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January 10, 2012 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

401k Wholesaler
for AXA Equitable in OR, WA

Operations Associate
for Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group in MA

Retirement Plan Consultant
for Bethesda, MD based financial services firm in MD

Associate Consultant for Compensation Advisory Services Group
for Verisight, Inc in IL, MN, WI

Key Account Manager/Relationship Manager
for Verisight, Inc in IL

Benefits Administrator
for Findley Davies, Inc. in OH

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Webcasts and Conferences

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- Atlanta
in Georgia on January 26, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- Costa Mesa
in California on January 24, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- Houston
in Texas on January 31, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

401(k) Rekon Advisor- Charlotte
in North Carolina on February 2, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

I'll See You in Court! ERISA Litigation Update 2011/2012
in California on January 19, 2012 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter


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[Official Guidance]
PBGC's 'My PAA' Electronic Premium Submission System Now Ready for 2012 Plan Year
Estimated flat-rate filings and comprehensive filings for plan years beginning in 2012 can be electronically submitted to the PBGC via its 'My Plan Administration Account (My PAA)' system. Information about how to e-file via My PAA (e.g., FAQs and Demos) is on the target web page. (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)


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[Official Guidance]
2012 Premium Payment Instructions from Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; 2012 Flat-Rate Premiums Same as 2011 (PDF)
75 pages, including appendices. "The filing requirements for 2012 are almost identical to the filing requirements for 2011. . . . The per-participant flat-rate premium rates for 2012 remain at $35 for single-employer plans and $9 for multiemployer plans." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Guidance Overview]
2011 Reporting for 2010 Roth Rollovers and Conversions
"The [IRS] guidance explains how participants should complete various line items of the 2011 Form 1040 series (which varies based on whether any portion of the amount involved was distributed in 2010 or 2011). Some participants may have a separate reporting obligation on the 2011 Form 8606 for subsequent distributions from the Roth account in 2011." (Mercer Select)

[Guidance Overview]
Allegations of Unfair Dealings by BNYMellon with Governmental Pension Plans Have Implications for Employee Benefits Attorneys Working with Publicly-Traded Companies
"Retirement plan lawyers, both in house and outside counsel, may well want to take note of Bank of New York Mellon's recently reported troubles related to potentially widespread and fraudulent use of unfair currency exchange rates in their dealings with unsuspecting state and local pension plans. If there is a basis for these charges, and if they were as widespread and as sustained as alleged to be, we may have our first prime example of how SOX Section 307 and SEC's 'Part 205' Rules can implicate employee benefit lawyers." (Business of Benefits)

[Guidance Overview]
What You Should Know About Fiduciary Status Under ERISA
"The following presentation . . . focuses on the differences in the types of investment fiduciaries — both investment advisory fiduciaries under Section 3(21) and investment manager fiduciaries under Section 3(38). [Written for the Principal Financial Group by Stephen M. Saxon of the Groom Law Group.]" (Principal Financial Group)


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Secrets of The 401(k) Millionaires
"[T]o put $1 mil.lion in perspective: as nest eggs go, it's not exactly Faberge. The rule of thumb, advisers say, is to accumulate enough to be able to replace 75% to 80% of one's income in retirement, without — ideally — having to draw down more than 5% of the balance per year. So a $1 mil.lion nest egg would give off just $50,000 annually, enough to replace 75% of the income of someone who made $66,666. Even if the retiree collects the current maximum Social Security payment of $30,156 annually for a total income of $80,156, that's still just the recommended replacement for an income of $106,874." (SmartMoney)

Target-Date Funds End Another Year Far Away from Bull's-Eye
"[T]he average fund with about four years until its target date fell 0.4% in 2011, according to Morningstar Inc., a fund-research firm. That trails the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, which gained 2%, including dividends, and is well below the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index, which rose nearly 8% for the year." (The Wall Street Journal)

U.S. Debt Is Now Equal to Economy
"The amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors, combined with IOUs to government retirement and other programs, now tops $15.23 tril.lion. That's roughly equal to the value of all goods and services the U.S. economy produces in one year: $15.17 tril.lion as of September . . . ." (Battlecreekenquirer.com)

Favorable Tax Environment Adds to Roth 401(k) Appeal
"While there are many reasons why the Roth 401(k) may be an attractive option for higher-income employees, what has surprised many about this innovative plan feature are the benefits it offers participants across the income spectrum, making it advantageous for a wide range of employees and plans." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

[Opinion]
Who Knew? 80% Funding Target for Pension Funds Just An Urban Legend
"People refer to one report or another to substantiate their claim that some presumed experts actually made this assertion (including a GAO report and a Pew Center report that both cite unidentified experts), but nobody actually names these alleged 'sources.'" (WPRI.com)

[Opinion]
'Right-to-Work' Hurts Private-Sector Pension Coverage
"[T]he rate of employer-sponsored pensions is 4.8 percentage points lower in RTW states. If workers in non-RTW states were to receive pensions at this lower rate, 3.8 mil.lion fewer workers nationally would have pensions." (Economic Policy Institute)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Pay for Performance Drives Year Two of Say-on-Pay, While Activists Target CEO Pay in Tax Reform
"Given the still struggling economy and that 2012 is an election year, we would expect to see a continued focus on stock options and federal contractors' pay as well as the deductibility of executive compensation used as a political foil. The Center will be advocating for consistent tax treatment among all forms of compensation." (HR Policy Association)

Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, January 2012 (PDF)
The newsletter provides a summary of the previous month's legislative, regulatory, and judicial information on employee benefits and upcoming key dates. (Milliman, Inc.)

Press Releases



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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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