Digest
DC Participants Invest in the Extreme - Summary: Although the average U.S. household invests about 55% of its 401k or other defined contribution plan assets in stocks, many Americans are going to extremes when it comes to the equity markets.
Located at: Planadviser.com. Click on headline for full article.
Federal Legislation Quick Guide - Retirement - Summary: Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law, regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law.
Located at: Hewitt Associates (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
The Universal Fiduciary - Summary: Education is the first step in helping fiduciaries understand the importance and consequences of their position. Advisers to fiduciaries need to inform them, at the very least, of the need for a prudent process and of the basic steps for implementing that process.
Located at: Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen. Click on headline for full article.
ERISA Fiduciary Responsibility to Monitor and Collect Delinquent Contributions - Summary: Employers maintaining benefit plans that are subject to ERISA's trust requirement and plan fiduciaries should properly assign authority over plan assets, or they may be subject to fiduciary responsibility (and liability) for losses sustained by the plan.
Located at: McDermott Will & Emery. Click on headline for full article.
Best Practices for Preventing 401k Plan Lawsuits - Summary: While it is impossible to eliminate the risk of being sued, this article reviews several steps that should help 401k plan fiduciaries reduce their risk of becoming a lawsuit target.
Located at: Employee Benefit News (free registration may be required). Click on headline for full article.
Supreme Court Expands Right of Participants to Sue ERISA Fiduciaries - Summary: In LaRue v. Dewolff Boberg & Assoc, et al. 06-856, the Supreme Court expanded both the potential avenues for benefit plan litigation under ERISA and the types of remedies available to plaintiffs.
Located at: Crowell & Moring. Click on headline for full article.
Research
Hewitt Survey Reveals New Employer Trends in Retirement - Summary: Companies are increasing their focus on reducing retirement plan risk and ensuring that employees take appropriate advantage of their retirement plans.
Located at: 401khelpcenter.com. Click on headline for full article.
9th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey - Summary: The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies has conducted its 9th national survey of U.S. business employers and workers regarding their attitudes toward retirement. The research emphasizes employer-sponsored retirement plans, issues faced by small- to mid-sized companies and their employees, and the implications of legislative and regulatory changes.
Located at: Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
When Shove Comes to Push - Summary: Social scientists are starting to explore ways of using our biases and blinders to get us to make smarter choices in spite of ourselves. It can take a variety of shapes, from the automatic-enrollment version of the 401k to cash payments that encourage recovering drug addicts to stay clean to new kinds of feedback on the power consumption of cars and appliances that will subtly encourage people to save energy.
Located at: Boston Globe (free registration may be required). Click on headline for full article.
DOL and IRS Items
IRS Publishes PPA Distribution Changes Guidance - Summary: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued new guidance regarding three areas of plan administration changed by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA).
Located at: Planadviser.com. Click on headline for full article.
Final Schedule C Includes Extensive New Codes - Summary: The final revisions to Schedule C of the Form 5500 will require plan administrators and TPAs to spend a lot of time with their systems administrators over the next year.
Located at: Benefits Biz Blog. Click on headline for full article.
7-day Safe Harbor for Depositing Participant Contributions - Summary: The DOL has proposed a safe harbor deadline for an employer to deposit participant contributions withheld from his/her compensation or payments received from a participant in a retirement or welfare plan.
Located at: Sungard/Relius. Click on headline for full article.
Are Participant Contributions Remitted Quickly Enough? - Summary: Participant contributions to certain ERISA plans must be deposited with the plan on the earliest date on which they can reasonably be segregated from the employer's general assets. The Department of Labor has proposed a "safe harbor" for plans with fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year (small plans) to provide certainty of compliance with this rule.
Located at: Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Click on headline for full article.
Participant Contributions are "Plan Assets" After 7 Business Days - Summary: The DOL issued a proposed amendment to §2510.3-102 which establishes a safe harbor period of 7 business days (effectively 9 days) regarding the deadline for plan deposits of employee 401k elective deferrals and loan repayments for plans sponsored by small employers.
Located at: ERISAexpertise.com. Click on headline for full article.
Depositing of Participant Contributions Safe Harbor - Summary: Federal Register on the proposed DOL rule that would establish a safe harbor period of seven business days during which amounts that an employer has received from employees or withheld from wages for contribution to employee benefit plans with fewer than 100 participants would not constitute plan assets.
Located at: Benefitslink.com (PDF File). Click on headline for full article.
