[Official Guidance]
Text of Proposed Reg Harmonizing Federal Government's Cost Accounting Standards with PPA Changes to Minimum Funding Rules for Contractors' DB Plans (PDF)
44 pages. Excerpt: "The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), Cost Accounting Standards Board (Board), invites public comments concerning the harmonization of Cost Accounting Standards 412 and 413 with the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006. The PPA amended the minimum funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans. The PPA required the Board to harmonize with PPA the CAS applicable to the Government reimbursement of the contractor's pension costs. The Board has proposed several changes to harmonize CAS with PPA, including the recognition of a 'minimum actuarial liability' consistent with the PPA minimum required contribution. The proposed CAS changes will lessen the difference between the amount of pension cost reimbursable to the contractor in accordance with CAS and the amount of pension contribution required to be made by the contractor as the plan sponsor by PPA."
(U.S. Federal Procurement Policy Office, Office of Management and Budget)

[Guidance Overview]
IRS Handout on 403(b) Plans: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (PDF)
27 pages. From the Employee Plans Phone Forum, April 30, 2010.
(U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Voluntary Enrollment Increases Target-Date Funds' Surging Popularity
Excerpt: "Clearly, plan sponsors are choosing target-date funds for their plans, spurred on, perhaps, by factors such as autoenrollment and the designation of these fund types as a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). But do participants appreciate the funds and their simplified approach to portfolio construction and reallocation? The data suggests that they do . . . ."
(The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Obama's High Court Nominee Argued in Fund Fee Case
Excerpt: "Elena Kagan, nominated on Monday by President Barack Obama to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, urged the high court in a filing last year to reject a 2008 appellate court decision that would have made it easier for mutual funds to charge higher fees to retail customers than pension funds and other institutional clients for similar strategies managed in separate accounts."
(Pensions & Investments via Business Insurance)

Minnesota Senate Passes Proposal for Move from DB to DC Plans for New Public Employees
Excerpt: "The Minnesota Senate last week approved an omnibus pension bill. The bill included an amendment that would place employees hired after July 1 in defined contribution plans, according to the Politics in Minnesota Web site. Employees and the state would contribute to the pensions."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)

First Quarter 2010 Pension Plan Funding and Investment Experience (PDF)
2 pages. This issue includes the following three graphs: Change in Assets, Liabilities and Funded Ratio; Investment Performance; and, Changes in the Yield Curve.
(The Segal Group, Inc.)

Survey Results: 401(k) Practices (PDF)
Excerpt: "The full survey includes 13 questions about 401(k) benefit practices, broken out by company size, industry, and geography."
(Business & Legal Reports, Inc.)

[Opinion]
Olivia S. Mitchell Response to RFI on Lifetime Income Options in Retirement Plans (PDF)
13 pages.
(Pension Research Council)

[Opinion]
American Academy of Actuaries Comments on H.R. 4213, the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act of 2010 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The Pension Committee and the Multiemployer Subcommittee comment on multiemployer pension plan provisions . . . . To the extent that these or similar multiemployer provisions of your amendment will be included in a future bill, we are concerned that certain aspects could be misinterpreted as currently written and offer suggestions as to how they might be clarified."
(American Academy of Actuaries)

Ownership Transitions: ESOPs Compared to Other Strategies
In a new article on the NCEO's Web site, Kelly Finnell discusses the three traditional ownership transition strategies and compares them to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
(National Center for Employee Ownership)

[Opinion]
Book Review: Steve Greenhut's 'Plunder! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation'
Excerpt: "Plunder! takes a look at the perverse incentives that bring together corrupt politicians and public unions to rape taxpayers."
(Mike Shedlock)

403(b) Update
Nationwide on September 15, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

Advanced RMD Issues
Nationwide on June 23, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

Back-to-Basics Series
Nationwide on July 8, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

Employee Benefits Conference: Dawn of a New Decade
in Minnesota on June 16, 2010
presented by Employers Association, Inc.

EPCRS, Latest Release and Recent Years
Nationwide on June 30, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

Participant Loans
Nationwide on May 26, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

Safe Harbor 401(k)s: Design and Correction
Nationwide on July 21, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

What a 401(k) Administrator Needs to Know About IRAs
Nationwide on August 25, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.

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