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March 4, 2011 Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues

[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Announcement 2011-21: Replacement of Schedule SSA with Form 8955-SSA, for 2009 and Later Plan Years (PDF)
"[T]he due date for filing the Form 8955-SSA [Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants With Deferred Vested Benefits] for the 2009 and the 2010 plan years is the later of (1) the due date that generally applies for filing the Form 8955-SSA for the 2010 plan year, and (2) August 1, 2011." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)


DATAIR Defined Benefit Software (advert.)

Sponsored by DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

PC-based software for proposals, compliance testing and valuations with PBGC reporting, employee statements and termination calcs. Supports wide range of plan designs including Cash Balance and 412(e)(3). Cost-effective systems with expert support.


[Guidance Overview]
IRS Clarifies Meaning of 'Publicly Traded' for ESOPs
"Only employer stock that satisfies the regulatory definition is considered publicly traded for ESOP purposes. ESOPs holding any other employer stock must satisfy the ESOP requirements that apply to non-publicly traded companies, even if the employer stock is traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board or otherwise." (Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
Termination of 403(b) Plan Causes Contributions to Other 403(b) Plans to Cease for 12 Months
"The 403(b) plan described in the ruling was a governmental plan, not subject to ERISA." (Wolters Kluwer)

Target-Date Fund Adoption in 2010 (PDF)
"At year-end 2010, 79% of plans offered a target-date fund . . . and 48% of participants used them when offered." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)


DOL Issues Proposed Regulation Updating the Definition of ERISA Fiduciary (advert.)

Sponsored by MassMutual

Need help with DC specialized testing services, or participant notices, or preapproved plan documents? For information on how MassMutual’s team of ERISA consulting experts can help your company, please contact EASConsulting@massmutual.com.


DROP Program Costs San Diego Taxpayers $149 Mil.lion: Report Says City Retirement Program Is Technically 'Cost Neutral'
"The Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, has long been one of the most frequently criticized benefits available to city workers because it allows an employee to officially retire but continue working for up to five years." (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

MetLife U.S. Pension Risk Behavior Index: Third Annual Study of Risk Management Attitudes and Aptitude Among Defined Benefit Pension Plan Sponsors (PDF)
"As economic conditions begin to stabilize, this year's study - MetLife's third annual U.S. PRBI - finds that plan sponsors may be moving toward a fine-tuned and balanced pension risk framework as they start to differentiate among the 18 risks to which their plans are exposed." (MetLife Inc.)

State and Local Pension Funds Understate Shortfall by $1.5 Tril.lion or More, According to Economists
"The tril.lion-dollar gap arises from the government method of accounting, which several experts say significantly underestimates the cost of future pension payments." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Linking 401(k) Participation to Open Enrollment
"New research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows that when employers present employees with an easy, one-click option to enroll in or make a contribution change to their 401(k) plan during the annual health benefits process, the result is significant increases in 401(k) participation . . . ." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

AICPA Balks at Proposed Change in Fiduciary Definition
"We firmly believe . . . that treating the sponsor company valuation analyst as a plan fiduciary is exactly the wrong way to address this issue. In fact, defining the valuation analyst as a fiduciary will be disadvantageous to benefit plan participants for several reasons." (AccountingWEB)

[Opinion]
Why Public Pensions Are Doomed
"Government officials have simply proven unable to understand the long-term financial repercussions of promising pension benefits to workers." (The Motley Fool)

[Opinion]
Are State Pensions Underfunded? and If So, What Should We Do About It?
"[T]he bottom line is that the correct questions to ask about pension plans are: 1) Are they estimating a realistic rate of return going forward? 2) If so, are they sufficiently funded? And 3) If not, what should be done?" (The Washington Post; free registration required)

[Opinion]
Pension Perks That Slipped in the Back Doors at California State Agencies and Local Governments
"As the Little Hoover Commission concludes, pension enhancements ladled out in the midst of a deep economic downturn, big budget deficits and program cuts call 'into question the ability and willingness of local officials and employees to rein in costs.'" (The Sacramento Bee)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Mandatory Shareholder Approval of Executive Compensation: SEC Releases Final Rules on 'Say on Pay'
"The required vote is an 'up' or 'down' vote on the compensation payable to all of a company's named executive officers as disclosed under Item 402 of Regulation S-K." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Los Angeles Mayor Calls for Curbs in City Workers' Benefits
"Villaraigosa said he would also work to ensure that pensions of newly hired civilian employees do not exceed 75% of a worker's annual salary. Existing civilian workers can receive pensions equal to 100% of their salaries after working 46.3 years." (Los Angeles Times)

Offering Benefits Has Widespread Small Business Owner Backing
"Fifty-nine percent of small-business owners in a recent survey deemed offering health insurance to be important, while 47% consider it important to offer retirement benefits." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Bill Gates Says Benefits Costs Hit Schools
"Mr. Gates in an interview said he will use a high-profile conference Thursday in Long Beach, Calif., to urge that more attention be paid to how states calculate their employee-pension funding and health-care obligations." (The Wall Street Journal)

GOP Aims to Tame Benefits Programs
"House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that he's determined to offer a budget this spring that curbs Social Security and Medicare, despite the political risks, and that Republicans will try to persuade voters that sacrifices are needed." (The Wall Street Journal)

The Forgotten Employee Benefit Crisis: Multiemployer Benefit Plans
"The article seeks to offer some internal, legislative, administrative, and judicial reforms with which to overcome the financial, legislative, and judicial challenges that these plans now face." (Social Science Research Network)

Benefits Issues to Watch in 112th Congress
"Oversight of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) may receive legislative attention. The HELP Committee held a hearing 'PBGC: Is Stronger Management and Oversight Needed?' in December 2010." (Towers Watson)

Delta Air Lines Faces Charges of Union Bias in Profit-Sharing Distribution
"Flight attendants formerly of Delta Air Lines Inc. acquisition Northwest Airlines Corp. are suing their new parent, claiming they got lower profit-sharing checks because they previously belonged to a union, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports." (American City Business Journals, Inc.)

Press Releases

US Labor Department Obtains Court Judgment Against Executive Of Oklahoma Aircraft Manufacturer For Misuse Of Employee Benefit Plan Premiums
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Health Care Facility Operator Charged With Health Care Fraud, Mail Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Top Producer Joins Great-West Retirement Services In Michigan
(Great-West Retirement Services)

Prudential Research Finds Most New Pensioners Considering Working Beyond Retirement
(Prudential Financial, Inc.)

ADP Acquires AdvancedMD, A Leading Provider of Cloud-based Solutions for Practice Management, Electronic Health Records, and Revenue Cycle Management
(ADP)

Largest US Pension Plan Sponsors See Continued Improvement In Funded Status
(Mercer)

RPAG Acquires Cormier DCP Suite of Studies
(Retirement Plan Advisory Group)

Changes Are Afoot at Reish & Reicher
(Reish and Reicher)

USI Consulting Group Announces their 2011 Benefits in Focus Webcast Series
(USI Consulting Group)

Nearly 50 Percent of Employees Have Considered Leaving Their Current Jobs
(MarketTools, Inc.)


Employee Benefits Jobs

Senior Plan Consultant in TX for Scholz, Klein & Friends Enlightened Retirement Group, Inc.

Transaction Support Associate in CT for Prudential

Retirement Plan Consultant in KS, MO for One Ward Parkway Group / UBS

Participant Call Center Specialist in OH for Transamerica Retirement Services Corporation

Institutional Trust Sales in AZ, CA, NV for M&I

Client Service Manager in FL, NC, WI for The Newport Group

Paralegal / Senior Paralegal – HR Emphasis in CO for CoBank

Director of Pension Administration in CT for Pension Consultants, Inc.

Director, Program Management in NJ for Prudential

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