Exactly How Underfunded Are Government Pension Plans?
"Georgia says its two largest plans are about 86 percent funded, or roughly $10 bil.lion short, in total. Others disagree. [F]inance professors . . . estimated that Georgia's pensions are nearly $84 bil.lion short . . . ."
(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
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Understanding Retirement Plan Fees and Expenses
"While the focus is on fees and expenses involved with 401(k) plans, many of the principles discussed in the booklet also will have application to all types of retirement plans."
(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
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New Regulations Spur Cheaper 401(k) Options
"As advisers to 401(k) plans brace for upcoming regulations mandating greater fee disclosure, The Charles Schwab Corp., BlackRock Inc. and TD Ameritrade Trust Co. are among a number of firms that are launching lower-cost options ranging from exchange-traded funds to index-fund-only plans."
(Investment News; free registration required)
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New Regs May Warrant Reconsidering Cash Balance Plans
"The adoption of new cash balance plans had slowed to a trickle since the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 . . . because of the absence of clear regulations, according to Sibson Consulting, a division of Segal."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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Higher Taxes Loom for 401(k) Savers
"These days, an increase in federal income-tax rates appears inevitable, some say. 'If you look at the federal deficit, I don't see any way the tax rate is going anywhere but up,' says Jack VanDerhei, research director with the Employee Benefit Research Institute . . . ."
(The Wall Street Journal)
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The Effect of Disability Pension Incentives on Early Retirement Decisions
"Benefit levels appear to have no effect on the labour market behaviour. At the same time, there is a sizable and significant disincentive effect of implicit taxes on labour market income, indicating that alleviating such disincentives would likely increase labour force participation."
(Social Science Research Network)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Conkright in the Courts: Making Sense of the Firestone Trilogy
"The trilogy now seems to be in place - Firestone, providing generous deferential review; Glenn, providing a multi-factor analysis for cases in which the fiduciary is deemed unworthy of such deference; and Conkright, to remind us that Firestone remains the bedrock on which all else rests."
(Roy Harmon III / Health Plan Law)
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[Guidance Overview]
DOL Rescinds Form T-1 Trust Annual Report (PDF)
"The DOL has issued final regulations rescinding the requirement that unions file Form T-1 . . . disclosing financial information for certain trusts they control, thereby eliminating the need for unions to file the Form T-1 in 2011 for benefit trusts such as those for apprenticeship programs, strike funds, building funds, and educational funds."
(Buck Consultants)
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[Guidance Overview]
The USERRA Does Not Provide a Claim for Hostile Work Environment
"This decision does not affect in any way the protections of the USERRA for employees who are members of the military, nor does it preclude those employees from filing claims for constructive discharge, should their employment become so intolerable that they are forced to leave a job."
(Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC)
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How to Fix Oversize Executive Compensation
"[The NBER Shared Capitalism Research Project has shown that] Distributing rewards across the corporation -- sharing them with workers -- is the most efficient way of making businesses more successful."
(Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
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School District Employees' Pay and Perks Raise Questions in Burlington, Vermont
"State law requires public employee compensation to be available for public inspection - in other words to anyone who seeks it -- but does not say it needs to be in town reports. The Burlington City Charter goes beyond that and explicitly calls for publication of names and amount of compensation 'by way of salary or otherwise' over $300."
(www.burlingtonfreepress.com)
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Pension and Health Care Deal Reached with L.A.'s Largest City Union
"Los Angeles officials . . . unveiled what Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa termed a landmark tentative labor agreement that would greatly increase healthcare and pension contributions for thousands of municipal workers and put an end to some furloughs caused by the city's budget crisis."
(Los Angeles Times)
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Press Releases
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