DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Benefit Services Specialist
for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia in GA

Account Manager
for National Retirement Services, Inc. in CA

Account Relationship Manager
for Beneco in AZ

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"Advanced Plan Design Workshop 2011" - A 3-part Web Seminar
Nationwide on November 14, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

"The New Form 8955-SSA: Who, What, When, and How Webcast"
Nationwide on December 6, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

Section 105(h) Nondiscrimination Testing Demystified Webcast
Nationwide on November 17, 2011 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Employers Need to Understand Minimum Profit Sharing Benefits for Frozen/Terminated DB Plans
"Freezing or terminating a defined benefit (DB) pension plan can have unforeseen implications for a company's profit sharing plan. This is especially true if the plans are top-heavy or rely on IRS cross-testing methods (e.g., professional firm cash balance plans)." (Van Iwaarden Associates)

Avoid the IRS 250% Fee Increase with ASCi Plan Docs   [Advert.]

Fees for determination letters for individually designed qualified retirement plans have increased -- in some cases from $1,800 to $4,500! These fee increases can be avoided by adopting a pre-approved plan, like ASCi’s documents. Click here to learn more.

Recent Cases Highlight Risks of Inattention to ERISA's Participant Disclosure Requirements
"In Helton v. AT&T, Inc. . . . (E.D. Va. Sept. 16, 2011) failure by the administrator of a defined benefit pension plan to provide adequate notice of changes in a participant's plan benefits resulted in an award of $120,000 in retroactive benefits to the participant. . . . In Kujanek v. Houston Poly Bag I Limited . . . (5th Cir. 2011), a profit-sharing plan sponsor was found to have . . . failed to provide a participant with plan information, including information necessary to commence a distribution from his account under the plan. The court awarded the participant $183,881 in damages and $60,030 in attorney's fees . . . ." (McGuireWoods)

EBSA Issues Final Rules Allowing for Personalized Investment Advice Under Eligible Investment Advice Arrangements
"Designated investment options, for purposes of the statutory exemption, do not include brokerage windows, self-directed brokerage accounts, or similar arrangements that enable participants and beneficiaries to select investment options beyond those designated by the plan." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

A Different Perspective on the New DOL Regulations: What 'Fee Disclosure' Rules Really Mean for Plan Sponsors (PDF)
"The emphasis made in commentaries by vendors' associations on the implications of the new rules for their members has inadvertently diminished the focus on plan sponsors' new duties under these regulations. Plan sponsors, for example, now have a responsibility to examine and audit the adequacy of their vendors' fees. The government's unfortunate use of the word 'disclosure' as the key word in the new rules disguises the urgency the rules dictate for plan sponsors and their roles." (Roland|Criss)

IRS Issues Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Governmental Plans
"On November 7, 2011, the IRS issued two advance notices of proposed rulemaking on the definition of governmental plan under the Internal Revenue Code, addressing the determination of governmental plan status for retirement plans in general and for Indian tribal government plans in particular." (Practical Law Company)

MassMutual’s Award-Winning ERISA Advisory Services   [Advert.]

MassMutual’s ERISA Advisory Services can help plan fiduciaries and other professionals by providing up-to-date information and easy-to-use tools that help simplify the process of maintaining the compliance health of your retirement plan.

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)

Unions Blast Rhode Island Pension Reform Proposals at Rally
"Chants of 'enough is enough' and 'keep the promise, we did' rang out as 4,000 public sector employees and retirees turned out at the [Rhode Island] State House [on Tuesday Nov. 8] to rally against the pension reform legislation proposed by Governor Lincoln Chafee and General Treasurer Gina Raimondo." (GoLocalProv)

As a Participant, Can I Get Investment Tips from My 401(k) Plan Provider?
"Next month, a big change is coming regarding workplace retirement plans. Under a government rule that goes into effect Dec. 27, advisers affiliated with providers of 401(k)-type plans and IRAs, such as Vanguard or T. Rowe Price, will be able to give advice to plan participants who ask for such help. Previously, this could only be done by independent outside advisers . . . ., out of concern that the sponsor's own staff would tend to push investments that would yield them the highest fees." (AARP)

Voters Approve Pension Reform in San Francisco
"Proposition C . . . [was supported by] unions and most of the city's political leaders. It will save an estimated $1.3 bil.lion over the next decade by requiring city workers to contribute 7.5 percent of their salaries to the pension fund, a percentage that would rise in bad economic times and fall when the city — and its pension plan — was flush." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Loophole Lets Union Officials Claim Large Teacher Pensions in Missouri
"In a legal arrangement that is now drawing fire, those officials were allowed to use even brief, long-ago teaching stints to get pensions through the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System that aren't based on their modest teaching salaries but instead are based on the six-figure salaries they later received as union officials." (STLtoday.com)

Social Security: Future Benefit Hikes to Be Cut?
"Congress is looking at reducing future raises by adopting a new measure of inflation that also would increase taxes for most families — the biggest impact falling on those with low incomes." (The Christian Science Monitor)

Dodd-Frank and the Annuity Fiduciary Standard
"The DOL could require, as part of a safe harbor, that the insurance company which provides the annuity product being purchased by the plan should be prepared to describe to the fiduciary the following, in terms the fiduciary can understand: . . . ." (Business of Benefits)

49 Michigan State Retirees Collect Pensions Topping $100,000
"A never-before-published tally of the highest-paid retirees — obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests of public records — includes well-known politicians and judges and little-known school administrators, some still working in public jobs." (The Detroit News)

Social Security COLAs for 2012: Take The Bad With The Good
"SSA is also increasing the thresholds for the so-called 'earnings test' in 2012. If a retiree continues to work while receiving Social Security benefits, he or she must forfeit a portion of those benefits for earnings above a specified threshold. The earnings limits are subject to COLAs. For retirees who haven't reached full retirement age, $1 of benefits will be forfeited for every $2 in earnings above $14,640 received in 2012 ($1,220 a month)." (AccountingWEB.com)

Pension Lawsuit Could Create a Budget Gap for Florida
"A lawsuit challenging the new [Florida] law making public employees pay 3 percent of their salaries for their retirement plan could punch an $860 mil.lion hole in Florida's budget and take some $600 mil.lion away from county governments if it is upheld by the courts." (Herald-Tribune.com)

Good News: Most Investors Understand Target-Date Funds
"[But the] bad news: Slightly over 50% of that same survey group mistakenly believe that using target-date funds will guarantee that their retirement income needs will be met." (Financial Advisor)

Battle of the Index: ETF or Mutual Fund—Who's The Best for Your Retirement Plan?
"The debate over which is best has been raging for some time; but new cost information declares a very clear winner." (ETFguide.com)

Text of IRS Rev. Rul. 2011-29: Deductibility by Accrual-Basis Employers of Bonuses to Group of Employees When Allocations Not Yet Determined at Year-End (PDF)
"An employer can establish the 'fact of the liability' under section 461 for bonuses payable to a group of employees even though the employer does not know the identity of any particular bonus recipient and the amount payable to that recipient until after the end of the taxable year. . . Any change in a taxpayer's treatment of bonuses to conform with this revenue ruling is a change in method of accounting that must be made in accordance with sections 446 and 481, the regulations thereunder, and the applicable administrative procedures." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

California Governor's Pension Overhaul Plan Draws Praise, Doubt from Analyst
"Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to alter public pension benefits is courageous but legally dicey, and key pieces of it have not been fully developed, according to a new report from California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office." (Los Angeles Times)

Public Pension and Retiree Health Benefits: An Initial Response to California Governor Jerry Brown's Proposal (PDF)
"In the short run, the hard truth is that state and local pension and retiree health contributions generally will have to increase — in some cases, substantially — to fund liabilities already accrued and earned by current and past employees. . . . Transitioning employees to hybrid or defined contribution plans . . . may result in a decrease in some systems' investment returns, thereby increasing employer costs in the near term. By enacting reductions in the retirement costs for future public employees, however, the Legislature can realize major long-run savings and also help 'soften the blow' of such near-term cost increases." (California Legislative Analyst's Office)

Voters in Ohio Reject Proposed Limits on Public Sector Employee Bargaining
"[On Tuesday Nov. 8, Ohio] voters repealed a new Republican-pushed law restricting the collective-bargaining rights of teachers, firefighters, police and other public workers." (USA TODAY)

Public School Teachers Aren't Underpaid
"[T]he evidence shows that public school teachers' total compensation amounts to roughly $1.50 for every $1 that their skills could garner in a private sector job. . . . While salaries are about even, fringe benefits push teacher compensation well ahead of comparable employees in the private economy. The trouble is that many of these benefits are hidden, meaning that lawmakers, taxpayers and even teachers themselves are sometimes unaware of them." (The Wall Street Journal)

Tax Reform Proposals Likely to Reduce 401(k) Account Balances
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Lincoln Trust Purchase of Fringe Benefit Administrators Improves Economies of Scale and Expands Plan Offerings
(Lincoln Trust Company)

Diversified Ranks as the #1 Recordkeeper in 401(k) Plan Sponsor Satisfaction
(Diversified)