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The biggest event of the year! [Advert.]
70+ interactive sessions on hot topics shaping the industry, up to 25 ASPPA CPE credits/23 ERPA and JBEA CPE credits, 80+ displays in the exhibit hall. Register to attend AND register for Hill Visits by Monday 9/12 to get ‘early bird’ pricing.
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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Sets Out Guidelines for Making Hardship Withdrawals
"To avoid jeopardizing the qualified status of the plan, employers and plan administrators must follow both the plan document and legal requirements before making hardship distributions."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)
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[Guidance Overview]
ERISA Litigation Newsletter, September 2011 (PDF)
This edition covers the following issues: Supreme Court Rules That Participants Cannot Sue for Benefits Under the Terms of SPDs; Plan Forum Selection Provisions—One Way to Reduce Plan Expenses; and, Thinking About, Planning for and Dealing with Revenue Sharing Payments.
(Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP)
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Laying the Groundwork to Derisk Your DB Plan
"Today, all plans have an end point in mind, whether it's termination or getting fully funded. [The authors] describe how to determine your plan's endpoint and set up the glide path to reach it. They also provide the tools to construct your DB glide path and keep it on course toward the endpoint you set for your plan."
(Pensions & Investments via The Vanguard Group, Inc.)
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Employers Adopting Features to Help Employees Save
"According to a Schwab news release, 81% of employers now make 401(k) advice available to plan participants, compared to just 42% in 2005. Seventy percent of employers currently include target date funds in their fund line-ups, compared to 57% in 2005."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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Retirement Behavior and the Global Financial Crisis
"This chapter provides a survey of the current literature on the influence of employment and wealth shocks on retirement and then makes use of administrative records on benefit applications to provide a preliminary analysis of changes in early retirement (age 62) claiming resulting from the recent economic downturn and implications."
(The Pension Research Council; registration required to download papers)
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Family Feuds: The Battles Over Retirement Accounts
"As the amount of money stashed in 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts has grown, more and more families are finding themselves locked in battles over who has rights to the assets, especially in cases involving divorce and remarriage."
(The Wall Street Journal)
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Is There a Future for Retirement? (PDF)
"New EBRI research presented at this May 2011 policy forum addressed that question with comprehensive data from its Retirement Security Projection Model. In addition, a broad range of experts discussed a variety of key issues related to America's aging work force and the implications of working longer. This article summarizes the presentations and discussions at the Employee Benefit Research Institute's May 12, 2011, policy forum, on the topic: 'Is There a Future for Retirement?'"
(Employee Benefit Research Institute)
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GM Aims to Move 'Pension Risk' Off Table
"Analysts have said the automaker's pension shortfall is among the biggest risks to investors. The recent drop in interest rates compounds these issues because it increases the size of the underfunding."
(TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)
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EBSA to Hold Webcast on Participant Fee Disclosure
"To help plan fiduciaries and their service providers, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) is providing a Webcast on the final rule to improve the transparency of fees and expenses for workers in 401(k)-type retirement plans."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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The Challenge Facing Pensions Worldwide
"Reuters looks at the brewing challenge facing pensions worldwide, as tumbling equities and low interest rates diminish pension funding status."
(Milliman, Inc.)
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[Opinion]
Retirement Plan RFPs Every 3 Years: The New Normal?
"In the preamble to its 2010 service provider fee disclosure rules, [DOL] assumes (or one might say suggests) plan sponsors conduct an RFP about every three years. While this is contrary to industry studies concluding a majority rely on outside consultants or studies instead of RFPs, the 2011 Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision in George v. Kraft Foods is reinforcing concerns this is the new normal for a prudent plan fiduciary."
(Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)
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[Opinion]
There Is a Cost for 401(k) Revenue Sharing
"While revenue sharing payments from mutual funds to TPA to help defray the costs of administration of a plan sponsor's plan is legal, it [reminds] me of a kickback because only some mutual fund companies pay for it and only some of their mutual funds pay it (also it may depend on the mutual platform that the plan uses as well as its size). I guess the term kickback has a negative connotation to it, but isn't that what revenue sharing is."
(The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C,)
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[Opinion]
Looking Closer at the ERISA Case: Cigna v. Amara
"It's hard for us to imagine whether or how plaintiffs could have made other decisions had they known that the cash balance plan was much less rich than their former defined benefit plan would have been."
(Business & Legal Reports, Inc.)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Benefits Discrimination against Same Se.x Couples Violates Equal Protection, Court Says
"The Ninth Circuit affirmed the grant of a preliminary injunction . . . against the State of Arizona, requiring it to continue to provide workers in same se.x intimate relationships the employee benefits provided to employees in opposite se.x intimate relationships. The decision, Diaz v. Brewer, blocks a state law that would have removed those benefits for same se.x couples."
(Workplace Prof Blog)
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Build Voluntary Benefits into Workplace Strategies to Attract, Engage and Retain Generation Y
"Total rewards packages that incorporate voluntary benefits will play a key role in not only giving Gen Y workers the flexibility to balance work and life, but also the ability to build more financial security for them and their families. In addition, effective education and communication efforts will be critical components in helping Gen Y workers understand and appreciate the true value of voluntary benefits."
(Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company)
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The Equity Compensation Report
The NCEO has launched a newsletter focusing on equity compensation issues for companies with broad-based plans and closely held companies. The first three issues will be available at no charge to everyone through November.
(National Center for Employee Ownership)
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Press Releases
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