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Form 8955-SSA is here! [Advert.]
Whether you are planning to prepare your own paper forms or you prefer to e-file, we have your solution. Make sure to ask about our service bureau where we take care of the e-filing and printing and mailing of your notices for you.
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[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Final Rule on Termination of Underfunded Pension Plans in Bankrup.tcy
"Other refinements in the final regulation address: (1) the determination of the plan's unfunded benefit liabilities, which is based on the plan's assets and liabilities as of the termination date . . . and (2) the definition of 'basic type benefits,' which was amended to specifically include benefits that are not guaranteed solely because they accrued or became non-forfeitable between the bankrup.tcy filing date and the plan termination . . . ."
(Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
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Public Plans Reach Highest Level of Assets Since Second Quarter of 2008
"Total holdings and investments quarter-to-quarter increased $93.9 bil.lion or 3.6% to $2.7 tril.lion. Total holdings and investments year-to-year rose $253.5 bil.lion or 10.2% from $2.5 tril.lion in the first quarter of 2010. This was the sixth consecutive quarter with a year-to-year increase, the report said."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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Court Issues Mixed Ruling in Case of Abusive Tax Shelter Plan
"Claims against insurance companies, pension planners, financial advisers, accountants, attorneys, and other professionals who were involved with a company that adopted a pension plan later determined to be an abusive tax shelter are not time-barred."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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ftwPortal Express, a new member of the ftwilliam.com suite of products, will streamline the document/form collection/dissemination process and provide a secure means to communicate confidential information with clients. Ask us about a demo.
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Union Sues School District over Missing 403(b) Plan Contributions
"The Sacramento Bee reports that in the suit, Twin Rivers United Educators complains that after the district was formed in 2008, some union members noticed their 403(b) retirement contributions weren't being credited to their retirement accounts."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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IASB Finalizes Amendments to Its Employee Benefits Standard
"The amendments were the result of a Memorandum of Understanding between the IASB and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to work towards further aligning the standards from the two bodies. The elimination of the 'corridor method' brings the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) closer to those of IASB."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
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Social Security Taxes (PDF)
"The Joint Committee on Taxation supplied a Description of the Social Security Tax Base to the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee on June 21, in advance of hearings now underway. The report contains no surprises, but it does remind readers of key information about the social security taxes that may be deemed motivating by lawmakers as they consider the ongoing financial situation, both generally and in connection to Social Security."
(Alston & Bird LLP)
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Pension Rulings May Boost Cutback Efforts
"The cases in Minnesota and Colorado have been closely watched by lawmakers across the country as they contemplate similar changes in their own states. Unlike changes to benefits for new workers, which can take decades to deliver savings to state and local governments, rolling back cost-of-living adjustments can yield immediate savings."
(The Wall Street Journal)
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The Workings of the 'Open' Multiple Employer 401(k) Plan (PDF)
"A 'Multiple Employer' 401(k) plan . . ., where a single 401(k) plan is jointly sponsored by a number of unrelated employers, can often provide a cost effective way for some employers to manage their risks related to sponsoring a 401(k) plan, while enjoying advantageous pricing on investments and administrative services to which they may not otherwise have access."
(TAG Resources LLC via BenefitsLink.com authored by Robert J. Toth Jr., Esq.)
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[Opinion]
Dispelling Misinformation on Money Market Funds
"The ongoing attention to U.S. prime money market funds' exposure to the debt crisis in Greece has brought three questions to the fore: Are U.S. money market funds invested in the 'periphery countries'—Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland—that are seen at risk in a debt crisis? Why are U.S. money market funds investing in European banks? What risks do those investments pose for U.S. money market funds and their investors?"
(Investment Company Institute)
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[Opinion]
Proposed Change to Social Security COLA Would Further Erode Retirees' Financial Security (PDF)
"First, the specific suggested change—using a 'chained' consumer price index (CPI), described in more detail below—is all but guaranteed to lower growth in Social Security benefits, which could aid efforts to reduce the federal budget deficit. Second, these reductions would not be specifically legislated but would arise from what is characterized as a technocratic 'improvement' in economic measurement."
(Economic Policy Institute)
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[Opinion]
The Coming Destruction of U.S. Pensions
"In previous commentaries we've discussed the coming wave of State and local defaults, and it appears that the end game is close. Cook County is not alone, and chances are that every major metropolitan area in the country is heavily in the red. This means that the jobs and retirement futures of millions of people are under threat."
(Mac Slavo via LewRockwell.com)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Revision of Code Section 162(m) Rules (PDF)
"[T]hese proposed regulations provide further evidence of the IRS taking tougher positions on section 162(m) issues and the dangers of relying on private letter rulings, particularly in this area [of equity compensation issues]."
(Groom Law Group)
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Local and State Leaders Say Workers Demanding Unsustainable Benefits; Union Rebuttal Not Turning the Tide
"If the stakes were not high enough already, union leaders in the public sector are attempting to raise them even higher. The current circumstances, they say, represent a challenge to their workers—and, indeed, to government programs in general. They also consider themselves to be on the front lines of a broader battle between corporations and the wealthiest Americans on one side, with union members and middle-class workers on the other."
(Governing)
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2011 Guide to Employee Benefits Based on the Alphabet
"Your role as a benefits professional has become more complex and involved. You will be able to prepare six months in advance for some benefit initiatives, while having to reverse course on proper actions taken for others. It is more important than ever to surround yourself with good resources and talent so you can maintain your workload and sanity."
(Employee Benefits News; free registration required)
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What Perk Would Keep You at Your Job?
"The Wall Street Journal reports that employee perks are up! Companies that have been treating their employees like [insert bad word of your choice] are, apparently, now realizing that their best employees just might be prone to leaving them if a better offer comes along."
(CBS Interactive)
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Employee Ownership Update for July 1, 2011
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses employee ownership companies among the Winning Workplace Award winners; the Supreme Court's CIGNA v. Amara decision; proposed regulations on the taxation of performance-based equity compensation; employee ownership and values; and the death of Robert Oakeshott. (The National Center for Employee Ownership
(NCEO))
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Press Releases
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