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December 22, 2011 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Plan Specialist
for Diversified in NY

Pension Consultant
for The Standard in CA

Third party administrator
for Filomeno & Company, PC in CT

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Webcasts and Conferences

Communicating Your ESOP (WEBINAR)
Nationwide on January 24, 2012 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Equity Compensation Taxation for Private Companies (WEBINAR)
Nationwide on January 25, 2012 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Sustainable Leadership (WEBINAR)
Nationwide on February 21, 2012 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Top 10 Considerations for the Design and Roll-out of Equity Compensation Plans
Nationwide on February 29, 2012 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership


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[Official Guidance]
IRS Announcement 2012-3: Deadline to Submit Opinion and Advisory Letter Applications for Pre-approved DC Plans Extended to April 2, 2012 (PDF)
"This announcement extends to April 2, 2012, the deadline to submit on-cycle applications for opinion and advisory letters for pre-approved defined contribution plans for the plans' second six-year remedial amendment cycle. Under Rev. Proc. 2007-44 . . . and Rev. Proc. 2011-49 . . . the submission period for these applications was scheduled to expire on January 31, 2012." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)


Get answers to your toughest questions at NIPA’s 2012BMC   [Advert.]

Sponsored by NIPA (National Institute of Pension Administrators)

There is no better way to get answers than to join TPA owners at NIPA’s 2012 Business Management Conference. Held Jan. 14-16, NIPA's 2012BMC addresses the unique needs of TPA owners by providing top-notch education and networking with peers.


[Official Guidance]
Text of PBGC Policy Statement: Premium Changes Based on Recharacterization of Contributions (PDF)
"This policy statement addresses PBGC's policy on accepting and responding to amended premium filings based on recharacterization of contributions. Recharacterization of contributions refers to a situation in which contributions originally designated as being for the plan year in which they were made are retroactively redesignated as being for the preceding plan year." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Guidance Overview]
DOL Releases Revised Interim Policy on use of Electronic Media for Certain Disclosures in Participant-Directed Individual Account Plans (PDF)
Extensive summary; includes very useful chart of compliance options. (Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies)

[Guidance Overview]
IRS Issues 2011 Cumulative List of Changes for Cycle B Plans
"Due to the small number of new items that could affect 401(k) plans, and the specialized nature of those items, many 401(k) plans that were already up-to-date with items on the 2010 list may discover that they do not have to make any documentation changes in response to the 2011 list." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Preliminary Settlement Reached in High-Profile 401(k) Fee Lawsuit
"Fiduciaries would have to remove retail funds from a 401(k) plan's investment lineup, under a proposed settlement of the Braden v. Wal-Mart excessive fee litigation. As preliminarily approved Dec. 5 by a federal court in Missouri, the settlement also calls for a $13.5 mil.lion cash payment . . . This lawsuit contrasts with other recent appellate cases where fiduciaries prevailed on excessive fee claims involving retail funds." (Mercer Select)

Trends in Pension Plan Management: The Annuity Dilemma
"A January 2011 survey by the Society of Actuaries found only 20% of Americans aged 45 to 70 plan to purchase annuities to protect their retirement assets, despite worries about outliving their assets. Mercer's Craig Rosenthal looks at what's behind this fear of annuitizing and how plan sponsors can address it.' (9-minute webcast.) (Mercer Select)

Is Your Pension Plan Having a Religious Conversion? Here's What You Can Do
"As a result of a new IRS procedure, any pension plan that wishes to 'convert' its federally-protected pension plan to a 'church plan' is now required to notify the people covered by the plan that the plan intends to seek IRS approval to convert. What does such a conversion mean for you? . . . Here's what you can do:" (Pension Rights Center)

Tougher Wall Street Clawbacks Needed, NYC Comptroller Says
"New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, who oversees $108 bil.lion in pension funds, said Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley should target senior executives' pay to prevent improper or risky practices." (Businessweek)

More Sponsors See Benefits in Investment Tiering
"Sponsors can tier their DC plan lineups in many ways. One common approach divides a plan into two tiers -- one devoted to a lineup of index-oriented TDFs; the other dedicated to broad-based index funds (i.e., the index tier). (Vanguard)

Group Seeks Public Pension Data for Kentucky State Workers
"Members of Taxpayers United of America . . . made several stops in Kentucky [recently] to spread their belief that the amount of pension payouts to individual government workers should be available for public scrutiny. . . . [S]ome metro government employees can qualify for pensions as high as $168,000 a year under those conditions. State pensions on the list reach as high as $256,000 annually." (The Courier-Journal)

How Will Upcoming Changes to Retirement Plans Affect You as a Plan Participant or IRA Owner?
"A tax credit worth up to $1,000 ($2,000 for couples) can be claimed by those who contribute to a retirement plan such as a 401(k) or IRA and have modified adjusted gross incomes of up to $28,750 for singles, $43,125 for heads of household, and $57,500 for married couples." (Forbes)

Plan Sponsors: Please Don't Mess Up Our 401(k) Investments
"My plea to plan sponsors stems from my concern that we could have a lot of confused investors if the financial industry doesn't handle the situation properly. And that could cause people to avoid retirement planning." (U.S.News & World Report LP)

Financial Engines Offers New Advice Program for Pre-Retirees: Annuitization
"[T]he general model it starts from is as follows: You live on the income from your portfolio through age 85, and using another portion of your savings, you can buy an immediate annuity at any point up to age 85 that will allow you to collect that same level of income for the rest of your life." (New York Times; free registration required)

BrightScope's List of the Best 401(k) Plans for 2011
"BrightScope found that companies -- at least the giant ones that made the list -- were significantly more generous with their employees than last year. The average company provided an average of $11,000 per plan participant in 2011, up from $8,000 last year." (New York Times; free registration required)

Statistics on the U.S. Retirement Market (Excel Spreadsheet)
Impressive collection of aggregate asset values, sorted by type of asset and type of retirement plan. (Investment Company Institute)

Statistics on the U.S. Retirement Market (PDF Format)
See above. (Investment Company Institute)

Wary Investors Seeking New Retirement Funding Options
"The government and private industry has been encouraging the creation and use of tools such as 401(k) annuities and pension-like funds that provide guaranteed lifetime income, despite market volatility." (Fox Business)

Will New York City's Pension Governance Proposal Become the Model for 21st Century?
"New York City is proposing to completely restructure the management of its pension funds. Rather than 5 boards and 58 trustees, the proposal will bring together the 5 pension plans under one roof to be managed by professional investors and a non-partisan staff. If approved, New York City will take the politics out of its pension plans . . . ." (CNBC)

4 Reasons Boomers Need Bigger Nest Eggs Than Their Parents
"[W]hile the boomers have been accumulating wealth at much the same pace as their parents, the world has changed in four important ways. . . ." (SmartMoney)

Court Allows Accused Killer to Use 401(k) Assets for Attorney
"Earlier this month, another judge restrained [the plan participant] from using part of the couple's marital estate to hire a private attorney." (PLANSPONSOR.com)

U.S. Retirement, Risk & Finance Perspective on Fee Allocation: Trends and Strategy
"[The] focus on fees has also raised the profile of fee disclosure. As discussed in this Perspective, plan sponsors are expressing greater interest in exploring all alternatives to protecting against asset 'leakage', including targeting an equitable approach to the allocation of fees." (Mercer LLC)

401(k) Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity In 2010 (PDF)
"On average, at year-end 2010, 62 percent of 401(k) participants' assets were invested in equity securities through equity funds, the equity portion of balanced funds, and company stock. Thirty-three percent were in fixed-income securities such as stable value investments and bond and money funds." (Employee Benefit Research Institute / Investment Company Institute)

[Opinion]
Latest News on Overall GASB Process; Two Views of Proposed Reforms
"One area of the proposed changes in the GASB rules that has been particularly worrisome has been those related to the manner in which cost-sharing plans will be required to allocate their net pension liability, pension expense, and deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources to their participating employers. The impact of this aspect of the proposed GASB changes on employers who participate in cost sharing plans could be devastating." (National Council on Teacher Retirement)

[Opinion]
Proposed Ohio Bill Wouldn't End Practice 'Double-Dipping' That Many Voters Find Objectionable
"House Bill 388, introduced Dec. 1, hardly would end double-dipping. It would allow those retired from public service to be rehired, just as now; the main change would be that pension payments would go into an interest-bearing account in the retiree's name, to be paid out when the person eventually stops working for real." (The Columbus Dispatch)

[Opinion]
Rick Perry's 'Double Dipping' Is a Public Issue
"[Texas Governor Rick] Perry officially retired in January and began collecting his pension. But this fact did not become public until last week, when his salary, augmented by the retirement annuity, was disclosed in a personal financial disclosure filing for his presidential campaign." (San Antonio Express-News)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Electronic Signatures on Forms 5500 and 5500-SF Become Mandatory for 2012
"[Beginning January 1, 2012, employer,] plan sponsors or plan administrators must electronically sign a Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF before they submit the form to the IRS and Department of Labor (DOL). Any individual who e-signs an original or amended return must have a valid EFAST2 user identification and personal identification number." (SmartHR)

[Guidance Overview]
December 31 is PTIN Renewal Deadline
"Recently enacted regulations require all paid tax return preparers to obtain a [Preparer Tax Identification Number] each year by December 31 for the upcoming year. All preparers -- including those who have obtained PTINs in the past -- must apply on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Web site or submit a paper Form W-12." (AccountingWEB.com)

Compensation Planning 2012: Proceed with Caution
"[B]udget levels will increase slightly over 2011 results, but remain well below pre-2008 recession levels." (Sibson Consulting)

The Next Say-on-Pay Vote May Not Be as Easy to Win as the First
"In anticipation of the 2012 say-on-pay vote, institutional investors and their advisors are refining their analytical approach, particularly around the alignment of pay with performance. Moreover, the [SEC] as required by Dodd-Frank, will further influence say-on-pay outcomes when it issues its pay-for-performance and pay-parity disclosure requirements." (Sibson Consulting)

[Opinion]
Calculating Public Employee Total Compensation
"A study released late last year, sponsored by U.C. Berkeley's 'Institute for Research on Labor and Employment' entitled 'The Truth about Public Employees in California: They are Neither Overpaid nor Overcompensated,' contains its conclusion in its title, but whether or not this study is presenting the 'truth' or not is worthy of further discussion." (Union Watch)

Press Releases

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis Announces New Appointments and Leadership for 2012 ERISA Advisory Council
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))



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