IRS Phone Forum on Form 5330: Completion and Processing Tidbits, March 24, 2011 (PDF)
The title (above) is a link to the transcript; a link to 'Questions and Answers' submitted by practitioners after the phone forum is here (click). (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Strengthen Your Skills with NIPA [Advert.]

NIPA’s five online certificate programs work around your schedule, letting you choose the best time to study and complete the exams to advance your knowledge of pension administration. Strengthen your skills and enroll today!

Five Characteristics of a Good 401(k) Plan
"[An active and engaged investment committee] should take its role seriously, and have the final say on all aspects of the plan, including the investment menu, plan design issues, and all outside vendors. The committee should hire outside experts, such as consultants and financial advisors, as needed." (U.S. News & World Report)

The ERISA Litigation Newsletter, May 2011
This issue of the Newsletter includes: The Evolution of ERISA § 502(a)(3) Cases Seeking Monetary Recovery From Plan Participants; Seventh Circuit Revisits Issue of Remedies Available Under ERISA § 502(a)(3) in Reviving Class Action; and, Rulings, Filings, and Settlements of Interest. (Proskauer Rose LLP)

401(k) Tiers Puts More Control in the Hands of Plan Participants
"Called tiered investment strategies, the approach aligns particular types of investments with the investing appetite and inclinations of plan participants. If you're someone who likes to call the shots on your investments, there is a tier for that. If you're at the other end of the spectrum and want nothing to do with how your money is invested, there's a tier for that, too." (Treasury & Risk)

NBER Working Paper Rebuffs Arguments for Privatizing Social Security
"Common rationales include: higher returns; improvements in domestic financial institutional development; improving labor supply and retirement incentives; and hedging demographic changes. In each case, the report authors contend, a politically-stable and transparent government could have achieved similar results within the traditional system." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

New Hampshire Retirement System Answers Questions About Proposed Legislation
"The New Hampshire Retirement System . . . has posted a list of answers to frequently asked questions on its Web site, to help members and retirees understand how pending legislation may affect them if enacted into law and to correct misinformation about the financial status and overall funding of the retirement system." (Seacoast Media Group)

Understanding Worldwide Public Pension Conversions
"This paper seeks to explain the key two stylized facts of fundamental reforms to social security systems worldwide: Why have so many countries reformed when traditional systems seem, at first glance, to have a higher probability of delivering a secure retirement income? Why have these reforms been larger in developing countries facing less severe demographic problems?" (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

Framing Effects and Expected Social Security Claiming Behavior
"This paper shows that individual intentions with regard to Social Security claiming ages are sensitive to how the early versus late claiming decision is framed." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

Five Key Facts 401k Plan Sponsors Need to Know
There are at least five key points every 401k plan sponsor should know about their adviser. (Fiduciary News)

American Academy of Actuaries Comments on Proposed Revision of Actuarial Standard of Practice on Selection of Economic Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations (PDF)
"The Pension Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries [provides] comments on the Actuarial Standards Board's proposed revision of ASOP No. 27 . . . ." (American Academy of Actuaries)

NCPERS Statement Regarding the Funding and Transparency of State and Local Pension Plans (PDF)
Before the Committee of Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, May 5, 2011. 'First and foremost, we would like to assure you that the vast majority of public pension plans are healthy, sustainable and more than adequately funded. There are a few, extremely well-publicized exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions, not the rule." (National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems)

Sixth Circuit Upholds Denial of ERISA-Based Income Protection Benefits; Plan Administrator Need Not Investigate Whether the Employer Violated FMLA
"As demonstrated by the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Farhner v. United Transportation Union Discipline Income Protection Program, a well-drafted ERISA income protection or severance pay plan should enable the plan administrator to rely on the employer's stated reason for termination of an employee, rather than conducting an independent review of the facts regarding the termination." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)

Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, May 2011 (PDF)
The newsletter provides a summary of the previous month's legislative, regulatory, and judicial information on employee benefits and upcoming key dates. (Milliman, Inc.)

ERIC Comments on Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Benefit Plans (PDF)
"ERIC urged Treasury to be more responsive to easing the regulatory burden on sponsors of benefit plans to ensure that companies continue to provide health and retirement benefits, and cited the ongoing experience of sponsors of cash balance and other hybrid pensions plans as an example of the adverse consequences that misguided regulations can have." (The ERISA Industry Committee)

New England Area Fiduciary Summit Set
(New England Employee Benefits Council)

US Labor Department Sues Jendusa Engineering Associates of Hartland, Wis., to Recover Employee 401(k) Contributions Plus Lost Interest
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

International Foundation Honors Nell Hennessy Posthumously With 2011 Public Service Award
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

MassMutual Selected for $38 Million 401k Plan
(MassMutual)

Aon Hewitt Survey Reveals Pension Plan Sponsors Increasingly Adopting Liability-Matching Investments in an Effort to Reduce Volatility
(Aon Corporation)

DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Senior Consulting Support Specialist
for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of GA in GA

Institutional Services Communications Specialist
for BB&T in NC

VP, Marketing - Pension Risk Transfer
for Prudential in CT

Director-Defined Contribution Plans
for MetLife in NJ

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

EBRI to Host 2011 Spring Policy Forum on Retirement Issues
Nationwide on May 12, 2011 presented by Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Employee Benefit Plans & the New Puerto Rico Tax Code
Nationwide on May 25, 2011 presented by BNA Tax & Accounting

Group Health Claims and Appeals: The Brave New World for Making, Administering and Paying Health Claims
Nationwide on June 14, 2011 presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

Retirement Income Solutions Summit
in Illinois on October 4, 2011 presented by Pensions & Investments

Retirement Income Solutions Summit
in New York on October 6, 2011 presented by Pensions & Investments

Take Back That Pension Plan! Avoiding the Heartbreak of Plan Disqualification Through EPCRS
in California on May 19, 2011 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter