Retirement Plans Newsletter |
|
|
| July 16, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
ASPPA (Advert.)
DOL Speaks: The 2009 Employee Benefits Conference –September 14-15,2009 ASPPA and the U.S. Labor Department EBSA co-sponsor this conference, which focuses exclusively on ERISA Title 1 issues. Get the latest information about ERISA regulatory and legislative issues; DOL audit enforcement, retirement plan and group health-plan issues; fiduciary matters, the fundamentals of managing an ERISA plan and more. There also will be information about he Pension Protection Act. Early bird registration ends Friday, July 24, 2009, so register now. Washington Hilton Hotel /1919 Connecticut Street, NW / Washington, DC. |
[Guidance Overview]
Using the New Optional Withholding Tables for Pensions Paid in 2009: Inform Your Retirees
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued new optional federal income tax withholding tables to offset potential underwithholding on pensions paid during 2009. The potential underwithholding is an unintended consequence the 'Making Work Pay' credit that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. If you choose to adopt the new withholding tables, you should consider informing your retirees, who in turn can reconsider their current withholding elections. Some employers may choose to retain the prior (February 2009) withholding tables, because they have already made the effort to implement those tables and communicate the consequences to retirees." (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Avoiding Personal Liability for 401(k) and Retirement Plan Investments - From Fees to Losses (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Each sponsor of a 401(k) or other retirement plan should, as a threshold matter, identify (i) who is performing services for the plan, (ii) what the services are, (iii) whether and to what extent the service provider is an ERISA fiduciary, and (iv) any contractual or ERISA standards relevant to determining the scope of the fiduciary's duties and potential liabilities." (Bloomberg Finance L.P. via Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
GASB's Invitation to Comment on Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting for Governmental Plans; Plain Language Supplement Added to Invitation
Excerpt: "Written comments may be submitted through an Internet-based form or addressed to the Director of Research and Technical Activities, Project No. 34, and emailed to director@gasb.org or mailed to the GASB, 401 Merritt 7, PO Box 5116, Norwalk, CT 06856-5116. A public hearing on the ITC is scheduled during the Board's regular meeting on August 26, 2009, beginning at 8:30 a.m., at the GASB offices in Norwalk, CT. Interested individuals or organizations may participate in the public hearing in person or by telephone. The deadline for written notice of intent to participate in public hearing: July 31, 2009." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
[Guidance Overview]
DOL Revises Electronic Filing Procedures: EFAST2
Excerpt: "In our continuing series of FAQs on EFAST2, we are addressing the issues and procedures with which the 5500 preparers and plan sponsors will need to familiarize themselves to make the transition to electronic filing. Recently, we received a call from a DOL official informing us that the DOL was modifying its procedures regarding processing electronically filed 5500s. The DOL also indicated it was modifying its position regarding when it considered a 5500 filed. To understand the modification, a brief review of the DOL's previous position is necessary." (SunGard)
[Guidance Overview]
403(b) Fiduciary Challenges Demand Applying ERISA in Unique Way
Excerpt: "Most striking is the unique ways in which ERISA's fiduciary rules will need to be used in their application to ERISA 403(b) plans. It is not that the rules were never there in the past, it is just that the new rules have forced the industry and employers to more closely define their relationships and the duties for which vendors and employers will each be responsible. This process of defining roles have caused us all to look more closely at how the rules apply, in ways we have never done in the past. All 403(b) practitioners are painfully aware of the controversies surrounding the threshold question of whether any particular plan is governed by ERISA Title 1. Once you get past that point and attempt to, for example, draft a proper investment policy, you will see that we will not be able to apply many of the ERISA rules in the same manner in which we are used to applying them in the 401(k) context. This is particularly true where individual annuity contracts or individual custodial contracts are involved. We are all likely to find some challenging surprises as we work through the details." (Giller & Calhoun, LLC)
[Guidance Overview]
Time is Near for Additional Reporting for Multiemployer Pension Plans Under PPA (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The new reporting requirements for multiemployer pension plans added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) are effective for 2008 plan years. Thus, the additional information required to be reported on the Form 5500 must be provided by July 31, 2009 for a calendar year plan. Additional disclosures are also required to be provided to employers and union representatives. Affected pension funds need to assess whether they have the needed information and can meet the impending deadline, or need to apply for an extension for filing Form 5500." (Buck Consultants)
A Win for Fiduciaries in a Stock Drop Case
Excerpt: "District Judge Otero for the Central District of California has granted the fiduciaries' Motion for Summary Judgment in the following case: In re: Computer Science Corporation ERISA Litigation." (ERISA Fiduciary Guidebook)
CalPERS Says Losses Caused by Inaccurate Credit Ratings
Excerpt: "The nation's largest public pension fund has filed a lawsuit over $1 billion in losses it says were caused by 'wildly inaccurate' credit ratings from the three leading ratings agencies. According to the New York Times, the lawsuit, filed late last week in California Superior Court in San Francisco by the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), is focused on a form of debt called structured investment vehicles, complex packages of securities made up of a variety of assets, including subprime mortgages. CalPERS invested $1.3 billion in them in 2006, and they collapsed in 2007 and 2008, the news report said." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Auto Enrollment Working as Intended, According to Study
Excerpt: "A new analysis from Fidelity Investments indicates that auto enrollment in 401(k) plans is proving to have the biggest impact on younger and lower-compensated employees. Fidelity data of auto enrolled participants in plans it administers shows that over half (52%) were between the ages 20 and 34. By comparison, only 13% of participants that were auto enrolled were between the ages of 50 and 64. The impact of auto enrollment on older participants is not as significant as many are either already participating or elect to enroll on their own, Fidelity said in a press release." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
How Many 'Buckets' of Shares Does Your ESOP Have?
Nancy Dittmer discusses the circumstances that necessitate that the company stock (and the related other investment or cash account) in an ESOP should be maintained in its own separate 'bucket." (National Center for Employee Ownership)
DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc. (Advert.)
Software for Retirement and Cafeteria Plan Documents DATAIR Plan Document System. Choose your documents: RETIREMENT PLANS: 401(k)/Profit Sharing, 403(b), DB, Cash Balance; CAFETERIA PLANS: 125, HSA, HRA Choose your formats: * Long format Standardized and Nonstandardized Prototypes * Short format Standardized and Nonstandardized Prototypes * IDP format Volume Submitters * Prototype format Volume Submitters Contact sales@datair.com or call 1-888-328-2474 |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Governance and Compliance Advisory Update: July 2009
Excerpt: "In July, legislation introduced in the House focused on protecting participants in defined contribution plans by encouraging plans to offer (and participants to elect) lifetime annuity payments when they retire and by introducing a fee disclosure bill. . . . An IRS official commented on when sample plan language waiving required minimum distributions and a sample 402(f) notice can be expected. Also in the courts, the Third Circuit became the latest circuit to consider standards established by the Supreme Court in Met Life v. Glenn addressing conflicts of interest in ERISA benefit claims. Lastly, continuing a nationwide trend, New Hampshire enacted legislation legalizing same-gender marriage, and Nevada approved a domestic partner law." (Towers Perrin)
Press Releases
House Health Care Bill Vital Step Toward Health Care for AllCommunications Workers of America
Providing Answers That the President Won't Provide
Council for Affordable Health Insurance
Sustainable Workplace Means Addressing Employee Well-being, Too, According to Stanford Business School Research
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Thousands of Disney Workers and Delegates to National Episcopalian Convention March On Disneyland
UNITE HERE Local 11
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Compliance Consultant (Retirement Services)for American United Life a OneAmerica Financial Partner
in IN
Retirement Plan Specialist
for Pension Inc.
in IA
Third Party Administration-Retirement Plans
for DailyAccess Corporation
in AL
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
RSS feed of all jobs )
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
| Where the best employers find the best candidates! |
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 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 2009 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: