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March 13, 2009


Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy.

ASPPA (Adv.)

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Banner ad for ASPPA

The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT – Make your appointment Now!

Make an appointment for yourself March 22-24 to attend The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT. Join the experts in San Diego and attend sessions that will highlight:
  • Strategic Prospecting and Marketing
  • Best Practices for Growing Your Business
  • How Today’s Trends will Shape Your Future
  • News from Capitol Hill – The First 60 Days
  • Pending Legislation including Fee Disclosure
  • Servicing Your Clients in a New Market Environment
There’s still time, don’t wait and register NOW!

[Guidance Overview]
List of Expiring Tax Code Provisions Related to Retirement Plans

Excerpt: "The Joint Committee on Taxation has released a list of tax code provisions which expire between 2008 and 2020. This list contains a number of items which relate to qualified plans and IRAs. Specifically, as stated on the list . . . ." (Pension Protection Act Blog)


[Guidance Overview]
Pension Protection Act Amendments Required in 2009

Excerpt: "It doesn't matter what Cycle your plan is on -- PPA amendments must be done this year. And for Cycle D plans, this means the amendment must be adopted by 12/31/09, not by 1/31/10, when Cycle D plans are due at the IRS." (Stevenson Keppelman Associates)


[Guidance Overview]
Required Minimum Distributions from Defined Contributions Plans Waived for 2009 (PDF)

Excerpt: "The 2009 RMD waiver under the Act does apply to individuals who may be eligible to postpone taking their 2009 RMD until April 1, 2010 (generally retired employees and IRA owners who attain age 70-1/2 in 2009). However, the Act does not waive any RMDs for 2010. Accordingly, an individual who attains age 70-1/2 in 2009 would still have to take an RMD for 2010 by December 31, 2010." (Snell & Wilmer LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Managing the Public Sector through Fiscal Stress: Reductions in Force (PDF)

4 pages. Excerpt: "The issue also introduces a variety of approaches that Public Sector employers should consider for saving employment costs including hiring freezes, wage freezes, furloughs, early retirement windows, and, if ultimately needed, a RIF (either voluntary or involuntary)." (The Segal Group, Inc.)


Americans Mull the Choice: 401(k) or the Mattress?
Excerpt: "General Motors, Sears, Sprint Nextel, FedEx and Eastman Kodak are . . . on a list of companies that recently have slashed 401(k) matches or pension benefits. And that development has left [millions of Americans] worried about their retirement options." (npr.org)


Fact Sheet: How Is the Financial Crisis Affecting Retirement Savings? March 9, 2009, Update
Excerpt: "The stock market lost 56 percent of its value between September 30, 2007 and March 6, 2009, a roughly $13 trillion drop. The loss has reduced the retirement savings of many Americans, particularly older adults. This fact sheet examines the impact of the ongoing economic turmoil on older households and presents estimates of the retirement account losses to date." (The Urban Institute)


Pension Funds Unveil Market Regulation Principles
Excerpt: "Some of the largest U.S. public pension funds unveiled on Tuesday guidelines for regulations aimed at restoring confidence in capital markets, including a bigger role for shareholder activists from their ranks. The group urges five principles to rebuild trust in markets and serve as a framework for regulators, according to a statement from member Calpers, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest U.S. pension fund." (Reuters)


Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Servants Act of 2009 Legislation Introduced
Excerpt: "On March 10, 2009, Representative Joe Crowley (D-NY) introduced the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Servants Act of 2009 (HELPS II). The bill, which amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow certain public employees a deduction for distributions from governmental plans for health and long-term care insurance, is an extension of the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety Retirees Act (HELPS) that was signed into law as part of the Pension Protection Act of 1996." (National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems)


Arkansas Lawmakers Consider Giving Millions to State Police Retirement Fund
Excerpt: "The head of the state's public retirement system says the state police retirement system is losing money; others call it broken. To help fix the problem, the governor is supporting taking $9 million from the state's surplus money." (todaysthv.com.)


Baby Boomers are Changing Their Plans for Retirement
Excerpt: "The MetLife Mature Market Institute surveyed 910 1946-born baby boomers in 2007, when they were approximately age 61, about their retirement plans. Then they managed to track down 562 of them again in late 2008 to see if they followed through. Many didn't. Here's a look at how one extraordinary year altered baby boomer's retirement plans. Original plan: In 2007, about 11 percent of boomers born in 1946 said they planned to retire at age 62. Actual plan. Of those boomers, 71 percent did not retire." (U.S. News & World Report)


Elderly Immigrants' Labor Supply Response to Supplemental Security Income
Excerpt: "This paper examines the effect of changes in immigrant eligibility for Supplemental Security Income in 1996 on the employment and retirement behaviors of foreign-born elderly persons. I find that denial of SSI was associated with a 5 percentage point (15 percent) increase in the employment of non-citizen elderly men and a 5.6 percentage point (11 percent) decrease in their retirement rate." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)


Economic Restructuring and Retirement in Urban China
Excerpt: "In its gradual approach to economic transition, China deferred the difficult process of restructuring state owned enterprises (SOEs) until the mid-1990s. When restructuring of large scale SOEs accelerated after 1997, China witnessed sharp declines in the employment of urban residents. While some dislocated state sector workers made a transition to work in the non-state sector, large shares of laid off workers spent long periods unemployed or out of the labor force. Much of the transition out of the state sector occurred through early retirement and exit from the labor force of older workers." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)



SunGard (Adv.)

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Banner ad for SunGard

EFAST2 – Are you ready to electronically file 5500 forms?

Form 5500 must be electronically filed, beginning January 2010. Modifying your existing procedures and routines and helping your clients understand how to collaborate with you electronically are essential to meet the new requirements of the EFAST2 system. SunGard’s Relius Government Forms 5500 Web Client provides you and your clients an efficient and easy way to gather all necessary information and electronically file 5500 forms and schedules. Contact John Latson at 800-326-7235, ext. 1100.

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Golden Parachute Gross-Ups May Be Unnecessary for Many Executives
Excerpt: "Compensation committees have been reexamining their non-core compensation elements under the brighter light shone by the recent changes to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proxy disclosure rules. Severance and change-in-control (CIC) benefits seem to be attracting the most criticism these days, so many companies are reevaluating the business purpose and effectiveness of those first." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)


Employer Compensation Costs Average $29/Hour in December
Excerpt: "Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $29.18 per hour worked in December 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. A BLS news release said wages and salaries, which averaged $20.37, accounted for 69.8% of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.81, accounted for the remaining 30.2%. Employer costs for legally required benefits -- Social Security, Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation -- averaged $2.27, or 7.8% of total compensation per hour worked in December 2008." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)


Newly Posted Events

(Post Yours!)

New HIPAA Special Enrollment Rules: Update and Review
Nationwide on March 12, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters

"Participant Troubles: Loans and Hardship Distributions" Web Seminar
Nationwide on April 7, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius

"Plan Troubles: Reductions, Terminations, and Valuations" Web Seminar
Nationwide on April 9, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius

401(k) Plan Litigation: Employer Stock Suits Continue but Has Hecker v. Deere Changed the Fee Case Landscape?
Nationwide on April 7, 2009
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

How to Integrate FMLA with ADA, Short and Long-Term Disability (60-Minute Power Series)
Nationwide on March 24, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans


Newly Posted Press Releases

(Post Yours!)

Companies Remain Confident in Future of Health Benefits, National Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt Survey Finds
Watson Wyatt

PBGC Protects Intermet Corp. Pension Plans
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

ERIC Urges Congress to Enact Pathway for FDA Approval of Biogeneric Drugs
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)

Vanguard's Jack Bogle And Fiduciary360'S Blaine Aikin's Message To Congress: “Stop The Hemorrhaging ‘Trust’ Deficit In The Capital Markets; Enact A Fiduciary Standard Now”
Fiduciary360 (fi360)

yourSABBATICAL Identifies Time Away From Work as Innovative Solution to Flexibility and “Life-Work” Issues
yourSABBATICAL

First Rewards Paid to New Jersey Doctors through Participation in Bridges to Excellence
Bridges to Excellence (BTE)

EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Adv.)

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Where the best employers find the best candidates!

Where the best employers find the best candidates!

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