[Guidance Overview]
Eligibility for Participation in Group Trusts Is Expanded
Excerpt: "A new IRS ruling allows the assets of custodial accounts, retirement income accounts, and governmental retiree benefit plans to be pooled in a group trust under Revenue Ruling 81-100, as modified."
(Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

[Guidance Overview]
More Transition Relief for Puerto Rican Plans
Excerpt: "The positions taken in Revenue Ruling 2008-40 reversed earlier positions that had been taken by the IRS regarding transfers from qualified plans to ERISA § 1022(i)(1) plans and the tax treatment of the transferred assets. As a result, in order to provide taxpayers with a period of adjustment, the ruling provided transition relief by which transfers that occurred before January 1, 2011 would not be subject to the new holdings of the ruling."
(Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

[Guidance Overview]
IRS's Promised Guidance on Pension Funding Relief
Excerpt: "In addition to setting forth the general rules, the Notice provides numerous examples - including examples on how the installment amounts are calculated under the alternative amortization schedules, how the acceleration adjustment affects the installments for future years, how the annual limitation applies to the increased installments, how the acceleration amount is allocated among more than one plan where the sponsor elects to use alternative amortization schedules for more than one plan (and, also, where more than one election year applies to such plans)."
(Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

[Guidance Overview]
2010-2011 Treasury/IRS Priority Guidance Plan Includes Regulations and Other Guidance for 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "Because the Priority Guidance Plan covers the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011, it also includes items that have been issued since July 1, 2010, such as the cumulative list of changes in the requirements for qualified retirement plans . . . and guidance on in-plan Roth rollovers . . . . Guidance on lifetime income from retirement plans may take into account testimony from a joint Treasury/DOL hearing earlier this year, in which the departments requested input on various issues affecting participants and beneficiaries."
(Employee Benefits Institute of America)

Hotel Stays, Flights and a $400 Bottle of Wine for Two San Diego County Office of Education Employees
Excerpt: "Financial companies footed travel bills for two County Office of Education investment program employees, gifts that went unreported and that experts say could present ethical problems."
(voiceofsandiego.org)

Using IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan Funds to Start a Business
Excerpt: "There are still situations in which using qualified money to start a business makes sense, but you must pay close attention to the rules and be aware of the drawbacks of using one of the companies promoting these arrangements on the internet."
(Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey P.L.C.)

'Pollinate' Organization Seeks to Improve Americans' Financial Literacy by Teaching Teachers
Excerpt: "Pollinate, the Teacher Financial Literacy Project, is an organization dedicated to both improving teachers' own understanding of personal finance issues, and the teaching of financial literacy. . . . Thanks to the generous support of TIAA-CREF and CalSTRS, Pollinate hosted a highly successful pilot workshop on November 22 and 23, 2010 in Sacramento, CA. As this short video details . . . ."
(Pollinate, the Teacher Financial Literacy Project)

Employee Stock Plans 2010: Year-End International Reporting Requirements
Excerpt: "This Commentary highlights some of the principal calendar and year-end reporting requirements for employee stock plans that U.S. companies most commonly encounter when offering these programs to their employees in selected jurisdictions worldwide."
(Jones Day)

Private Pension Plan Bulletin: Abstract of 2008 Form 5500 Annual Reports (PDF)
66 pages. Excerpt: "Overall, pension plans disbursed $12.1 bil.lion more than they received in contributions, 3 percent of contributions. DB plans disbursed $58.8 bil.lion more than they collected in contributions, while DC plans disbursed $46.6 bil.lion less than they received in contributions."
(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Double-Dipping Is Common for Public-Sector 'Retirees' Who Take on Additional Work
Excerpt: "[C]ritics call the practice a squandering of public funds as California wallows under a $25.4 bil.lion budget shortfall. Generous pension programs are forcing some cash-starved government agencies to slash services -- and leading for calls to dramatically reform a public-sector perk that's far richer than most people's retirement packages."
(San Jose Mercury News)

Finances of Selected State and Local Government Employee Retirement Systems
Excerpt: "For the 100 largest public-employee retirement systems in the country, total holdings and investments were up after last quarter's 5.3-percent decline. With a quarter-to-quarter increase of 6.2 percent, total holdings and investments rose from $2,350.1 bil.lion in the second quarter of 2010 to $2,495.4 bil.lion in the third quarter of 2010, reaching the highest level in two years (since 2008:Q3)."
(U.S. Bureau of the Census)

Pittsburgh Closer to Resolution of Pension Funding Crisis
Excerpt: "A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report said that in a 7-2 vote, council dedicated to the pension fund about $414.7 mil.lion in parking tax revenue over the next 31 years. . . . In all, the 37.5% parking tax will generate about $47 mil.lion for the city next year. Council's bailout would take about $14 mil.lion of the tax revenue annually for 31 years. Council reopened and amended the 2011 budget to reallocate the money to the pension fund, the newspaper said."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)

[Opinion]
Comments Received by PBGC on Liability for Termination of Single-Employer Plans; Treatment of Substantial Cessation of Operations (PDF)
52 pages. Eight comments have been received to date.
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Opinion]
Taking Action on Compliance Is What Matters
Excerpt: "[The basic fact is] that the only real precaution against litigation costs and liability is a well run plan, and the best defense against a lawsuit that arises anyway is the same thing -a well run plan. But how do you get to a well run plan? While there are a number of ways to get there, here are a couple."
(Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC)

[Guidance Overview]
IRS Guidance on Unforeseeable Emergency Distributions from 409A and 457(b) Plans
Excerpt: "IRS has released Revenue Ruling 2010-27, which contains examples of expenses that may be eligible for an unforeseeable emergency distribution from deferred compensation plans that are subject to Section 409A or Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code."
(McGuireWoods LLP)

GASB Helps Practitioners to Identify Guidance Applicable to State and Local Governments
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

Census Bureau News -- Finances of Selected State and Local Government Employee Retirement Systems: 3rd Quarter 2010
U.S. Census Bureau

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DC Plan Administrator/Consultant
for IPA Northeast, LLC
in NJ

Senior Pension Administrator
for AFC Pensions, Inc. (formerly American Fiduciary Corporation)
in MA

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