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January 16, 2012 Get Health & Welfare News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Financial Consultant
for TIAA-CREF in NM

Billing Team Manager
for Charles Schwab in TX

401(k) Sales/Marketing Director
for Malcolm Thompson & Associates in TX

Employee Benefits Sales Rep
for The Standard in CA

Account Manager - Health & Welfare
for The Plexus Groupe in IL

Actuarial Analyst
for Swerdlin & Company in GA

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Webcasts and Conferences

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- Raleigh-Durham
in North Carolina on February 9, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- Woodland Hills
in California on February 9, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

Defined Contribution Plan Basics Webcast
Nationwide on January 30, 2012 presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)

Ethics and Circular 230
Nationwide on April 26, 2012 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Ethics Case Studies
Nationwide on February 23, 2012 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Retirement Plan Basics Webcast
Nationwide on January 23, 2012 presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)


We also publish the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter (free): Subscribe

[Guidance Overview]
Anti-Alienation Rule Did Not Prevent Participant from Enforcing Judgment Against Plan
"The award of funds that were erroneously removed from a participant's 401(k) account and credited to his former spouse incident to a marital dissolution would not violate ERISA's anti-alienation rule, even if the plan has not yet recovered the funds from the spouse, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York . . . . The anti-alienation rule, the court advised, does not prevent plan funds from being used to satisfy a judgment against the plan." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)


The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT is Bigger and Better in New Orleans!   [Advert.]

Sponsored by ASPPA

Come to the Big Easy for the unparalleled 401(k) SUMMIT. Join over 1,500 attendees including Broker Dealer Registered Reps, Registered Investment Advisors, Plan Administrators (TPAs) and Product and Service Professionals. Register now and save!


[Guidance Overview]
IRS Reduces Program for Requesting Tax Status Determination Letters
"Revenue Procedure 2012-6 significantly reduces the scope of the determination letter program in several ways. These changes particularly affect sponsors of pre-approved master and prototype (M&P) or volume submitter plans. Sponsors of such plans may still generally rely on 'opinion' or 'advisory' letters . . ., however, the IRS has largely eliminated the option of applying for an individual, supplemental determination letter on the abbreviated Form 5307." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

American Airlines Parent Company Says Retiree Benefits Could Be Cut
"If the plans are terminated, some senior American pilots could lose about half of their pension payments, which total as much as $100,000, according to a person familiar with the matter. Losses for other lower-paid workers would be less." (The Wall Street Journal)

No Need to Terminate American Airlines' Pension Plans, PBGC Says
"Some have suggested that American must duck its pension commitments and kill its pension plans in order to survive. We think that commitments to 130,000 workers and retirees shouldn't be disposable, that American should have to prove in court that this drastic step is necessary. For other airlines, it hasn't been." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

Corporate Pension Plans in for More Funding Woes in 2012
"Officials from BNY Mellon Asset Management, Mercer, UBS Global Asset Management, Milliman and Legal & General Investment Management America all expect another volatile year for both equity markets and funding ratios, similar to 2011 where funded status plummeted below 80% in large part because of minimal investment returns and a significant drop in the corporate discount rate." (Pensions & Investments; free registration required)

Broker Fiduciary Rule Officially in Limbo
"In a letter to Congress last week, the SEC said that it will gather information for an economic analysis of the impact of a standard-of-care regulation." (Investment News; free registration required)

Top Five Fiduciary Issues of 2011 from Fees to Fund Lineups
"Some of these fiduciary issues require plan sponsor compliance; others are simply topics that are important to sponsors seeking to maintain their status as employers of choice." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Five Suggestions to Improve the U.S. Retirement System with Ideas from Other Countries about How to Do It
"1) Raising the minimum pension for low-income pensioners: The [Mercer] study's many dimensions include looking at the minimum percent of the average wage that a single retiree receives in different countries, even if someone has no savings and no work history." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Collective Investment Trusts: An Investment Vehicle for 401(k) Plans?
"With the new [fee] transparency, some plan sponsors will probably start looking for lower-cost investment options, and CITs may fit the bill." (U.S. News & World Report LP)

At Chicago Transit Agency, Overtime Included in Calculations to Determine Pension Amounts
"The agency estimates that such added pension payments to all union workers cost $9 mil.lion a year and about $90 mil.lion over the life of the benefits. Among all the public agencies in Illinois, only at the CTA can employees boost their pensions with overtime . . . ." (Chicago Tribune)

GM Could Launch Retiree Pension 'Buyout'
"General Motors may launch a program to 'buy out' the pensions of some of its retirees -- in an effort to reduce its unfunded liabilities, an industry analyst said Wednesday." (The Detroit News)

Secrets of the 401(k) Millionaires
"'The one characteristic that differentiates the winners from the non-winners here is contribution rate — a high percentage of those mil.lion-dollar savers had constant participation and high contribution rates.'" (The Wall Street Journal)

Alabama Lawmaker Wants Changes to State Retirement Systems
"Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard said . . . taxpayers can't continue to support an investment strategy that cost the state $1 bil.lion last year for public employees' retirement benefits and matching contributions." (Alabama Live LLC)

Virginia Governor Proposes Pension Overhaul
"Virginia State workers would contribute an additional 1% toward their retirement under [the proposed plan]. [Governor] McDonnell also wants to offer employees the choice of a hybrid plan combining a 401(k)-style defined contribution system with a defined benefits program, and to change the formula for cost-of-living adjustments . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Wisconsin Reports Record Number of State Worker Retirements
"In 2011, the state pension fund received a record 18,780 retirement applications from employees of state agencies, school districts and local governments, compared to an average of approximately 10,500 in each of the previous seven years, the state Department of Employee Trust Funds said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Can a Professional Retirement Plan Advisor Really Make That Much of a Difference? (PDF)
"This survey of 409 employer offering a 401(k) or a 403(b) plan completed in September 2011 found that sponsors who partner with a Professional Retirement Plan Advisor enjoy superior retirement outcomes for their participants, superior understanding of fiduciary issues, improved plan designs, improved plan arrays, improved overall asset allocation among plan participants, more reasonable fees, and greater confidence in plan compliance and investment options." (Retirement Advisor Council / EACH Enterprise, LLC)

Pension Fund Sues MetLife Claiming False Data Punished Stock
"MetLife Inc. . . . was sued by a Michigan police and firefighters pension fund for allegedly misleading investors about its finances, triggering declines in the stock price." (Bloomberg L.P.)

[Opinion]
Public Agencies and Their Unfunded Pension Liabilities
"[F]or those of us who regularly work with public agencies and their retirement obligations, the tendency to discuss 'the pension crisis' at the macroeconomic level allows taxpayers and impacted agencies to rationalize that: (a) if the sky is truly falling, there is nothing we can do about it; or (b) yes, there may be signs of a serious problem, but they involve other parts of the State and other agencies, not us." (Chang Ruthenberg & Long PC)

[Opinion]
How 401(k)s Make Many Americans Poorer
"One of the most widely dispensed and universally accepted pieces of financial advice is that you should contribute at least enough to your 401(k) to get the full match from your company. If you don't, so the wisdom goes, you will be giving up free money. Well, it turns out that money isn't exactly 'free.' In a sense, it's coming right out of your paycheck." (Time Inc.)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Incentive Stock Options and Employee Stock Purchase Plans: IRS Information Statements and Information Returns under Section 6039
"For incentive stock option exercises and transfers of stock acquired under employee stock purchase plans in 2011, the employer must furnish employee information statements no later than January 31, 2012 and must file information returns with the IRS no later than February 28, 2012 (or March 31, 2012 if filing electronically)." (Cooley LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
Top-Hat Plan Test for Your ERISA Executive Deferred Compensation Plan: Daft v. Advest, Inc.
"A recent Sixth Circuit decision provides a tutorial on designing and administering an ERISA executive compensation top-hat plan." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)

In Observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Today: Video of 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' Speech in 1968
"Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last speech, known colloquially as his 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech, in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968. The next day, he would be assassinated." (Open Culture)

In Observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Today: Video of 'I Have a Dream' Speech in 1963
"For MLK's birthday, [Open Culture brings] back the full 'I Have a Dream' speech, delivered at The Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Seventeen eloquent and brave minutes that changed the world and made it a better place." (Open Culture)

Press Releases

US Labor Department Recovers More than $114,000 for Profit-sharing Plan of Defunct Mentor, Ohio, Company
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Bethlehem, Pa., Company Agrees to Restore More than $34,300 to Employee 401(k) Plan Following US Labor Department Lawsuit
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

ASPPA Launches Plan Consultant Magazine
(American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA))

NCPA Comments on FTC Action Against CVS Caremark, Vows to Continue PBM Transparency Efforts
(National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA))

Disability, Health Groups Support Individual Mandate in Supreme Court Amicus Brief
(National Senior Citizens Law Center)



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