[Guidance Overview]
Form 8955-SSA Reporting and 403(b) Plans
"Commencing with the 2009 plan year, the world turned upside down for 403(b) plans — a new set of regulations (first set of comprehensive regulations in 44 years), a written plan requirement, and a requirement to include schedules and the audit with the Form 5500 filing (for ERISA 403(b) plans only). As if those requirements were not enough, with the elimination of the limited exemption regarding the Form 5500, an ERISA 403(b) plan must now file a Form 8955-SSA."
(SunGard Relius)
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The Hottest Ticket in Town! [Advert.]
ASPPA co-sponsors several regional conferences each year with the IRS to provide discussion opportunities with colleagues and local, regional and national government representatives from IRS and DOL. Check to see when we're coming to your region!
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457 Answer Book [Advert.]
457 Answer Book is an in-depth resource that provides answers to the questions that tax-exempt organizations, state and local governments, their accountants, tax and legal advisors, 457 administrators, and investment counselors need to know.
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IRS Phone Forum on Retirement Plan Errors
"Michael Sanders noted 401(k) plans make up the biggest number of examinations for the IRS. Common errors in 401(k) plans include incorrect employer matching contributions, failure to correct ADP or ACP discrimination testing failures, plan account additions in excess of 415 limits, late deposits of employee deferrals, failure to use correct compensation, failure to include all eligible employees in discrimination testing and the misclassification of highly compensated and non-highly compensated employees."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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Rethinking 401(k) Litigation Risk Management (PDF)
"Fiduciaries should always keep in mind the advice of the SEC's Robert Khuzami: 'Whether you're dealing with terrorism or securities fraud, it's better to be in the prevention business than the cleanup business.'"
(Investment Horizons, Inc.)
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California Governor Introduces 12-Point Pension Plan
"The plan proposed moving new employees to a hybrid system that combines pensions with a [401(k)] style plan. Many employees will have to contribute at least half of their pension costs. Also, [the governor] proposes raising the retirement age from 55 to 67 years old."
(News10.net)
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Contractor's PBGC Work Faulted
"[A new audit] said that while several thousand retirees might now be getting too little, preliminary attempts to correct the mistakes suggested the discrepancies might be small, no bigger than $25 a month. The report pointed out that the recalculations were not final yet, and even when they were, they would never be perfect. The bigger issue is one of credibility and the seeming inability of a federal agency, charged with making scrupulously accurate payments to about 1.5 mil.lion retirees, to establish adequate controls."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
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Creating a New Public Pension System (PDF)
"Sound pension reform meets four general criteria: (1) establish transparency with respect to the true cost of the benefits promised to public employees; (2) mandate that the pension plan sponsor pay the full cost of accrued benefits each year; (3) mandate that the pension plan sponsor pay down the unfunded accrued liability over a reasonable time horizon and (4) improve the generational equity, portability and security of benefits for public employees."
(Laura and John Arnold Foundation)
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Judge Puts Off Ruling on Same Se.x Pension Case
"Suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2009, and they thought the case might be decided, one [way or another this week]. Instead, the judge postponed the hearing, saying he wanted to hear [the partner's] arguments in favor of the suit as well as the state's arguments against it."
(www.FOX2now.com)
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Today's Low-Rate Environment and the Expense Ratio of Investment Funds
"A ballpark estimate of the long-term impact of investment costs is to simply multiply the annual fee by the number of years you plan to invest: fee x years = cost. That gives you an order of magnitude correct estimate of how much money you're paying the fund provider over time."
(The Vanguard Group, Inc.)
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Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Retirement Expenditure Decisions
"[This paper] identifies how accumulated assets can be used optimally throughout retirement to produce life-long income when required, to make provision for contingencies — such as unanticipated spikes in expenditure — and to optimize the size and timing of bequests."
(Social Science Research Network)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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Two Updates on Compensation Clawbacks
"First, the SEC announced that the former Chairman and CEO of CSK Auto Corporation has agreed to return $2.8 mil.lion in bonus compensation and stock profits that he received while the company was committing accounting fraud to O'Reilly Automotive, which has since acquired CSK Auto. . . . This was the SEC's first SOX clawback case against an individual who was not alleged to have otherwise violated the securities laws."
(Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
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Financial Literacy: The Investment of a Lifetime (PDF)
"Ensuring people have adequate financial literacy skills means building a foundation in reading and numeracy in school. But this is only the beginning. Studies show that financial literacy programs work best when they are well targeted and well timed - right before a financial decision is made."
(Toronto-Dominion Bank Group)
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Updated List of Employee Ownership Plans in Major Public Companies
This list, updated and released in December 2011, shows which of the 900 largest publicly traded companies (the S&P 500 and the S&P mid-cap 400) have various forms of employee ownership, including stock options, stock purchase plans, ESOPs, 401(k) plans, and more.
(National Center for Employee Ownership)
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Employee Ownership Update for December 1, 2011
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses Berkshire Hathaway's impending acquisition of employee-owned Omaha World-Herald Co.; the NCEO's revised list of employee ownership plans in large public companies; Oxford awards for job creation in employee ownership companies; and NCEO board nominations.
(National Center for Employee Ownership)
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Press Releases
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