Part Time On Call Participant Counselor
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Benefits Analyst
for Chugach Alaska Corporation in VA

Director of Benefits Operations
for Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board in DC

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Debtors in Bankrup.tcy Could Not Begin Making Post-Petition Contributions to 401(k) Plans Following Repayment of Plan Loans
"Income that becomes available to debtors following the repayment of a 401(k) plan loan is projected disposable income that must be paid to their unsecured creditors and may not be used by the debtors to begin making voluntary contributions to the plan, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals [for the Sixth Circuit]." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

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New FATCA Regulations Solve Some Issues for Pension Plans, But Other Problems Remain (PDF)
"For multinational companies, it is increasingly common to move key employees in and out of different countries — a practice that can trigger a variety of issues. New regulations proposed in February offer some relief for companies with an international workforce, as they indicate that most non-U.S. pension plans will be treated by the U.S. as 'deemed compliant' with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). But multinational employers still have reasons to look closely at pension-based U.S. tax liabilities affecting mobile employees." (Pillsbury)

Retirement Plans with Puerto Rico Employees Can File Form 5500 Rather than Puerto Rico Annual Return
"Plan sponsors that elect to file Form 5500 to satisfy the Puerto Rico annual return requirement must still complete the part of Form 480.7(OE) containing the biographical data of the plan on the first page of Form 480.7(OE) and attach a copy of Form 5500 as the annual filing." (McDermott Will & Emery)

Roth IRAs Cannot Be S Corporation Shareholders, Ninth Circuit Rules
"In rejecting the taxpayer's argument that the IRA should be treated as a permitted trust under the S corporation eligibility rules, the Ninth Circuit noted that unlike grantor trusts and QSSTs, which are both taxed currently on their income, IRAs and Roth IRAs are subject to deferred taxation on current income and thus are incompatible with the S corporation taxation rules." (Journal of Accountancy)

Is the Recession Causing Small Retirement Plans to Skimp on Compliance Efforts?
"Have difficult economic times caused small retirement plans to cut back on compliance with the tax laws? According to the March 20 issue of the IRS electronic newsletter, Employee Plans News, 1 in 4 smaller retirement plans reviewed starting in 2007 under the IRS's LESE ('Learn, Educate, Self-Correct, and Enforce') project had engaged in at least one prohibited transaction." (Bloomberg BNA)

What to Look For in 2012 at the PBGC
"Some policymakers, too, want to see increases in premium revenue to buffer the PBGC's deficit.... Look for both sides of the debate to continue to play out during the year, with the PBGC arguing for more money, and opponents arguing for more transparency of the PBGC's self-appraisal." (Retirement Town Hall)

Regulatory Responsibilities Top Retirement Plan Concerns for Professional Service Firms
"Eighty-four percent of professional service firms ... say compliance with regulations is their top concern when sponsoring retirement plans for their employees ... 28 percent of firms with fewer than 50 employees do not feel that their fiduciary requirements are being met. Additionally, 28 percent of plan sponsors were unable to show a complete understanding of ERISA." (Nationwide)

South Carolina House OKs Bill that Raises Employee Pension Contributions
"The bill ... increases employee contributions to 7.5% of salary effective July 1, 2013, from the current 6.5%. It also ties annual increases in pension benefit payments to the investment performance of the plans." (Pensions & Investments)

Low-Income Households and 401(k) Auto-Enrollment
"The Financial Literacy Center is measuring differences in default effects for employees at companies with auto-enrollment retirement plans, focusing on differential behavior by income." (RAND)

Kentucky Might Retire Confederate Soldiers Pension Fund
"[A Kentucky] Senate committee voted unanimously ... to do away with the state's Confederate Soldiers Pension Fund ... taking perhaps a final action on what some Southerners still call the War of Northern Aggression[.]" (courier-journal.com)

FATCA Creates New Issues for Cross-Border Stock and Other Incentive Compensation Plans (PDF)
"When a multinational company implements product deployment, research, sales expansion and manufacturing on an international basis, it may want a unified approach to compensation incentives covering both U.S. and other foreign executives. This means a U.S. citizen or resident who works outside the U.S. and is in an incentive program designed by a non-U.S. employer can face surprising, often serious tax problems. A non-U.S. citizen who is assigned to the U.S. but stays in their home country incentive plan may also have U.S. tax problems. And now, new issues are arising from the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act." (Pillsbury)

Chart: Employer Costs for Legally Required Benefits in December 2011
"The average cost for legally required benefits was $2.33 per hour worked in private industry (8.1 percent of total compensation) in December 2011. Social Security comprises the largest legally required benefit cost component at $1.34 per hour or 4.7 percent of total compensation. Legally required benefits such as Social Security and Medicare are often directly linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will typically show higher cost estimates for this compensation component." (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

IRS Releases Data Book for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2011 (PDF)
"The IRS devotes significant resources to meeting the special needs of tax-exempt organizations, qualified retirement benefit plans, and Government entities in complying with tax laws.... Table 22 summarizes IRS activities, such as issuing technical guidance, to assist tax-exempt entities and facilitate their compliance with Federal tax laws. Table 23 provides information about applications for determination of tax-exempt status for employee retirement plans." (Internal Revenue Service)

Sixth Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond
"Prudential has surveyed a representative cross-section of benefits plan sponsors, benefits plan participants, and brokers/consultants across the United States and compiled the findings in ... the Sixth Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond. This study is a valuable reference that benefits providers and brokers/consultants can rely on to see the real challenges and trends we believe will shape the delivery of employee benefits programs for the next five years." (Prudential)

The Standard Enhances Online Retirement Plan Tools
(The Standard)

MassMutual Launches New Intermediary Website
(MassMutual)