benefit plans in favor of defined contribution and similar approaches. Traditional pension plans entail heavy administrative and funding burdens, which many employers are loath to keep carrying. If the option of selling frozen plans enabled employers to better afford other retirement savings plans, that certainly would be in the public interest." (Business Insurance)
Sponsored by: 401khelpcenter.com
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| Make Your 401(k) Education a Takeaway Rather than a Throwaway!! |
| Are you a 401(k) plan sponsor who is looking for a cost-effective way to get your employees to appreciate their plan and save more? "It’s Your Money" information sheets are now available as e-mailable newsletters sent to your employees at the same time that they receive their quarterly 401(k) statements. They can now be customized with your company logo, a valuable retention tool! |
| (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
[Guidance Overview] Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated August 6, 2008, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
9 pages. This Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding human resources and employment law. (Hewitt Associates)
[Guidance Overview] New Proposed Regulation for Employee Stock Purchase Plans Under Code Sec. 423
Excerpt: "It is hard to get too excited about these proposed regulations since (i) the existing final regulations on Sec. 423 were last updated in 2004, and (ii) their effective date, upon publication as final regulations in the Federal Register, will be January 1, 2010. However, the proposed regs do provide helpful guidance in a few areas, including three of the areas where we see the most confusion among companies . . . ." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
[Guidance Overview] IRS's Proposed Regulations for Employee Stock Purchase Plans
Excerpt: "Employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) were added to the Internal Revenue Code by the Revenue Act of 1964. Since then, precious little official guidance has been available on these plans. . . . In this article, we'll give some very basic background on ESPPs and discuss some of the key points raised in the proposed regulations." (JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
[Guidance Overview] IRS's Proposed Reporting Requirements for Incentive Stock Options
Excerpt: "Prior to the law change, an employer's primary reporting responsibility was to the employee. Now, similar information will be required to be provided to the IRS to ensure taxpayer compliance with the associated ordinary income tax and capital gains requirements. In this article, we review the implications of these proposed requirements." (JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
SPEEA Demands Boeing Disclose Funding of Executive Pensions
Excerpt: "The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, formally requested the information from Boeing after a recent investigative news report by The Wall Street Journal uncovered U.S. corporations funding executive pensions by funneling funds through regular employee plans. This practice weakens employees' pensions while allowing corporations to take advantage of huge tax benefits not normally available for executive pension plans." (Business Wire via MarketWatch)
Newly Posted Press Releases
MassMutual's e4(SM) Handheld Technology Drives Retirement Plan Participants to New Heights in Participation and Savings
MassMutual Retirement Services
AIG Advisor Group Approves PPC Designation Across Network
Financial Service Standards, LLC
CCH Says High Gas Prices May Cause Employers to Rethink Telecommuting, Compressed Work Weeks
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Accord Human Resources Exhibits Excellence Through CEFEX Certification
Roland|Criss Fiduciary Services
Corporate America Playing Larger Role in Employee Retirement Readiness Says New Study from Schwab and CFO Research
Charles Schwab Corporation
SPEEA Demands Boeing Disclose Funding of Executive Pensions
Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
RSS Feed )
Pension Administrator/TPA
for Block Consulting Actuaries, Inc.
in CA
401(k) Processor
for Pen-Cal Administrators
in CA
Documents Supervisor
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA
Senior Specialist, Retirement
for Montgomery County Public Schools
in MD
Participant Services Representative II
for The Standard
in TX
Defined Contribution Analyst III
for The Standard
in TX
Retirement Services District Manager
for ADP Retirement Services
in CA, CT, MD, OH, PA, TX
ERISA Attorney
for Archer, Byington, Glennon & Levine, LLP
in NY
Account Manager - Conversions
for The Standard
in ANY STATE
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This newsletter is sent to you each workday except federal holidays.
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2008 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: