Ret plans - design (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Ret plans - design, gathered by BenefitsLink.comNew York Legislators and Attorney General Agree on Pension Reform Package- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "State legislators and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have agreed on a sweeping package of pension reforms that increase the penalties for pension fraud and close the loopholes that have allowed some retirees to collect six-figure salaries on top of six-figure public pensions." (NewsDay)http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-enpens0623,0,6148705.story Audits of Outsourced Retirement Plans- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The annually required, DOL-driven accounting audit of your plan by an independent certified public accountant is well positioned to do a lot more than just get its financial statements and IRS Forms 5500 prepared.' (HRO Today)http://www.hrotoday.com/magazine.asp?artID=2072 Guidance Overview Hewitt's Global Retirement Update, June 2008 (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 2 pages. Excerpt: "Our Global Retirement Update summarizes recent legislative developments and trends related to retirement and financial management and highlights recently passed and pending legislation that may require employers to take action to comply with new rules or review existing plans. It is published monthly in PDF format." (Hewitt Associates)http://www.hewittassociates.com/_MetaBasicCMAssetCache_/Assets/Legislative%20Updates/2008/... New Jersey Teachers Protest State Pension Reform Plans- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "On Friday night, the state Senate and Assembly budget committees approved an omnibus bill designed to limit most public employee pensions and benefits. They may be up for final votes before the full Senate and Assembly on Monday. Among other things, it would increase the retirement age of future employees from 60 to 62, require employees to earn $7,500 to qualifty for the pension system and tie that figure to the consumer price index. It also would require that employees work 20..http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/186/story/187908.html Court Order Needed to Split Retirement Accounts in Divorce- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Divorcing couples can split retirement accounts and even cash them out penalty-free as part of a settlement, but it has to be executed properly, and this is what many couples fail to do . . . ." (Chicago Tribune)http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-ym-journey-0622jun22,0,4139366.story Opinion Distinguishing among Employees Based on Pension Status- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "To summarize and oversimplify, in Kentucky Retirement Systems the Court held that it was legal to provide lower benefits to police and firefighters who retire on disability at or near retirement age than to those who would have had to wait longer to qualify for regular retirement. Relying on Hazen Paper but moving well past it, the Court held that pension status is not a proxy for age here even though, in the Kentucky case, age is an explicit element of pension eligibility.".http://pblog.bna.com/penben/2008/06/distinguishing.html The Motion Picture Industry Pension- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Every so often Kevin and I post about the Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plan. Because repetition is a blessing not a curse, here is yet another offering." (The Animation Guild)http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/motion-picture-industry-pension-again.html IRS's Employee Plans News, Summer 2008 (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 14 pages. This edition includes the following articles: Steven T. Miller, TEGE Commissioner, Speaks at Mid-Atlantic Benefits Conference; Form 5307 Has Been Revised; Forms & Pubs; Critical Priorities...With Monika Templeman; Maintaining Electronic Records for Employee Plans Team Audit (EPTA) Plans; Form 5500 Filing Tips - Are You a Multiemployer Plan; Things to Remember - 2007 Forms 55005500EZ; Employee Plans Published Guidance; PBGC Insights; Calendar of EP Benefits Conferences. (Internal...http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/sum08.pdf IRS Aims to Preserve Tax Status of Cash-Balance Conversions- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Newly proposed Internal Revenue Service rules will protect hundreds of pension plans from the threat of disqualification. The proposed rules affect employers that converted traditional final average pay plans to cash balance plans and said the benefits that current employees receive would be based on the design that resulted in the greatest benefit." (Financial Week; free registration required)http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/REG/42161266/-1/FWDailyAl... Guidance Overview Focus on Employee Benefits, June 19, 2008 (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 6 pages. The newsletter includes items on: ERISA Litigation: Supreme Court Ruling in MetLife v. Glenn; Exec Comp Corner: Proposed Legislation Would Tax Foreign Deferred Compensation Arrangements; Income, Reporting and Employment Tax Rules for Post-Death Exercises of Nonqualified Stock Options; Offsetting Pensions of Rehired Employees; and, Vested Retiree Health Benefits. (Miller & Chevalier Chartered)http://www.millerchevalier.com/files/Publication/1a138cee-b628-44d0-bfaf-03c1069e0128/Pres... |