[Guidance Overview]
IRS Guidance on Termination of 403(b) Plan
"Employers sponsoring §403(b) plans should consider whether they want to terminate their §403(b) plan in light of the final §403(b) regulations and current guidance, and prior to doing so should also consider whether their plans must or should be amended to allow for and effectuate the termination."
(Tax Management Inc.)
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The IRS in Your Backyard! (advert.)
Come discuss employee benefits issues with industry colleagues and local, regional and national experts from the IRS, DOL and the private sector. Programs focus on current regulatory, legislative, administrative and actuarial topics.
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Banks Competing for 401(k) Business with Large Established Providers
"The competition may mean lower costs and more choices for employers and savers . . . . Participants in the most expensive plans pay more than 6 percent annually, while the lowest-cost ones charge less than 10 basis points. . . . A basis point is 0.01 percentage point."
(Investment News; free registration required)
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Who Gets Retirement Plans and Why: An Update (PDF)
"Access to retirement plans at work is not randomly distributed throughout the workforce. The probability that an employee works for a firm that sponsors a plan is highly related to the employee's characteristics. In particular, employees who work for firms that sponsor plans are more likely to be older, have higher earnings, and work full-time for a full year."
(Investment Company Institute)
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Compliance Testing Can Be Easier with ASC! (advert.)
Free yourself from reruns and data manipulations because the ASC System generates multiple corrections or solutions for failed ADP/ACP tests. Confidently design & efficiently administer any plan. Click to see why top firms use ASC.
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IASB Planning to Issue Amendments to IAS 19 by the End of March
"For a plan to be classified as a defined benefit plan, the IASB tentatively decided at its February 2, 2011 meeting to clarify that the benefit formula needs to give rise to a legal or constructive obligation that may require the employer to pay additional contributions as a result of current or past service beyond any contributions already paid for that service."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
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Rhode Island State Pension Proposal Assailed
"[The Rhode Island governor] is proposing to raise the employees' contribution to 11.75 percent of their pay, at least temporarily, to help the state keep its promise to provide lifetime pensions to these workers of up to 75 percent of their average earnings in their final years of work, with annual increases."
(The Providence Journal Co.)
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[Opinion]
The Pointless Debate Over the Social Security Trust Fund
"What does matter is that Social Security expenses are expected to rise by about 50 percent -- from about 4.3 to 6.3 percentage points of GDP -- from 2008 to 2030, and taxes aren't. As the baby boomers retire, higher expenses and less tax revenue mean that the national deficit will rise year after year."
(Urban Institute)
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[Opinion]
The Time Has Come for Guaranteed Lifetime Income in DC Plans
"While . . . obstacles and hurdles have, up to now, stood in the way of plan sponsors offering guaranteed lifetime income solutions in their plans, the trend has now shifted. Consider that the Departments of Labor and Treasury have received written testimony and held public hearings on how they can facilitate the offering of guaranteed lifetime income in DC plans."
(Business of Benefits)
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[Opinion]
Dangers of Investment Professionals Diverting Pension Fund Voting Power
"What we are witnessing is the institutionalization of American business. It was inadvertently spawned by ERISA and Federal and legal constraints making it virtually impossible for pension funds not to take a higher price on a company under hostile or otherwise leveraged attack."
(Seeking Alpha)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Calendar Year Benefit Plans Need to File Form 5500 by August 1, 2011
"IRS penalties for late filing are $25 per day up to a maximum of $15,000. DOL penalties can run up to $1,100 per day (no maximum). For willful violations, individuals face up to a $100,000 fine and/or imprisonment up to 10 years."
(Ford & Harrison LLP)
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Same-S.ex Couples to Get Same Benefits?
"Should DOMA be struck down, a same-s.ex spouse or domestic partner would gain full spousal protections that apply to employer pensions, 401(k)s, survivor annuities, tax-free health-insurance benefits and more."
(Human Resource Executive Online)
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Companies Can Safely Fire Someone Who Alleges Internal ERISA Violations
"Last week, the United States Supreme Court declined to review a Third Circuit decision that ERISA ? 510 (which makes it illegal to fire an employee 'because he has given information or has testified or is about to testify in any inquiry or proceeding relating to [ERISA]') did not protect an HR director's unsolicited comments to management."
(Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)
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The Participant's Guide to ESOP Distributions
For many people who are waiting to get their distributions from an ESOP, the process can be confusing. This issue brief by NCEO founder Corey Rosen is designed to help ESOP participants understand how distributions work, what they can expect, and what their rights are. It is also useful for ESOP companies, who can use this as a guide to educating employees about how distributions work in a variety of circumstances and what the participants' rights are in these matters. (National Center for Employee Ownership
(NCEO))
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