Church-sponsored plans (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Church-sponsored plans, gathered by BenefitsLink.comThe Standard to Provide 403(b) Program for Large Church Organization- (Found June 29, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, working in partnership with the Church Benefits Board (CBB) and Retirement Wealth Management LLC, announced it has selected The Standard to be the provider of its $20 million 403(b) plan." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=41824 2006 Year-End Compliance Reminders: For Defined Contribution Plans Not Subject to ERISA (PDF)- (Found June 29, 2008 ) 3 pages. Excerpt: "This information applies to defined contribution plans, such as qualified governmental plans (including grandfathered' 401(k) plans), qualified church plans that do not elect to be covered by ERISA ('non-electing church plans'), 403(b) programs, and section 457 plans that are not subject to Title I of ERISA." (Prudential Retirement)http://www.prudential.com/media/managed/PruPA_Year-End_Reminders06-NEfinal.pdf Overview: Final HIPAA Rules on Nondiscrimination Fine-Tune Interim Rules- (Found June 29, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A separate, but related, set of final regulations have been issued by the IRS that provide guidance under Code Sec. 9802(c) relating to the exception to the HIPAA nondiscrimination rules for certain grand-fathered church plans." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)http://hr.cch.com/news/pension/011107a.asp Priests' Trust Shaken: Clergy Say Mismanagement Left Pension Funds in Trouble- (Found June 29, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Hundreds of distraught Boston-area priests are facing stark cuts in their retirement benefits as the Archdiocese of Boston scrambles to shore up its teetering pension system after decades of poor fiscal management." (Boston Herald)http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=182298 Archdiocese of Chicago to Freeze Workers' Pensions: Profit-Sharing Pool Gets Future Money- (Found June 29, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The move by one of the country's biggest religious employers breaks from a 40-year commitment to a pension that guarantees payments for life and follows a trend of big employers toward shifting more of the risk for retirement onto workers. Officials of the archdiocese said the goal is not to save money -- contribution levels to the new plan will be the same as they were to the pension pool -- but to offer a better benefit." (Chicago Tribune; free registration required)http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0705070495may08,0,712581.story?coll=chi-busines... Compliance Checklist 2007 for Plans That Are Not Subject to ERISA (PDF)- (Found June 29, 2008 ) 13 pages. Excerpt: "The Checklist incorporates requirements for Governmental and Nonelecting Church Plans, Non-ERISA 403(b) Programs, 457 Plans, and Nonqualified Executive Benefit Plans, and provides information on the materials that you will need to file, filing due dates, and agencies to which the filings should be made." (Prudential Financial)http://www.prudential.com/media/managed/CompCklst-2007-NEfinal.pdf Overview: Final Section 403(b) Regulations Are Announced (PDF)- (Found June 29, 2008 ) 4 pages. Excerpt: "On July 26, 2007, final regulations under Section 403(b) providing for retirement savings through annuity contracts and mutual fund custodial accounts for employees of public schools and tax-exempt organizations and retirement income accounts for church employees and certain ministers will be published in the Federal Register." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)http://www.sablaw.com/files/tbl_s10News/FileUpload44/17398/LegalAlertFinServFinalSection40... Health Care Corporation's Plan Not Exempt from COBRA As Church Plan- (Found June 29, 2008 ) Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Health care systems and other organizations that have religious affiliations often maintain benefit plans for their employees that are assumed to be exempt from ERISA and COBRA. The final determination of whether this plan was a church plan, however, was left to a judge -- leading to a result that the employer may not have anticipated." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)http://www.ebia.com/weeklyguest/19169/20071102ffca7605ee2e0838aeb5442229a0af19/BNL071011 Updated Chart Shows COLA Increases in Penson Limits, Social Security Wage Base, for 2008- (Found June 29, 2008 ) On October 18, the IRS issued News Release IR-2007-171, announcing the changes in pensions and benefits limits for 2008. That same day, the Social Security Administration announced the wage base (i.e., the maximum amount subject to social security taxes) for 2008. An updated chart, showing these limits for 1996 to 2008, is available at the above link. (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)http://benefitsattorney.com/modules.php?name=415 Case Sheds Light on Church Plan Exception- (Found June 29, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Most benefits and insurance professionals familiar with COBRA administration clearly know that church plans are exempted from COBRA's requirements. What is less clear is when this exception actually applies. A recent district court case shed some light." (infinisource)http://www.infinisource.net/Infinisource/News_Review_Articles/news_review20071112-1.aspx |