To BenefitsLink home page

Retirement Plans Newsletter

May 18, 2010

View Newest Jobs

View all jobs on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com



ftwilliam.com has released its pre-approved EGTRRA volume submitter defined benefit plans. The plans are now available in both an Adoption Agreement format and an "individually designed" format.
All checklist items transfer from GUST to EGTRRA with just a few clicks; you can also batch convert all or a portion of your plans at one time.

Find out more by signing up for our free online demo or call 800.596.0714.

Sponsored by www.ftwilliam.com

[Official Guidance]
IRS Web Page Describes 401(k) Compliance Questionnaire Project and Includes Link to Questionnaire
Excerpt: "The Questionnaire categories are: Demographics; 401(k) plan participation; Employer and employee contributions; Top heavy and nondiscrimination rules; Distributions and plan loans; Other plan operations; Automatic contribution arrangements; Designated Roth features; IRS voluntary compliance programs; Plan administration."
(U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance]
Text of DOL Amicus Brief Asserting ERISA 404(c) Was Not Sufficient Defense in Suit Asserting Fiduciary Breach
Excerpt: "The district court erred in applying ERISA section 404(c) as a defense to the Plaintiffs' claims that the fiduciaries breached their ERISA duties in maintaining the Motorola Fund as an investment option in the Plan. The statute and its regulations make clear that ERISA section 404(c) provides a limited exception from liability for losses 'which result from' a participant's or beneficiary's exercise of control over his individual account in an individual account plan."
(U.S. Department of Labor)

[Guidance Overview]
Plan's Differential Treatment of Older Employees Was Based on Pension Status, Not Age
Excerpt: "A pension plan amendment that provided accelerated pension benefits to younger workers, but had no impact on the pension received by certain older workers, did not violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis (CA-8) has ruled in Schultz v. Windstream Communications, Inc.."
(Wolters Kluwer)

[Guidance Overview]
DOL Has Announced a New Option for Filing Returns Under EFAST2
Excerpt: "The new option provides an alternative that may be particularly useful for employers which lack Internet access, or which do not wish to be bothered with electronic filing."
(SunGard Relius)

Senate Swaps Bill Threatens Retirement Plan Investments
Excerpt: "Legislation that would impose fiduciary duties on swap dealers who provide advice to retirement plans or offer to enter into swap transactions with plans is drawing fire from plan sponsor groups. The groups say the proposal -- potentially part of a developing Senate bill to overhaul regulation of financial services -- could prevent defined contribution plans from offering stable value funds and end pension plans' ability to use swaps to hedge investment risk."
(Mercer LLC)

Retirement Debate Focuses on Annuities
Excerpt: "The steady evaporation of pensions, the asset-sucking sting of the recession and the prospect of Americans living deeper into their retirement years is driving insurers and the government alike to ratchet up a push for annuity products."
(TheStreet.com, Inc.)

Congressional Legislation Would Create Inflation Measurement Based on Expenses Typically Borne by Seniors
Excerpt: "A news release from RetireSafe said the CPI for Senior Act (H.B. 5305) would establish a Consumer Price Index for Seniors (CPI-S) on which the government would base Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAS)."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)

Annuities Get a Behavioral Finance Makeover
Excerpt: "To explore the alternatives and implications[,] Allianz worked with Professor Shlomo Benartzi of UCLA to reach out to a number of academics in the field . . . . The findings, which Allianz said it submitted as its response to the February request for information by the Department of Labor and Treasury Department on retirement income products, was produced under the title 'Behavioral Finance and the Post-Retirement Crisis', broadly defined as being 'about outliving your assets.'"
(PLANSPONSOR.com)

$34 Billion Shortfall Estimate Sparks Renewed Talk of Taxpayer Help for PBGC
Excerpt: "However, not all agree on the need for a bailout, with some pension industry analysts saying concerns about the PBGC's health are way overblown -- at least in the short term. They say the PBGC, which had $68.7 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2009, has plenty of cash to pay off the pension benefit obligations of the plans it takes over for years."
(Pensions & Investments; login or registration may be required)




Meet some of the biggest pension and welfare benefit celebrities at the Western Benefits Conference! Get the latest on what's going on in the world of pension and welfare benefits from industry experts and IRS officials live in person! The Western Benefits Conference takes place July 18-20 in Los Angeles, CA and is a joint program by the Western Pension & Benefits Conference (WP&BC) and the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA).

For a program listing and to register, visit www.westernbenefits.org today!

Sponsored by WP&BC and ASPPA

Webcasts and Conferences

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: 403(b) Plans
Nationwide on August 24, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: 72(t) Payments
Nationwide on September 23, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Basic IRAs
Nationwide on July 20, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Comparing Roth & Traditional IRAs
Nationwide on August 5, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Conversions & Recharacterizations
Nationwide on September 16, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Coverdell Education Savings Accounts
Nationwide on August 5, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Direct Rollover & Other Portability Issues
Nationwide on September 9, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Handling IRA Legal Issues
Nationwide on September 14, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to QRP Distributions
Nationwide on July 29, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to QRPs
Nationwide on September 2, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Beneficiary Distributions
Nationwide on August 12, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Contributions
Nationwide on September 28, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Excess Contributions
Nationwide on September 30, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Required Minimum Distributions
Nationwide on August 10, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Retirement Distribution & Income Planning
Nationwide on July 27, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: SEP Plans
Nationwide on August 3, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: SIMPLE Plans
Nationwide on September 21, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Traditional IRA Distributions
Nationwide on August 17, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced HSAs
Nationwide on July 22, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: HSA Basics
Nationwide on July 15, 2010
presented by Ascensus

2010 Web/Telephone Seminar: Understanding & Processing Transfers & Rollovers
Nationwide on July 13, 2010
presented by Ascensus


Press Releases


Click to post your job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

Newly Posted Employee Benefits Jobs

Pension Administrator
for American Fiduciary Corporation
in MA




Where the best employers find the best candidates!


Handy Links:


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

Jeanette Hull, News Editor
jeanette.hull@benefitslink.com

David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
david.baker@benefitslink.com

Copyright 2010 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: