Retirement Plans Newsletter |
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| August 31, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
www.ftwilliam.com (Advert.)
EFAST 2 5500 Software. It's not too early to start thinking about next year. Here are some of the reasons why ftwilliam.com is the fastest growing 5500 software vendor:
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[Guidance Overview]
DOL Approval of First Commercial Software Vendor for All-Electronic Form 5500 Filing Under EFAST2
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: After being postponed twice in response to public comment, the effective date for mandatory electronic filing is now just around the corner. The 2009 approved software list is therefore another reminder to employers, Form 5500 preparers, and advisors to step up their planning for all-electronic filing under EFAST2. To help with this transition, the DOL has presented two webcasts on 2009 Form 5500 using EFAST2, both of which are also available on the EFAST website. Among the topics addressed in these webcasts is the process for registering for electronic credentials, through which the user ID, pin, and password used to sign and transmit a completed Form 5500 to EFAST2 can be obtained." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
How Do Analysts Process Pension Information?
Excerpt: "This paper evaluates whether analysts can see through the financial statement, so as to value defined benefit (DB) pension funding status based on economic values of pension assets and obligations. The literature is divided on whether earnings forecasts and stock prices reflect economic pension information. Previous studies correlate pension variables with analysts' earnings forecasts or stock prices. The analysts' information processing has previously been a 'black box.' We opened this black box by interviewing and physically inspecting the analysts' spreadsheets to determine how they treated pensions in their valuation. By choosing the firms with highest probability of earning management in pensions (most abnormal pension assumptions), there will be a reward for the analysts to use correct pension information. However, we found that analysts do not incorporate relevant pension information into their valuation spreadsheets. Thus our study provides further evidence that skilled and influential market participants, the analysts, do not efficiently incorporate information into their forecasts and stock valuations." (Social Science Research Network)
Deflation Could Wallop 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "A decline in consumer prices this quarter - i.e., deflation - could result in 401(k) contribution limits being lowered next year for the first time since Congress imposed the limits in 1986. That would be bad news for workers who depend on their 401(k) plans for retirement and who max out their annual contributions to build their nest eggs and reduce their tax liability. Contribution limits for 401(k) plans are adjusted annually, based on a complicated formula tied to the Consumer Price Index for the preceding third quarter. Thus, this quarter's CPI will be used to calculate the 2010 contribution limits." (The Dallas Morning News)
Alternatives to Frozen Defined Benefit Pension Plans
Excerpt: "Of the private industry workers affected by a freeze, 96 percent had an alternative made available to them to help offset losses from their frozen defined benefit plan. Employees may be offered one of the following alternative retirement plans: a new defined benefit plan, an enhanced existing defined contribution plan, or a new defined contribution plan." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Summary of Leading Single Employer Funding Relief Proposals (PDF)
34 pages. Excerpt: "On June 24, 2009, the House Education and Labor Committee approved H.R. 2989 (as amended), the 401(k) Fair Disclosure and Pension Security Act of 2009, which was introduced by Representative George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the Committee. The bill included provisions affecting defined benefit plan funding. On August 27, 2009, Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), a Member of the Ways and Means Committee, released a discussion draft of funding proposals in the form of statutory language. On April 22, 2009, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) introduced H.R. 2021, which included funding proposals. This chart summarizes the single-employer funding proposals in the bills and the discussion draft." (American Benefits Council)
U.S. Postal Service Offers $15,000 Buyouts to Cut Costs
Excerpt: "Up to 30,000 employees could take the offer at a total cost of about $450 million, the agency said Tuesday. The post office said it could save as much as $500 million in the next two years. The agency said it reached an agreement on the buyout offer with the American Postal Workers Union and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union. . . . The offer is open to those eligible for retirement and early retirement. It also includes employees in select positions, such as retail clerks, distributors and mail handlers who are willing to resign voluntarily." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Countrywide and Former Employees Settle Class Action Over Retirement Plan Losses
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Los Angeles has preliminarily approved a $55 million settlement between Countrywide Financial Corp. and its former employees, who were seeking compensation for losses to their retirement plans. The suit, filed in September 2007, alleged that the officers and directors of Countrywide, which was one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by failing in their fiduciary duty to monitor employee retirement funds that were held in company stock. Alvidres v. Countrywide Financial Corp., No. 2:07-cv-05810 (C.D. Calif.). U.S. District Judge John Walter of the Central District of California approved the settlement on Aug. 24. Final approval is scheduled for Nov. 16." (Law.com)
Pittsburgh Seeks Delay in Pension Takeover by State
Excerpt: "Pittsburgh will seek to head off for at least two years any state takeover of its troubled pension fund. The board that oversees the city's retirement plans unanimously agreed this morning to lobby state legislators for the delay. 'Our pension problems took us a long time to get to this point,' city Finance Director Scott Kunka said after the meeting. 'We are asking for some time to get our house in order.'" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Web Site Rates 401(k) and Other Savings Plans
Excerpt: "BrightScope rates 401(k), employee stock, profit sharing and other plans that require sponsors to file reports with the U.S. Department of Labor. . . . Based in San Diego, BrightScope currently rates about 4,500 retirement plans and hopes to rate more than 30,000 by year-end. Given the harsh spotlight cast on the ubiquitous retirement savings plans in the aftermath of Wall Street's collapse last year, the millions of workers using them need information on the quality of the product . . . ." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
[Opinion]
Florida Cities and Police and Firefighter Unions Must Renegotiate Budget-Busting Pensions
Excerpt: "What isn't fair is how much political clout the first responders' unions wield in local governments and in Tallahassee to the detriment of taxpayers. That clout gets commissioners elected with low turnouts and generates favorable laws in the Legislature. But when city commissioners agree to hefty raises and more benefits for police and firefighters the pandering creates problems for taxpayers -- as has the Legislature when dumping unfunded mandates on local governments to curry favor with police and firefighters unions. That's what happened in 1999 when the Legislature approved and then-Gov. Jeb Bush signed a change into law that limits how cities can use a long-standing state fund that helps pay for local police and firefighter pensions. The fund is financed by an excise tax on property insurance premiums -- after all, what do first responders protect, if not property and lives? The Legislature told cities that they could no longer use the fund for basic pension costs -- only to tap into it for extended benefits for police and firefighters." (Miami Herald)
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 the Pension Protection Act. Register now. Washington Hilton Hotel /1919 Connecticut Street, NW / Washington, DC. |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Court Says Furlough Violated Employees' RightsExcerpt: "The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has determined that a furlough plan instituted by Prince George's County in Maryland violated employees' rights under the U.S. Constitution's Contract Clause. Several unions, in their complaint, contended that the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that set the wages and hours for employees preempt any contrary provision from being enacted and made the furlough plan inactive. The court agreed with the unions that the CBAs give employees a solid expectation of the money they will earn for the year, and the employee relies on this. The court also pointed out that the county had other options for correcting its budget problems, such as tapping approximately $97 million in unrestricted reserve funds. 'Although the county suggests to the court that it faced dire circumstances and had no other reasonable alternatives, the record suggests otherwise and the county's own actions resemble trappings of doing that which was 'politically expedient,'' the opinion said." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Webcasts and Conferences
EFAST2: The Future of Form 5500 Workshop - October - December, in 23 CitiesNationwide on October 1, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
ERISA Workshop - in 21 Cities, October - December, 2009
Nationwide on October 2, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
Plan Forms, Notices, and Amendments: Streamlined, Effectively, Timely Workshop in 23 Cities, October - December 2009
Nationwide on October 1, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
Regulatory and Legislative Changes
in California on September 17, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter
Webinar: Increasing Employee Productivity With Online Benefits Enrollment
Nationwide on September 3, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
Webinar: Improving Employee Morale with Total Rewards Statements
Nationwide on September 3, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Default Judgment and Court Appointment of Independent Fiduciary for 401(k) Plan Abandoned by Kennebunk, Maine, CompanyU.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
PAi Announces Results of Customer Satisfaction Survey
PAi
MassMutual Analysis: Whole Life Insurance Can Help Supply Retirement Income, Preserve Equity Portfolios During Bear Markets
MassMutual
Veteran Nonqualified Plan Expert Joins CAPTRUST Financial Advisors
CAPTRUST Financial Advisors
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Corporate Benefits Administrator (Retirement)for Dairy Farmers of America
in MO
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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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