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June 1, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

[Official Guidance]
Text of EBSA Notice on Requirements for Fee Disclosure to Plan Fiduciaries and Participants--Applicability Dates (PDF)
"This document proposes to extend specified applicability dates of the Department's interim final rule concerning fiduciary-level fee disclosure . . . and final rule concerning participant-level fee disclosure . . . . Extending these dates will more closely align the application of the two rules and ensure that parties have sufficient time to comply with the requirements of the rules." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)


Register for NIPA's June 7 Ethics Webcast [Advert.]

Sponsored by NIPA (National Institute of Pension Administrators)

A professional has duties to both his or her client and to the public. This NIPA Webcast will discuss the role of ethics and professionalism in the plan administration profession. Register today and earn continuing education credits. Register today!


[Guidance Overview]
Supreme Court Addresses Remedies for Faulty SPDs
"The Supreme Court's holding that the SPD is not part of the plan document is beneficial to plan sponsors. There previously were lower court opinions which held that provisions in an SPD were binding upon the plan sponsor, even if inconsistent with the plan document." (Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey C.L.P.)

[Guidance Overview]
Healthcare's 403(b) Aggregation Hangover
"There are three key employer groups which utilize 403(b) plans: K-12; colleges and universities and non-profit healthcare systems. Of the three, its is healthcare that seems to be most impacted by the new aggregation rules introduced with the 2007 403(b) regulations." (Business of Benefits published by Robert J. Toth, Jr.)

[Guidance Overview]
Retired Nurse Takes Employer to Court for ERISA Violations
"Judges agreed with the plaintiff that as an employer, the hospital was obligated to keep track of all hours worked, not just those it chose to compensate. But that obligation did not affect the hospital's role as a pension administrator." (Business & Legal Reports, Inc.)

Experts Dispute GAO Study That 401(k)s Only Benefit the Wealthy
Dallas Salisbury of EBRI and Brian Graff of ASPPA dissect the GAO study. (AdvisorOne)

Kansas Groups Considering Whether to Challenge Law That Could Alter KPERS Benefits
"The law would force most employees covered by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System to choose between paying a higher percentage of their salaries toward their pensions and having their future benefits reduced. Workers hired after June 2009 wouldn't face higher contributions, but they'd be required to choose one of two alternatives for cutting their benefits." (The Hutchinson News)

Funding in Public Sector Pension Plans: International Evidence
"In order to arrive at a fair comparison between countries regarding the fiscal burden of their DB public sector pension plans, this paper gathers more evidence on public sector pension plans regarding the type of pension promise and quantifies the future tax burden related to these pension promises." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

Study Uncovers Behaviors to Achieve Retirement Readiness
"The Lincoln Financial Life Stages Study: Retirement Power indicates retirement savers should aim to hit the savings benchmark of at least 10 times their income at a typical retirement age, and revealed other pro-active retirement savings behaviors." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Republicans Promote Costa Mesa, California, As a Pension-Slashing Leader
"The Orange County city may lay off half of its workers. The GOP sees it as a local 'ground zero' in efforts to curb the collective bargaining powers of public employees." (Los Angeles Times)

Employers Can't Pinpoint What the Real Value of Retiree Benefits Is to Them
"[T]here doesn't seem to be anyone who can tell us what the marginal value each additional dollar of post-retirement benefits buys—and what we give up if we cut benefits by any given amount." (Governing)

Funding Status of Multiemployer Plans Slowly Improving
"The average funded percentage of multiemployer plans increased slightly to 89% for plan years ending Dec. 31, 2010, compared with 86% for plan years ending Dec. 31, 2009, according to the Segal Company." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Adoption of Guaranteed Living Benefits Falls As Markets Surge
"The report also shows that the election rate for guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits—one of five types of guaranteed living benefits taken into consideration—dropped two percentage points, to 63%, when any guaranteed living benefit was available for purchase." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

ERISA Preemption and Beneficiary Designation Forms
"The circuit courts are split as to whether ERISA preemption would require benefits to be paid to the estate or state law doctrines would allow the beneficiary designation form to be honored." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Five Characteristics of a Great 401(k) Plan
"[The article details] the 5 characteristics of a GREAT 401(k) plan, keeping in mind that the goal of all great 401(k) plans is to provide meaningful retirement income for the employees of the plan." (Forbes.com LLC)

Nevada's Pension Laws Allow Double-Dipping
"As Nevada lawmakers struggle to fund state agencies while ensuring the long-term health of the employee retirement account, some public employees continue to legally collect salaries and retirement checks at the same time, an investigation by the Reno Gazette-Journal found." (www.rgj.com)

A Discussion About the Legislative and Regulatory Issues Which May Impact Defined Contribution Plans (PDF)
PIMCO talks with Ed Ferrigno from the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America. (PIMCO)

EBSA Makes Fee Disclosure Deadline Extension Official
"EBSA said it has received many requests that the effective date be extended. A significant number of parties have argued that more time is essential to update systems and procedures for information collection and disclosure." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Retirement Savings and Tax Expenditure Estimates
"To measure the correct value of the tax expenditure for retirement savings in a way that makes these provisions directly comparable to other tax expenditures, one should measure the present value of the tax benefits attributable to the current-year retirement saving contributions." (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Kansas Retiree and Public Employee Groups Contemplate Lawsuit over Pension Change
"[A] news report said about 131,500 teachers and government workers covered by KPERS pay 4% of their salaries to the pension fund. Under the new law, they'd be given the choice next year of increasing their contributions to 6% by 2015, with a small bump in future benefits. If they didn't take that option, their future benefits would be cut significantly." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Federal Revenue Losses Due to Retirement Plan Tax Breaks Are Being Greatly Exaggerated
"In a study released today, the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries said that the method that the Treasury Department and the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation use to estimate the impact of tax expenditures inflates their costs by as much as 77%." (Investment News; free registration required)

[Opinion]
SPARK Institute Comment Letter on Electronic Disclosure by Employee Benefit Plans (PDF)
The SPARK Institute urged the Department of Labor to issue new rules that permit widespread use of electronic media for required disclosures to retirement plan sponsors and participants in its response today to a Request for Information from the DOL. (The SPARK Institute)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

How a U.S. Organization Can Improve its Expatriate Tax Program (PDF)
The authors suggest six steps that multinational companies can take to improve their expatriate tax programs. (Pension Publications Limited via Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)

Press Releases


Employee Benefits Jobs

Senior Pension Plan Administrator
for Howard Simon & Associates in IL

Executive Administrative Assistant
for Consulting Firm located in Irvine, CA in CA

Institutional Relationship Manager
for Regions Morgan Keegan Trust in AL

Administrator - DC Plans
for Qualified Plans, LLC in GA

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