Ret plans - design (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Ret plans - design, gathered by BenefitsLink.comArizona District Kept Misusing Retirement Plan Despite Report- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The Maricopa County Community College District added at least two and as many as four employees from private special interest groups to the state retirement rolls despite a 2005 report by state auditors that found such deals 'improper.'" (East Valley Tribune)http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/118515 Retirement Benefits in State and Local Governments in the United States, 2007 (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 63 pages. Excerpt: "This summary presents findings of the 2007 National Compensation Survey (NCS) regarding detailed provisions of retirement plans in State and local governments." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)http://stats.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0008.pdf Official Guidance Text of Proposed IRS Regs on Accrual Rules for DB Plan Conversion to Cash Balance Formula (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 6 pages. Excerpt: "The proposed regulations would provide a limited exception to the existing requirement under 1.411(b) 1(a)(1) to aggregate the accrued benefits under all formulas in order to determine whether or not the accrued benefits under the plan for participants satisfy one of the alternative methods under section 411(b)(1)(A) through (C). Under this limited exception, certain plans that determine a participant's benefits as the greatest of the benefits determined under two or...http://benefitslink.com/taxregs/E8-13788.pdf Transcript of Online Chat on Retirement Planning Issues- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Washington Post columnist Martha M. Hamilton was online Tuesday, June 17 at Noon ET for her final chat to answer questions about financial planning for retirement. She was joined by Teresa Ghilarducci, economist and author of 'When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them.'" (The Washington Post; free registration required)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/06/12/DI2008061202805.html Deferred Annuities in Defined Contribution Plans (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 4 pages. Excerpt: "Conventional deferred annuities are being repackaged as 'DB in DC' investment options. Various fiduciary and investment considerations are likely to impede their rapid growth." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)https://institutional.vanguard.com/iam/pdf/CRRREA.pdf Proposed Funding Regs Could Lead to Under- or Overvaluation of Employer Plans, Experts Warn- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Practitioners acknowledged that the IRS 'got it mostly right' at a hearing on proposed funding plan regulations (CCH Pension Plan Guide 20,262G) at IRS headquarters in Washington, D.C. on May 29, 2008. However, testimony also indicated that the IRS needs to provide for asset smoothing as opposed to asset averaging, exclude unpredictable contingent event benefits from the definition of funding target, redetermine the yield curve and eliminate the inconsistencies between Code Sec...http://hr.cch.com/news/pension/061808a.asp Opinion South Florida Cities Should Reform Their Pension Plans: Rich Payouts a Threat to Essential Services- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Pensions administered by some South Florida cities are so far out of line with reality that some government workers would be better off financially by retiring than working. This is a lose-lose situation for local residents whose taxes support the generous pensions, and city officials would be smart to begin to rethink their options." (The Miami Herald via Human Resource Executive Online)http://dialog.newsedge.com/portal.asp?site=2006120817070303800165&searchfolderid=pg200... Guidance Overview Amara v. Cigna, ERISA Class Actions, and Fiduciary Misrepresentations About Retirement Benefits- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A few months ago, I reported on the District Court's decision in Amara v. CIGNA, an important class-action case on ERISA retirement benefits and on alleged misrepresentations made by the Company about retirement benefits. Over the last few months, then, the court was asked to consider the issue of what is appropriate relief from the decision." (Workplace Prof Blog)http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2008/06/amara-v-cigna-e.html Opinion Joint Letter to Members of Congress Regarding Strength and Viability of Public Retirement Systems (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 4 pages. Excerpt: "On behalf of the 20 national organizations listed . . . representing State and local governments and officials, public employee unions, public retirement systems, and more than 20 million working and retired state and local government workers and their beneficiaries -- we are writing to set the record straight with regard to the long-term viability and strength of State and local government employee retirement systems." (National Association of State Retirement...http://www.nasra.org/resources/Letter%20to%20Congress%200806.pdf South Africa's National Pension Plan Delayed- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "THE proposed National Social Security System (NSSS) is unlikely to be implemented by 2010 as first expected, and the government favoured a phased implementation of the model, Elias Masilela, a chief strategist at Sanlam's employee benefits division, said yesterday." (allAfrica.com)http://allafrica.com/stories/200806190700.html |