|
|
|
|
|
[Guidance Overview]
Limiting Participant Loans to Active Employees
"The DOL will consider both the form and the operation of the plan's participant loan program in determining whether a plan unreasonably withholds participant loans."
(SunGard Relius)
|
|
|
[Guidance Overview]
Beneficiary Designations Under Qualified Plans
"There have been many changes in federal pension law that have an impact on a participant's beneficiary designation form. Beneficiary forms drafted even a few years ago may be outdated and not compliant with current law."
(Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC)
|
[Guidance Overview]
ERISA Fee Disclosure Deadline Looms
"[U]nder the new regulations effective next year, no contract or arrangement for services between a 'covered plan' and a 'covered services provider' (nor any extension or renewal of such contracts or arrangements) is reasonable unless certain fee disclosures are made to the 'responsible plan fiduciary.'"
(JD Supra, LLC)
|
[Guidance Overview]
Fiduciaries Showing No Compliance with 404(c) Breached Duties
"A U.S. appeals court has found that where [ERISA] § 404(c) does not apply, fiduciaries can be liable for allowing retirement plan participants to select company stock as an investment if it is manifestly imprudent to allow them to do so."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
|
|
|
Fed Study Claims Few Municipalities Will Default on Debt
"Few local governments will default on their debt, despite a challenging fiscal environment and bigger payments to underfunded public pension funds looming large for many of them, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago released Monday."
(Pensions & Investments; free registration required)
|
Local Governments and the Prospect of Bankrup.tcy (PDF)
"This article examines the likelihood of local governments defaulting on their debt or filing for bankrup.tcy. Despite the challenging fiscal environment today, the vast majority of local governments are not likely to do either, if history serves as a guide for the future."
(The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago)
|
|
|
|
|
Bringing Back the 401(k) Match
"Something for companies to think about as they decide whether to bring back the match - how structuring the match prompts workers to save more of their own money. I also came across an interesting 2010 study from the Principal Financial Group. It found employees will save more of their pay if the company sets up the 401(k) so that it matches a smaller portion of each dollar the employee saves, up to a greater percentage of their salary."
(StarTribune)
|
DOL Seeks Input on Electronic Disclosure by ERISA Plans
"The request for information focuses on participant and beneficiary access to electronic media; the need to tailor rules for different types of plans, recipients or notices; and the costs and benefits of e-delivery."
(Mercer LLC)
|
|
|
|
|
Pensionless Former Major League Baseball Players to Receive Benefits
"Major League Baseball's Commissioner's office and players union announced Thursday that players who played between 1947 and 1980 but not long enough to qualify for the league's pension would receive annual payments of up to $10,000."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
|
[Opinion]
Debt Commission's Proposed DC Contribution Limits Is Policy Change, Not Deficit Reduction
"Last week, a USA Today reporter asked me about the impact of the Presidential Debt Commission recommendation to reduce the current $49,000 combined contribution limit for employer-sponsored defined contribution plans to the lower of 20 percent of pay or $20,000. My comment was that such a change would be devastating."
(Profit Sharing / 401k Council of America)
|
|
Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
|
[Guidance Overview]
New Proposed Rules for Incentive-Based Compensation at Covered Financial Institutions (PDF)
"Proposed rules were published in the Federal Register last week pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to regulate the incentive-based compensation arrangements . . . for nearly all financial institutions operating in the United States having assets in excess of $1 bil.lion, including broker/dealers and investment advisors."
(Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
|
[Guidance Overview]
DOL Considers Easing Rules for Electronic Benefit Communications
"In the meantime, plan sponsors, fiduciaries, administrators and others involved in the sponsorship or operation of employee benefit plans should review their existing notice, disclosure and other communications to maintain compliance with existing and impending regulatory changes and manage other risks arising from these communications."
(Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
|
CEOs Earn 343 Times More Than Typical Workers
"'Despite the collapse of the financial market at the hands of executives less than 3 years ago, the disparity between CEO and workers' pay has continued to grow to levels that are simply stunning,' said Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president."
(Cable News Network)
|
Benefits Statements Offer a Snapshot of an Employee's Total Compensation
"Benefit statements can fill an important need in the marketplace. For example, less than 19% of organizations think their employees have a very good understanding of their benefits, while nearly 5% think their employees know nothing at all about their benefits . . . ."
(Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)
|
United Bumps Retiree Travel Perk to Back of Line
"Under United Airlines' old plan, retirees with more than 25 years of service had top priority when it came to flying standby on unused seats."
(Workplace Management: free registration required)
|
|
Press Releases
|
