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March 31, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
ASPPA (Advert.)
Stay Up To Date at the 2009 Great Lakes Benefits Conference, April 20-21, 2009 Today’s ever changing environment requires you to stay up to date. Get the most for your time and money with ASPPA and the IRS at this annual event. Featured sessions include plan investments and fiduciary responsibility in a troubled economy, current issues impacting EGTRRA restatement and practice management for TPA’s. Join other employee benefit professionals this year in Chicago, IL. Register now and save at www.asppa.org/greatlakes. |
[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS 'Employee Plans News'; Special Edition, March 2009; Corporate Bond Yield Curve OK for 2009 (PDF)
1 page. This Special Edition states that defined benefit plans may use a reasonable interpretation in selecting a yield curve for determining a plan's liabilities for funding purposes; a corporate bond yield curve can be used, determined without regard to 24 month averaging, for any applicable month to determine pension funding obligations for a plan year that begins before issuance of final regulations under Code section 430. Excerpt: "Thus, for a calendar year plan with a January 1, 2009 valuation date, the IRS will not challenge the use of the monthly yield curve for January 2009, or any one of the four months immediately preceding January 2009." (Internal Revenue Service)
[Guidance Overview]
Don't Throw Baby Boomers Out with the Bath Water: Consider Phased Retirement
Excerpt: "As baby boomers have grown older, many companies have toyed with the idea of establishing a phased retirement program. But now that the economic crisis is forcing organizations to reduce costs any way they can, more and more are giving phased retirement a serious look. In the past, it was not unusual for businesses to offer selected employees an informal opportunity to scale back their hours or continue working part time after they retired. However, until recently, a number of real and perceived barriers discouraged organizations from offering phased retirement on a widespread basis." (Deloitte Development LLC)
[Guidance Overview]
DOL's Delay of Final Investment Advice Regulations for 60 Days Allows for Legal and Policy Review
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: The DOL's notice does not offer any clues as to what changes, if any, might follow from its legal and policy review, so plan sponsors and others will simply have to wait and see what the DOL decides. The final regulations did not permit plans to rely on the regulations before their effective date. And even if they did allow early reliance, acting in conformity with the final regulations now would be risky since so little is known about what may result from the DOL's review." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
403(b) Plan Document Requirement: Eight Things Tax-Exempt Organizations and Public Schools Must Address
Excerpt: "Until this year, 403(b) plans that were ERISA plans nevertheless had only minimal financial reporting obligations on Form 5500. New Department of Labor regulations (independent of the new 403(b) tax regulations) effective for 2009 now impose on ERISA 403(b) plans the same reporting requirements applicable to (for instance) 401(k) plans. Notably, 403(b) plans with more than 100 participants must supply an audited financial statement as part of their filing. Form 5500 schedules themselves have been expanded to collect new and detailed information about plan arrangements with insurance companies and other service providers. These schedules may need to include information relating to annuity contracts held by former employees. Affected employers must engage an accountant for the plan, and ensure they have systems in place to obtain, track and report the required information." (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
May an Adviser Give Plan Participants Conflicted Investment Advice? (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "What's the argument about? [Answer:] There's a choice of two different ways for an investment adviser to manage its conflicts of interests. Advice with level fees . . . . [and] Advice 'cleansed' by an independent expert. . . ." (Fiduciary Guidance Counsel)
Stock Market Volatility Measures in Perspective
Excerpt: "Stock market volatility is the fluctuation in price of broad stock market indexes over a defined period. However, different measures of this volatility exist, each with important nuances. This brief is intended to serve as a primer to help in the understanding of these stock market volatility measures." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)
Program Perspectives on Retirement Benefits (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Fifty-one percent of all private-industry employees participated in a retirement plan in March 2008. . . . Most workers had only one type of retirement plan in March 2008, but some had two. Forty-three percent of private-industry workers had a defined-contribution plan and 20 percent had a defined-benefit plan." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Rep. Darrell Issa Pushes for Federal Employee Retirement System Reform
Excerpt: "One program the California congressman would like to torpedo is the defined-benefit retirement system for federal employees. He shared his thoughts with the Federal Diary. Q: You told the Federal Managers Association that 'we have to come up with a better retirement system' for federal workers. What's wrong with the current system? Currently, the federal government is facing a massive retirement wave due to the baby-boomer generation approaching retirement age, which will cause us to lose our most experienced employees. This is exacerbated by a structural flaw which incentivizes our most qualified employees to take that retirement rather than stay around." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Union Asks Government to Intervene on New Tax Tables for Pensioners
Excerpt: "In a letter to lawmakers and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME) has asked for a change in the Internal Revenue Service directive to apply new withholding tables to pension payments." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Recession Has Changed Americans' Savings Views
Excerpt: "Americans say that even after the recession ends, their spending will return to just 86% of pre-recession levels, which equates to an approximate 10% drop, or more than $1 trillion annually, in GDP, according to a new survey by AlixPartners LLP, a global business-advisory firm." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Survey Results of the Nation's Largest Private Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors
65 pages. Excerpt: "At the time of the survey, most sponsors reported no plans to revise plan formulas, freeze or terminate plans, or convert to hybrid plans before 2012. When asked about the influence of recent legislation or changes to the rules for pension accounting and reporting, responding firms generally indicated these were not significant factors in their benefit decisions. Finally, a minority of sponsors said they would consider forming a new DB plan." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
The Future of Social Security: Principles to Guide Reform
Excerpt: "Reform of the Social Security system appears inevitable. The only questions are how and when. This Article discusses the principles that should guide reform. It begins by describing Robert Ball's 'nine guiding principles' underlying the current Social Security system. It then identifies the seven principles that should guide reform of the system. The principles call for retaining Social Security's fundamental structure but gradually introducing changes on both the revenue and benefit side so as to distribute the burden of reform widely across and within generations. Beyond that, the principles offer considerable flexibility in the final details of reform. " (Social Science Research Network)
Responding to Outcry, Massachusetts Senate Unveils Pension Reform Plan
Excerpt: "Senate President Therese Murray this afternoon announced a variety of proposals to reform the state's pension system, responding to several high-profile cases and simmering public outrage. With House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo by her side, Murray said the Senate planned to approve seven proposals Tuesday aimed at closing several pension loopholes that have been exploited by public employees." (The Boston Globe)
Pension Benefit Information (PBI) (Advert.)
Time is Running Out...PPA Mandatory Funding Notice Deadline is April 30th Missing Addresses? Old Addresses? PBI can provide address information or verify information on file in time to meet the disclosure deadline. P.A.S.S. (Participant Address Search Service) is a low cost solution with guaranteed 24 Hour Turn-Around.
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Don't Forget Your Compensation Committee Certification
Excerpt: "This is the time of year when we like to remind public company clients that the compensation committee of the board of directors must take one last formal step to take advantage of the performance-based compensation exception to the $1 million deductibility limit of Code Section 162(m) (actually, last month would have been better, but we were all caught up in EESA, TARP, AIG, etc.)." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Use of the Company Aircraft: Time for a Broader Perspective (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "Away from the glaring lights of the media and the well-publicized outcry over executive use of private airplanes lurks a story that is less appealing to mainstream news outlets -- the regulatory framework of the private aircraft fringe benefit. Yet, a set of rules the IRS is now crafting will matter long after any public sensation and the debates that smack of culture wars fade into the annals of bad political theater." (Thompson Publishing Group via McDermott, Will & Emery LLP)
Long-Term Care Costs and the National Retirement Risk Index
Excerpt: "This brief is structured as follows. The first section recaps the original NRRI and the NRRI with health care costs explicitly included. The second section describes the nature of long-term care, the likelihood of a household member needing such care, and the financing alternatives available. The third section explores how the challenge posed by long-term care is different for households of different types and wealth levels. The fourth section models the impact of long-term care on the NRRI. The final section concludes." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
IRS Revises Certain Inflation Adjustment Amounts Including Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit
Excerpt: "On Friday, the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2009-21, which modifies the inflation-adjusted amounts to be used for certain tax credits in 2008 and 2009. The modified numbers reflect recent statutory changes by the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008, PL 110-343 (Tax Extenders Act), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, PL 111-5 (ARRA)." (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
Webcasts and Conferences
(Click to post your webcast or conference)2009 NCCMP Annual Conference
in Nevada on October 3, 2009
presented by National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans
2009 Web/Telephone Seminar: Handling IRA Legal Issues
Nationwide on May 14, 2009
presented by Ascensus
2009 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to QRPs
Nationwide on May 19, 2009
presented by Ascensus
2009 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Reporting
Nationwide on May 7, 2009
presented by Ascensus
2009 Web/Telephone Seminar: Roth IRA Distributions
Nationwide on May 12, 2009
presented by Ascensus
2009 Web/Telephone Seminar: Traditional IRA Distributions
Nationwide on May 5, 2009
presented by Ascensus
2009 Web/Telephone Seminars: Introduction to 401(k)s
Nationwide on May 21, 2009
presented by Ascensus
A Washington Insider Looks at the New Administration's First 100 Days (60-Minute Power Series)
Nationwide on April 14, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Contracts 101
in Illinois on April 23, 2009
presented by WEB - Chicago West
Fee Disclosure Round 2: Updates and Special Considerations for Trust Organizations
Nationwide on April 8, 2009
presented by Goldleaf Partners
Press Releases
(Click to post your press release)Former Massachusetts Employer Agrees to Restore Employee Contributions to Company SIMPLE IRA Plan to Resolve U.S. Labor Department Lawsuit
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Great-West Retirement Services® Appoints Two To Sales Positions Within Its Bank Services Group
Great-West Retirement Services
Putnam Investments Names New Managing Director of DC Sales
Putnam Investments
PBI Launches a New Service for DB Plans - Meet the Deadline for Funding Notification
Pension Benefit Information
Executive Coaching Helps De-Stress Leaders, Builds Employee Stability
Envision Excellence, LLC
Employee Benefits Jobs
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Development Analyst
for Diversified Investment Advisors, Inc.
in MA
Defined Contribution Administrator
for Pension Resources, Inc.
in PA
Vice President, Sales, Non-Qualified Plans
for New York Life Retirement Plan Services
in MA
Benefits Administrator
for Construction Industry Taft-Hartley Fringe Benefit Fund Office
in CT
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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