Retirement Plans Newsletter July 21, 2010 |
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[Guidance Overview]
A Look at the New Fee Disclosure Regulations
Excerpt: "In a move that will come as a relief to many practitioners, the regulations are not as expansive as the proposed regulations, and cover many fewer service provider than are required to be reported on Schedule C."
(SunGard Relius)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Stresses Requirement for Timely Forfeitures
Excerpt: "There are two timing aspects of forfeitures which should be addressed in the plan document: when forfeitures occur and when they must be disposed of."
(JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
Decoding Target Date Fund Design: Glide Path Strategies
Excerpt: "Comparing glide paths requires a basic understanding of how different strategies seek to capture growth opportunities and balance risk across the life of the fund series - particularly as participants move closer to retirement."
(JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
One of Five Tax Dollars Collected by New York City Will Go Into the Pension Funds This Year
Excerpt: "City officials project the cost to the municipal budget of pensions covering more than 581,000 current and former police officers, firefighters, teachers, civilian employees and school administrators to increase about six-fold, to $7.8 billion, in 2012, from $1.3 billion in 2002."
(Bloomberg L.P.)
Social Security Pays $50 Million a Year in Benefit Overpayments
Excerpt: "Social Security is paying roughly $50 million a year too much to people who collect state pensions but fail to declare that income, according to the system's inspector general."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
Asset-Liability Study Helps Client Find Plan Funding Option with Best Return, Low Risk
Excerpt: "The asset-liability study began with a discussion of objectives. The client wanted to develop a long-term strategy to achieve a fully funded plan within the next five to 10 years, while taking advantage of any short-term market anomalies at an acceptable risk tolerance, and with the lowest possible contribution requirement within the risk tolerance level selected."
(Milliman)
GAO testimony: Defined Benefit Pension Plans Face Valuation and Other Challenges When Investing in Hedge Funds and Private Equity (PDF)
20 pages. Excerpt: "This testimony discusses (1) the extent to which defined benefit plans have invested in hedge funds and private equity, (2) challenges that such plans face in investing in hedge funds and private equity, (3) steps that plan sponsors can take to address these challenges, and (4) the implications of these challenges for the federal government."
(U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Retirement Plan Compliance Management Is a Team Effort
Excerpt: "There are common misperceptions about the scope of services that . . . TPAs and CPAs are contracted, or even trained, to provide. That lack of understanding opens gaps in plan management (the plan sponsor's responsibility) that can lead to a myriad of compliance failures."
(Chang Ruthenberg & Long PC)
Does Your 401(k) Plan Need a Safe Harbor Plan?
Excerpt: "[This article describes the traditional two safe harbor plan alternatives], along with some additional options that are seldom mentioned or utilized."
(Chang Ruthenberg & Long PC)
Facing Pension Woes, Maine Looks to Social Security
Excerpt: "Maine legislators have prepared a detailed plan for shifting state employees into Social Security and are considering whether to adopt it. They acknowledge it will not solve their problem in the short term but see long-term advantages."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
JPMorgan Chase Cash Balance Settlement Gets Court Approval
Excerpt: "[The District Court judge] signed off on the agreement covering approximately 100,000 plaintiffs in the two class actions under which the company will provide a year of financial planning services."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)
GAO Repeats Call for DOL Hedge Fund, Private Equity Guidance
Excerpt: "A DOL guidance document should particularly detail the difficulties sponsors of small plans face in valuing such assets and with other related issues, the GAO said. Dealing with private equity and hedge fund assets 'can be daunting even for large plan sponsors,' a GAO official asserted in scheduled Congressional testimony Tuesday."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)
Benefit Plans Get Some Relief from Swap Restrictions in Financial Reform Law
Excerpt: "Proposed restrictions on retirement and other benefit plans' use of swaps are significantly eased in the financial regulatory overhaul legislation headed for President Obama's desk."
(Mercer LLC)
The new DOL regs will have a dramatic impact in the retirement plan industry. For the first time, everyone will be subject to comprehensive, uniform disclosure rules that will put all retirement plan service providers on a level playing field. Find out how these new rules will affect you. Join Brian H. Graff, Esq., APM, ASPPA Executive Director/CEO, and Craig P. Hoffman, APM, ASPPA General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs, for a webcast on Wednesday, July 28 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. ET to answer your questions.
For more information and to register, visit the ASPPA website.
Sponsored by ASPPA
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
FAA Proposal May Affect Disclosure of Executives' Personal Use of Company Aircraft
Excerpt: "Executives likely to have personal travel disrupted by urgent business could use corporate aircraft for such trips and reimburse their companies for this expense, under a proposed Federal Aviation Administration legal interpretation."
(Mercer LLC)
New Employee Perk: Cash for Flying in Coach
Excerpt: "Airlines may not want to hear this, but at least one company that sends thousands of employees on business trips, is successfully encouraging them to fly coach instead of business class. How? By paying them half the savings in air fare."
(Thompson Publishing Group Inc.)
Webcasts and Conferences
"403(b) Plan Design Workshop" - San Francisco
in California on August 20, 2010
presented by SunGard Relius
"Cross-Tested/Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan Design Workshop" - San Francisco
in California on August 19, 2010
presented by SunGard Relius
"Cross-Tested/Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan Design Workshop" - Seattle
in Washington on August 18, 2010
presented by SunGard Relius
"EFAST2 Troubleshooting" Web Seminar
Nationwide on August 17, 2010
presented by SunGard Relius
403(b) Update
Nationwide on September 15, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
ASPPA Webcast: The New DOL Fee Disclosure Rules: What All Retirement Plan Professionals Need to Know
Nationwide on July 28, 2010
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
Cross-Testing Overview
Nationwide on December 10, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Defined Benefit Prototype Plan
Nationwide on September 28, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Ethics for Retirement Plan Professionals
Nationwide on October 6, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Fiduciary Update for 2010
Nationwide on October 12, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Form 1099-R and Form 5498
Nationwide on December 1, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Fourth Quarter Update
Nationwide on November 2, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Fourth Quarter Update
Nationwide on November 3, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
IRS 401(k) Questionnaire and Its Impact on Future Compliance
Nationwide on August 10, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Safe Harbor 401(k)s: Design and Correction
Nationwide on September 17, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Terminating 401(k) and Other Defined Contribution Plans
Nationwide on October 27, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Third Quarter Update
Nationwide on August 17, 2010
presented by McKay Hochman Co.
Third Quarter Update
Nationwide on August 18, 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.
Newly Posted Employee Benefits Jobs
Health and Benefits Legal Expert
for Mercer
in DC
Legal Professional
for Mercer
in DC
Senior Account Executive - Employee Benefits
for Summit Benefit Solutions - A Summit Financial Company
in MA
Director - Actuary for Defined Benefit Plans
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC
Client Relationship Manager
for PensionTrend, Inc.
in MI
Client Service Representative (Implementations Specialist I)
for The Online 401(k)™
in CA
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