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June 16, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2011–54 Extending FBAR Filing Requirement to November 1, 2011 for Certain Individuals (PDF)
"In Notice 2010–23, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS further extended relief to persons whose filing deadline was properly deferred by Notice 2009–62 and provided a new filing deadline to June 30, 2011, to report signature authority over, but no financial interest in, foreign financial accounts for calendar year 2009 or earlier calendar years. . . . [Such persons] will now have until November 1, 2011, to file FBARs with respect to those accounts." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)


Western Benefits Conference 2011   [Advert.]

Sponsored by ASPPA and WP&BC

Featuring groundbreaking sessions for plan sponsors, attorneys, consultants, health & welfare professionals, actuaries, investment advisors and TPAs, the WP&BC and ASPPA present the Western Benefits Conference July 24-27 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.


[Official Guidance]
Text of Final PBGC Regs Treating Bankrup.tcy Filing Date as Plan Termination Date for Certain Purposes (PDF)
"[Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006], when a plan terminates while the sponsor is in bankrup.tcy, the amount of benefits guaranteed by PBGC and the amount of benefits in priority category 3 are fixed at the date of the bankrup.tcy filing rather than at the plan termination date. In most cases, this reduces the amount of guaranteed benefits and the amount of benefits in priority category 3." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Guidance Overview]
New Michigan Law Changes Taxes and Withholding on Retirement Income
"The new rules phase out the Michigan income tax exemption for pension and retirement income, depending on birth date and total income level." (Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)

Urban Institute Announces 'Deep Bench of Experts' Available to Explain Retirement Data and Issues
"The Urban Institute's Program on Retirement Policy debuted its Data Warehouse on June 14, 2011. The Data Warehouse is an online resource for retirement-related statistics, which can be used to glean how those in different age brackets are faring and get a look at long-term retirement trends. Its initial data include statistics on older workers and population flows." (Urban Institute)

Recommendations Regarding Pension Outreach to the Small Business Community (PDF)
Link to a report to the IRS by the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities, presented June 15. The Employee Benefits group within the Advisory Committee describes ideas for further simplifying the EPCRS correction process for small employers, lists the materials published by the IRS in print and on the Web that are directed to small employers, and includes the results of a survey of benefit plan practitioners and small employers. (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

How Does Your Retirement Program Stack Up?—2011 Edition
"We benchmarked corporate retirement programs in five key dimensions—pension health, materiality, volatility, sustainability and assumptions/management decisions—to help employers evaluate and compare their retirement programs to those of the companies in the S&P 1500 as a whole or in various economic sectors." (Mercer)

Designing and Implementing Sustainable Pension Benefit 'Tiers' for Government Employees
"[Many state and local governments] are changing the structure of their employee pension benefits. . . . to limit existing pension benefits to current employees and create lower-cost pension benefit tiers for new employees. . . . In some cases, these changes can also be applied to existing employees. . . . The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends that jurisdictions considering new benefit tiers examine the following issues: . . ." (Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and (Can.ada))

Hearing on 'Retirement Security: Challenges Confronting Pension Plan Sponsors, Workers, and Retirees'
Includes archived webcast and links to written testimony. From a press release: 'In 2009, defined benefit plans were underfunded by $504 bil.lion, and the administration has proposed a number of regulatory changes that will impact plan sponsors, workers, and retirees." (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions)

Seventh Circuit Requires 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries to Stand Trial Where They Did Not Seek An RFP for Plan Recordkeeping Services Every Three Years
"[The Court of Appeals] reversed summary judgment as to whether defendants acted prudently in paying recordkeeping fees of between $43–$65 per participant per year . . . [and] held that the lower court erroneously discounted the plaintiffs' industry expert, who opined that it was imprudent not to get market prices every three years, and that the plan paid approximately twice as much as it should have for recordkeeping services. . . ." (Goodwin Procter LLP)

Lack of Retirement Funds Is Americans Biggest Financial Worry
"More Americans are worried about not having enough money for retirement (66%) than are worried about seven other financial matters Gallup asked about." (Gallup)

States Lean on Public Workers for Bigger Pension Contributions
"So far this year, eight states, including Wisconsin and Florida, have decided to require government employees to contribute more, sometimes far more, to their pensions . . . ." (New York Times)

Federal Pension Theft Not Always Prosecuted
"[F]rom April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011, the Justice Department declined to file criminal charges in two dozen cases in which retirement benefits were paid out to dead beneficiaries then spent by someone else. During the same period, prosecutors filed criminal charges or won convictions in 40 such cases . . . ." (Washington Times)

Pennsylvania School Pension System Facing Dire Situation
"The Public School Employees Retirement System, or PSERS, has an official $30 bil.lion unfunded liability that will require steep increases in taxpayer contributions over the next three decades . . . . Starting this year, the direct taxpayer contribution portion will shoot up over the next decade from 5.64 percent to 25 percent . . . ." (Weekly Press)

NH Governor Vetoes Pension Reform Bill
"Gov. John Lynch vetoed legislation on Wednesday that would require public employees to pay more toward their pensions and some to work longer . . . ." (Boston.com)

[Opinion]
Comments by ASPPA and CIKR on Applicability Dates for Fiduciary-Level and Participant-Level Fee Disclosures
"[T]he extension of the transitional rule under the 404(a) regulation is insufficient relief given the delay in finalizing the 408(b)(2) regulation as well as the ongoing review of electronic disclosure standards under [ERISA] and the applicability date of this regulation should also be extended. The applicability dates for these regulations should be no earlier than one year after the 408(b)(2) regulation is published in final form." (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries and Council of Independent 401 (k) Recordkeepers)

[Opinion]
Comments of Profit Sharing/401k Council of America on Applicability Dates for Fiduciary-Level and Participant-Level Fee Disclosures
Advocates a change to accommodate retirement plans whose plan year is other than a calendar year, and that current regs on the use of electronic disclosures to participants be made applicable to the upcoming fee disclosures to participants until other rules are established by the DOL. (Profit Sharing/401k Council of America)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Non-Profit Organizations And Government Entities Prepare for New Regs for 'Golden Handcuff' Plans Under Code Section 457(f)
"The IRS has stated that the new Section 457(f) regulations anticipate issuing guidance for substantial risk of forfeiture in line with those published under Section 409A. . . . There is precedent from the IRS's implementation of the 409A regulations, in which employers were provided a safe harbor period for corrections to bring their plans into compliance. However, the safe harbor period may not be very long, and may end as soon as December 31, 2011." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.)

Wisconsin State Workers to Begin Paying More for Benefits in August
"The law . . . requires workers to pay 12 percent of their health insurance costs and 5.8 percent of their pension costs, which amount to an 8 percent pay cut on average." (Washington Post)

N.J. Pension-Healthcare Reform Deal Reached Between Governor and Top Lawmakers
"The legislation would force public employees to pay more for their pensions and health benefits and push back their retirement age." (The Star-Ledger)

Employee Ownership Update for June 15, 2011
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses a $10 mil.lion settlement in a DOL suit against an ESOP company, payroll tax relief for stock options in San Francisco, a Senate bill to block the DOL's proposal to make ESOP appraisers plan fiduciaries, and more. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Press Releases


Employee Benefits Jobs

Client Relationship Manager—GA/TX
for Transamerica Retirement Services in GA, TX

Business Solutions Analyst
for Boston Financial Data Services in MA

Sr. Benefits Analyst
for Rockwell Collins, Inc. in IA

Defined Benefit Specialist
for Nationwide in OH

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

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Webcasts and Conferences

"Fundamentals of 401(k) and Other Qualified Plans" — Denver
in Colorado on July 13, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

24th Annual Administrators Symposium
in Connecticut on August 10, 2011 presented by Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC)

Future of Employer-Sponsored Insurance in the States Webinar
Nationwide on June 21, 2011 presented by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

How to Showcase your Firm’s Value through Service Agreements
Nationwide on June 29, 2011 presented by Thomson Reuters AccuDraft

Ten Things Employers Can Do To Avoid Litigation, and the Latest Health Care Reform Updates
in Florida on June 22, 2011 presented by AGIS-FL Agency Inc


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Jeanette Hull, News Editor
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
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