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November 8, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Pension Consultants/Administrators
for Northern NJ Mid-Size Pension Consulting Firm in NJ

Senior Plan Consultant
for Scholz, Klein & Friends Enlightened Retirement Group, Inc. in TX

Client Service Specialist
for BeneTrends, Inc. in PA

DB Systems Analyst
for Milliman in TX

Business Review Manager
for Prudential in PA

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Webcasts and Conferences

ACOs Summit: A Transitional Model to Full Risk Care Management
in Texas on January 23, 2012 presented by Opal Events

Best Practices in Participant and Plan Service Provider Disclosures
in California on November 17, 2011 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter

Building a High-Performance Engine for Healthcare: Why Cloud Computing Architecture Matters Webcast
Nationwide on December 1, 2011 presented by Healthcare Performance Management Institute

Fee Disclosure - Are You Ready? and Washington Update!
in New York on November 17, 2011 presented by ASPPA Benefits Council of New York

Hospital Revenue Cycle Management in the Era of "Affordable Care"
in California on February 6, 2012 presented by Opal Events

The Strategic Retirement: Opportunity for Impact by Benefits Professionals
in California on November 16, 2011 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Sacramento Chapter

Webcast: End of Year Regulatory Update
Nationwide on December 8, 2011 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Webinar: CMS' Final ACO Regulations Summary: What You Need to Know
Nationwide on December 8, 2011 presented by Opal Events


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[Official Guidance]
Present Value of PBGC Maximum Guarantee: Table Updated for 2012
"These values apply to benefits with annuity starting dates in 2012. The 2012 table was developed using the 417(e) segment rates for August 2011 (1.85%, 4.62% and 6.02% respectively) for plan years beginning in 2012 and the 417(e) applicable mortality table for 2012." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)


ERISA Litigation National Institute, Chicago, IL   [Advert.]

Sponsored by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

A practical approach to ERISA, this program is designed for litigators who handle ERISA cases and want to enhance their substantive ERISA knowledge, and benefits practitioners who wish to further their knowledge of substantive and recent case law.


[Official Guidance]
IRS: Filing of Extension Requests Is Limited to 3 or Fewer Plans Sponsored by Same Employer
"If the employer maintains more than one single employer plan and the plan years end on the same date, you may file a single Form 5558 to apply for extensions to file Forms 5500 series and/or Forms 8955-SSA for up to three of these plans. Do not list more than three plans on a single Form 5558. Do not attach lists of plans to a Form 5558, they will not be processed. Lists attached to the Form 5558 received through July 31, 2012, will be returned to the filer to submit a completed Form 5558 for all plans on the list requiring an extension." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview]
IRS Delays Compliance Deadlines for Cash Balance and Other Hybrid Plans
"The Notice also extends the deadline for cash balance and other hybrid plan sponsors to adopt amendments to comply with the market rate of return and other requirements enacted under the PPA from the last day of the 2011 plan year until at least the last day of the 2012 year." (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
SEC Will Treat New ERISA Disclosures as Compliant
"Ultimately, the disclosures required under ERISA § 404(a) may provide fund performance information that is less current than what is required under Rule 482, and will utilize legends and a presentation format that differs from the Rule's requirements." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Proposes Rules on Determining Benefits in Terminating Hybrid Plans
"The PBGC regulations are proposed to apply generally to plans with termination dates in plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2008. Comments are requested by December 30, 2011." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)


Vegas is the place to (b)!   [Advert.]

Sponsored by ASPPA

18 workshops to advance your career, "Washington Update" with Brian Graff, exciting networking opportunities, post-summit access to recordings and handouts, more affordable pricing and outstanding accommodations!


[Guidance Overview]
10 Questions The DOL Wants 401(k) Plan Sponsors to Ask Their Investment Consultant
"[About 6 years ago,] the DOL put together a list of 10 questions to help the plan fiduciary determine if a conflict-of-interest may exist. We'll review these questions here and add any additional update that might have changed the nature and importance in the six-and-a-half years since the DOL first published them." (Fiduciary News)

[Guidance Overview]
Does Your Qualified Retirement Plan Need to Be Amended This Year? (PDF)
"'Cycle A' plans . . . will need to be amended to adopt certain required changes in the law no later than January 31, 2012. Note that if a Cycle A plan has discretionary amendments, those amendments still must be adopted by December 31, 2011 (for calendar year plans). Finally, all qualified retirement plans must adopt interim amendments no later than the due date of the plan sponsor's 2011 tax return (with extensions). Not every year has interim amendments that must be adopted, and 2011 appears to be a year when interim amendments are not required." (Alston+Bird LLP)

By Huge Margin, Massachusetts House Passes Bill for to Allow Nonprofit Org Employees to Participate in State's Pension Plan
"The House passed the bill 145-7. . . . The treasurer's office would administer the participant-funded plan at no cost to taxpayers." (IBerkshires.com)

New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Release of Pension Records
"[T]he retirement system argued while the lists were agency records, they should be withheld under an exemption to the law for records that would invade a person's privacy." (PLANSPONSOR.com)

San Francisco's Pension Crisis
"[Proposition D, on this year's ballot] would postpone the impending pension crunch by stopping pension 'spiking,' limiting retirement benefits to 75 percent of salaries, and requiring city employees to contribute a greater percentage of their salaries to their pensions. Workers earning less than $50,000 would not be required to pay more than 7.5 percent, while those making over $200,000 could contribute as much as 16 percent in years when the pension fund was earning less than anticipated." (City Journal)

Court Hearing Set About Release of Oregon Public Employee Retirement System Data
"The seven retirees, identified only by their initials in the lawsuit, are angry about a legal settlement in which PERS agreed to release the names and pension payment amounts of the nearly 110,000 current retirees on the agency's pension rolls." (Statesman Journal)

No Pension? You Might Still Owe $34,000 on One
"Pension accounts for state and local government workers are underfunded by $4 tril.lion, according to one recent analysis. If America's households were to split that tab today, each would have to kick in $34,000. . . . Pension abuses by workers might have helped create the problem. 'Nearly every fire house in the country saves the overtime pay for the guy who's about to retire,' says [Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester]. That's because pensions often base retiree benefits on the highest year's pay workers achieve." (SmartMoney)

Sizing Up Trustee-Directed vs. Participant-Directed Retirement Plans
"[Two questions to answer: in a] trustee-directed DB plan where an advisor works with a plan sponsor on the pooled account, is the advisor an ERISA section 3(38) Investment Manager? (Such 'work' would include creating and supplying an Investment Policy Statement, documenting the investment review process, and managing the portfolio in which the plan's pooled assets are invested.) Second, is a plan sponsor and/or its advisor better off or worse off for choosing to stay with a trustee-directed plan instead of a participant-directed plan?" (Morningstar Advisor)

Government of France Proposes Austerity Cuts, Including Increasing Retirement Age to 62
"The package of proposals presented Monday . . . includes a plan to speed up raising the minimum retirement age to 62, from 60. The change would come in 2017, instead of 2018." (New York Times; free registration required)

Michigan House Approves Bills to Add Required Employee Contributions, Replace DB Plan with 401(k) Plan for New Hires
"The changes . . . would require state employees hired prior to 1997 enrolled in the current defined benefits pension program to contribute 4% of their pay to remain in the program. . . New hires after Jan. 1, 2012, as well as current employees that elect not to pay the required 4%, will be enrolled in a 401(k)-type contribution plan that would replace the defined-benefits program." (Business Insurance)

Retirement Crisis Hits Boomers
"In a recent Gallup poll, 66% of Americans ranked not having enough money for retirement as their top financial concern. That was up from 53% a decade ago and raised a red flag for U.S. policymakers concerned about distress and downward mobility in the middle class." (Financial Post)

Restyled Annuities Offer Fewer Investment Choices
"Insurers are also limiting the likelihood of taking big hits from these guarantees by requiring annuity investors to hold a fairly conservative mix of stocks and other assets -- as opposed to, for example, letting someone put 100% of the account balance in technology stocks or emerging-markets shares." (The Wall Street Journal)

[Opinion]
Text of Letter by Employers, Trade Groups Assailing Obama Plan for Increased PBGC Premiums
"President Obama's plan to hike PBGC premiums by $16 bil.lion amounts to a tax that will kill jobs and undercut retirement security, more than 80 employers and trade groups said in a Nov. 2 joint letter to Congress." (Mercer Select)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Official Guidance]
IRS and Treasury Request Comments on Possible Approaches to Governmental Plan Guidance
"The IRS and Department of Treasury are soliciting comments on possible standards for determining if a retirement plan is a governmental plan under section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code. This issue is important to Federal, State, Local and Indian tribal government . . . ." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview]
Proskauer ERISA Litigation Newsletter, November 2011
"[W]e review the Department of Labor's decision to re-propose a controversial regulation expanding the definition of an ERISA fiduciary. . . . [Additional commentary addresses] high deductible health plan/health savings account re-design and planning for open enrollment; the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act . . . the Supreme Court's Decision in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara . . . and reconciling obligations relating to the production of documents under ERISA § 104(b)(4) versus the claims regulation . . . ." (Proskauer)

[Guidance Overview]
DOL Amends Prohibited Transaction Exemption Procedure
"In addition to consolidating existing policies and guidance on the exemption process into a single source, the regulations clarify the types of information and documentation that must be submitted and expand the method for transmitting filings to include electronic submissions." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Results of HayGroup 2011 Executive Retirement Benefits & Perquisites Survey (PDF)
"The impact of 409A may account for the relatively static prevalence of these types of arrangements. In addition, the restrictions placed on deferral elections and payment timing may have diminished the attractiveness of these types of programs. Participation in NQDC programs is on average 39%." (HayGroup)

As States Shift to Contract Workers, Savings Are Not Clear-Cut
"What governments save in salaries and benefits often 'ends up on the government books through all sorts of programs,' said Paul C. Light, a professor at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, referring to unemployment insurance, Medicaid and other public assistance for workers earning low incomes." (New York Times; free registration required)

2011 Best Places to Work in Insurance
"Business Insurance this year honored 50 companies . . . But what makes these companies attractive employers? Is it their benefits and compensation programs? Their attention to work/life balance? Or is it other, more unusual perks? . . . [This article contains] profiles of the honorees, which are organized by type of company and size . . . . [F]ind out what it is that sets the leading insurance industry workplaces apart." (Business Insurance)

[Opinion]
More Necessary Pension Pain Ahead for Governmental Employees
"Sooner or later, state and local governments must further rein in benefits for current employees — so that the cost of providing for public servants tomorrow does not make it impossible to provide actual public services today." (Washington Post; free registration required)

Press Releases

MassMutual Survey Says: Among American Workers, Women Much More Concerned Than Men with Keeping Up With Monthly Expenses
(MassMutual Retirement Services)

US Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration Announces 5 Senior Leadership Appointments
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

New "Future Income" Annuity Setting Sales Records at New York Life
(New York Life Insurance Company)

Employee Satisfaction is Primary Driver of Employers’ Voluntary Benefits Offerings; Cost Cutting Less Influential
(Prudential Financial, Inc.)

HighRoads Launches Free Compliance Assessment Tool for Checkup on Employee Health Benefits Communication Practices
(HighRoads, Inc.)

Seventh Annual AllianceBernstein Defined Contribution Survey Finds Most Investors Understand Target-Date Funds -- but Expect Them to Provide Sufficient Retirement Income
(AllianceBernstein)

Lincoln Financial Group, Primerica Form Strategic Alliance to Offer Clients New Retirement Solutions
(Lincoln Financial Group)

Lockton Ranked #1 as Best Place to Work in Insurance
(Lockton)

IRA Financial Group Announces the Expansion of its Self-Directed IRA Program To Meet Growing Demand
(IRA Financial Group )

Shenkman Capital Management, Inc. Announces the Appointment of Former Executive Director of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Bradley D. Belt, as Director
(Shenkman Capital Management, Inc.)



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

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