To EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com To BenefitsLink home page

BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter

October 12, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Sr. Retirement Plan Marketing Specialist
for Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. in MO

Marketing Representative
for PSCA in IL

Client Services Supervisor
for EPIC Advisors, Inc. in NY

Plan Document Specialist
for EPIC Advisors, Inc in NY

Compliance Specialist
for EPIC Advisors, Inc in NY

Technical Consultant - Testing & Reporting Specialist IV
for Fidelity Investments in TX

Service Delivery Manager - Testing & Reporting Services
for Fidelity Investments in TX

Participant Counselor - Retirement Services
for Diversified in FL

Account Manager, Insurance Plan Services
for Nolan Financial in DC, MD, TX

Regional Retirement Education Counselor
for prudential in NJ

Regional Retirement Education Counselor
for Prudential in TX

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

RSS feed for jobs RSS Feed: All Jobs


Webcasts and Conferences

2011 Fourth Quarter Update with Rich Hochman
Nationwide on November 1, 2011 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

2011 Fourth Quarter Update with Rich Hochman
Nationwide on November 2, 2011 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- King of Prussia
in Pennsylvania on November 10, 2011 presented by 401(k) Rekon

Controlled Groups
Nationwide on October 13, 2011 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.


We also publish the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter (free): Subscribe

[Guidance Overview]
A Look at the Draft of 2010 IRS Form 8955-SSA
"The draft instructions provide that once the 2010 form is released, a separate 2009 form can no longer be filed for 2010 reportable information. Depending on when the IRS releases the 2010 form, the delay may make it difficult for software providers to make available the 2010 form on software before the January 17, 2012 deadline." (SunGard Relius)


DATAIR Defined Contribution Plan Software   [Advert.]

Sponsored by DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Software for proposals, compliance testing, statements and periodic administration for "DC" plans. System handles 401(k), Profit Sharing (including Cross Testing), 403(b), ESOP, and NQ plans. Cost-effective PC-based system for TPAs and consultants.


[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Provides Premium Penalty Relief (PDF)
"In response to an executive order directing federal agencies to review and improve their regulatory processes, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a notice providing welcome relief from certain premium penalties. The notice also provides relief for certain situations involving alternative premium funding target elections." (Prudential Retirement)

[Guidance Overview]
Fiduciary-Level Disclosures for ERISA Retirement Plans (PDF)
"The 408(b)(2) regulation should result in plan sponsors who are more informed and better equipped to act in the best interest of their participants. In addition, as plan costs are identified with payment detail, plan sponsors will be in a better position to make plan expense decisions that can benefit their participants." (METLIFE, INC.)

[Guidance Overview]
DOL's Interim Policy on Electronic Disclosure for Participant-Directed Individual Account Plans (PDF)
"In September 2011, the DOL issued Technical Release 2011–03, which provides guidance regarding the use of electronic disclosure methods to comply with the upcoming required disclosures of information concerning participant-directed individual account plans. TR 2011–03 remains in effect until the DOL issues further guidance." (Buck Consultants, LLC)

[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Guidance Extends Relief for Late Filers and Mistaken Elections (PDF)
"In September 2011 the PBGC published a Notice explaining that for plan years after 2010 it would automatically waive premium payment penalties for premium payments that are not more than seven calendar days late." (Buck Consultants, LLC)


Roth IRA Answer Book   [Advert.]

Sponsored by Aspen Publishers

Roth IRA Answer Book provides in-depth coverage of the administration and operation of Roth IRAs. A team of practicing experts analyzes the most recent developments in practice, as well as legislation, regulation, and law.


[Guidance Overview]
New IRS Rules for Pre-Approved Plans
"There are numerous important changes in the procedure that employers should be mindful of, including the new six-year remedial amendment cycle. Adopting employers must take care to follow the requirements for plan amendments, so that their plans do not lose their qualified status and become 'individually designed plans.'" (Practical Law Company)

Target-Date Funds to Expand to 48% of Defined Contribution Market by 2020
"Target-date retirement funds will represent nearly half of the total $7.7 tril.lion in U.S. defined contribution assets by 2020, and low-cost passive funds along with innovative, customized active accounts will be the fastest-growing strategies adopted by investors, squeezing out the currently dominant mutual funds." (Employee Benefit News)

Chicago Labor Leaders Double-Dip: Union Retirement Funds and City Pensions
"At least eight Chicago labor leaders who are eligible for inflated city pensions also stand to receive union pensions covering the same work period, thanks to a charitable interpretation of state law by officials representing two city pension funds . . . ." (Chicago Tribune)

Findings from National Voter Survey: Americans Anxious about Retirement Security (PDF)
"There is no clear consensus on what lawmakers should do about entitlement spending for programs like Medicare and Social Security, but there is significant opposition to making cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Even Tea Party supporters are split on what lawmakers in Washington should do." (Americans for Secure Retirement)

Employment-Based Retirement Plan Participation: Geographic Differences and Trends, 2010 (PDF)
"Among all 152.6 mil.lion Americans who worked in 2010 (including part-time workers), 75.0 mil.lion worked for an employer or union that sponsored a retirement plan and 60.7 mil.lion participated in the plan." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

Retirement Planning for Those Who Live Past 100
"Retirement planning advice often assumes a retirement of no more than three decades, but if you retired in your 50s and have a family history of longevity, you could live past 100 and experience almost five decades of retirement. Is it possible to stretch out your nest egg for that long, and if so, how?" (Investopedia US via San Francisco Chronicle)

Sustainability of U.S. Retirement System under Pressure
"The pension system in the United States has ranked in tenth place in Mercer's global index, but reform is needed, the consulting firm has revealed." (Asset International, Inc.)

Online Calculator Maximizes Your Social Security Benefits
"Would you be interested if I said there was a way to increase the value of your Social Security benefits by 15 or 20 percent? Then listen up." (Hearst Communications Inc.)

[Opinion]
Middle-Class People Marching on Wall Street Are Same People Funding Wall Street's Oversized Paychecks
"If change is what they want, they need to educate themselves on how they're actually feeding the Wall Street beast and find better ways to get the message across. . . . [P]ublic pension funds are some of the biggest investors in private equity firms, a gateway to Wall Street." (The Motley Fool)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Asserting the Attorney-Client Privilege in ERISA Cases (PDF)
"A spate of recent case law raises the question of which circumstances will enable advice rendered in benefits matters to be protected by the attorney-client privilege and the related work product doctrine." (ALM Media Properties, LLC. via The Wagner Law Group)

Revised Conference Announcement and Call for Papers: The Past, Present and Future of Supreme Court Jurisprudence on ERISA
"The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits announces a one-day symposium for leading scholars, practitioners and policy makers, with papers to be published in The John Marshall Law Review, spring 2012 edition[.]" (Workplace Prof Blog)

The State of Working America
"The State of Working America, an ongoing analysis published since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute, includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty that allow for a clear, unbiased understanding of the economy's effect on the living standards of working Americans." (Economic Policy Institute)

Employees Want Time To Mull Benefits Choices
"'Allowing at least three weeks to review at least three types of education methods adds up to better benefits education.'" (Employee Benefit News)

[Opinion]
Ohio Federal Judge Allows Say-on-Pay Lawsuit to Proceed
"[The judge] ruled that a lawsuit brought against senior executives and directors of Cincinnati Bell, Inc. alleging a breach of fiduciary duty regarding compensation would be allowed to proceed. The lawsuit focuses on the 'say-on-pay' provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act: specifically, attacking the Board's decision to increase 2010 executive compensation in light of the nonbinding vote by 66% of the voting shareholders to reject that increase.'" (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)

[Opinion]
The Fed Releases Important Paper on Risk and Incentive Compensation
"Last week, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published a white paper, titled 'Incentive Compensation Practices: A Report on the Horizontal Review of Practices at Large Banking Organizations.'" (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)

Press Releases

Actuaries Find Pension Funding Challenges, Suggest New Ways to Preserve Pensions
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

US Labor Department Seeks to Recover More than $436,000 for 2 Employee Benefit Plans of Columbus, Ohio-based Clark Graphics
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Retirement Participation Steady in 2010, Lower Participation in the South and West
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Nine In Ten Americans Say U.S. Retirement System Under Severe Stress, Want Washington To Ease The Way For Employers To Offer Pensions
(National Institute on Retirement Security)

Mid Atlantic Trust Company Announces New Reduced Pricing for ModelxChange
(Mid Atlantic Trust Company)

Institutional Retirement Income Council Releases Issue Brief On Understanding Fees In Institutional Retirement Income Products
(Institutional Retirement Income Council)

PULSE! Connect Provides Social Media-Driven Communications for Benefits Brokers and Providers
(PULSE! Connect)



BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
Phone (407) 644-4146
Fax (407) 644-2151

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

Copyright © 2011 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

Links to Web sites other than those owned by BenefitsLink.com, Inc. are offered as a service to readers. The editorial staff of BenefitsLink.com, Inc. was not involved in their production and is not responsible for their content.

More useful links: