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Retirement Plans Newsletter

June 24, 2010

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[Official Guidance]
Text of the IRS 'Employee Plans News' - Summer 2010 Edition (PDF)
13 pages. The newsletter includes items on Form 5500 Schedules; the Advisory Committee on TE/GE; the ESOP Phone Forum; 401(k) Questionnaire Follow-Up; Who Can Represent a Plan Sponsor During an Employee Plans Examination?; New Favorable Determination Letter 4577; Final Regulations on Investment Diversification Requirements; EP's Fiscal Year 2010 Work Plan.
(U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview]
Does Supreme Court Prefer Administrative Remand for Erroneous ERISA Benefit Determinations?
Excerpt: "It is plain that a majority of the Justices are prepared to vigorously defend, and arguably expand, Firestone deference after Conkright. Perhaps the majority was concerned that Glenn or its progeny may have called this stance into question. It would appear Conkright also may stand for the proposition that a possible remedy for wrongfully denied benefits may not be an award of benefits by the court, but a remand for further administrative review."
(Jackson Lewis LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Provides 'Box 5' Relief to Certain Premium Filers: Immediate Action May Be Required
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has issued Technical Update 2010-2, which may provide relief to plans that intended to use the alternative premium funding target, but did not make the appropriate election on their comprehensive premium filing."
(McDermott Will & Emery)

Excellent DC Pensions Communications from Around the World (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "Defined Contribution . . . pension plan members in the UK have low engagement with their retirement benefits. To help address this important issue, nine leading UK pensions industry firms sponsored a project in early 2010 to learn from examples of pensions workplace communications excellence outside the UK, around the world."
(Spence Johnson Ltd via The SPARK Institute)

Roth 457 Provision Excluded from Latest Version of Tax Extenders Legislation
Excerpt: "The Roth provision would have leveled the playing field for state and local government workers by permitting 457(b) plans to offer the designated Roth accounts already permitted in 401(k) and 403(b) plans."
(ICMA-RC)

PBGC Will Offer Checkbox Relief to Certain Single-Employer DB Plan Premium Filers
Excerpt: "The PBGC said that it will issue a technical update shortly that provides the scope of the relief and the process for obtaining it for any plan that intended to make the election but did not check box 5."
(Wolters Kluwer)

When It Comes to 401(k) Fees, More Money = More Problems
Excerpt: "Published by the authors of the '401k Averages Book,' the report 'Are All $5,000,000 401(k) Plans Created Equal?'shows that the size of a 401(k) plan's average participant account balance will influence the amount of fees they pay."
(Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

360 Sponsors at Least Partly Done on IRS 401(k) Survey
Excerpt: "Answers to questions the IRS said it has received regarding the data collection effort include . . . ."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)

Massachusetts Pension Loophole Continues to Benefit 'Retirees' Who Go Work in Other States
Excerpt: "State lawmakers recently passed pension reforms that closed a number of loopholes, including a provision that let retired government workers return to their jobs as 'consultants' with a full salary and pension benefits. But the new reforms don't address the trend of top government workers retiring with pensions and then taking jobs with six-figure, taxpayer-funded salaries in another state."
(Lowell Sun)

DC Deferral Amount Is What Participants Can Afford, According to Survey
Excerpt: "A Principal Financial Group news release about its latest Principal Financial Well-Being Index for the second quarter of 2010 said 27% set their deferral because it was enough to qualify for their employer's matching contribution . . . ."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)

Improper Sick-Leave Deal May Cost Atlantic City School District $3 Million
Excerpt: "The school district may have to pay nearly $3 million to the state's pension fund for an allegedly improper attempt to spur early retirements with special financial incentives, according to documents . . . ."
(Press of Atlantic City Media Group)




Valued by every practitioner and recommended for every ERPA candidate, The ERISA Outline Book, 2010 Edition by Sal L. Tripodi, J.D., LL.M. offers six volumes of vital information on everything you need to know. Highlights include: IRS guidance on the waiver of 2009 required minimum distribution; automatic enrollment guidance from the IRS and Treasury; guidance on discontinuing safe harbor nonelective contributions; EFAST2 electronic filing system and DOL guidance; reporting guidance for 403(b) plans, guidance on deferrals from paid time off plans, court cases on scrivener's errors, and over 100 new rulings, guidances and regulations affecting retirement plans.

Order your copy of The ERISA Outline Book, 2010 Edition today! Visit www.asppa.org/eob now!

Sponsored by ASPPA

Executive Compensation; Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]
The Accounting and Economics of Executive Stock Options: Fair Value vs. Compensation Value (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "This article addresses another frequent practice that contributes to common misperceptions of ESOs: interpreting the Fair Value reported for accounting purposes as the compensation value executives derive from ESOs."
(Buck Consultants)


Press Releases


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Newly Posted Employee Benefits Jobs

Retirement Plan Administrator
for MVP Plan Administrators, Inc.
in NC

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for National Financial Partners
in TX

Regional Director, ES-1801
for U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
in MA

Retirement Education Specialist
for MassMutual Financial Group
in IA, MN, WI




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