BPP401k.com Newsletter December 1

Plan Now for Your 2011 Retirement Plan While 2010 isn't over yet, it's not too early to think about setting up a qualified retirement plan for 2011. Getting an early start is especially important if you have employees. This will give you time to select the plan that best meets your business and retirement-plan goals. It will also give employees an opportunity to decide whether to participate and how much of their wages to contribute if you choose the type of plan based on employee contributions, such a 401(k) plan. Source: American Express

Important 2010 Year-End Notices For Qualified Retirement Plan Sponsors As we approach the end of 2010, plan sponsors must provide certain required year-end notices to employees. Failure to provide required notices exposes a plan sponsor to fines from $110 to $1000 per day, depending on the notice violation. This article describes the various notices and indicates applicable due dates. Source: Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP.

7 Signs Your Employer is Looting Your 401(k)Sometimes employers, service providers, or other people with authority over retirement accounts use 401(k) contributions for their own personal use or to cover business expenses. The Labor Department is stepping up its efforts to combat these and other types of 401(k) fraud. The Employee Benefits Security Administration closed 1,042 civil investigations of retirement plans in fiscal year 2009 and corrected 910 violations totaling over $17.9 million. There were also 33 criminal indictments of people who defrauded 401(k) investors last year. "Workers are often the first line of defense in identifying problems with their benefit programs early," says Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary for EBSA. Here are some signs that fraudulent activity may be occurring within your 401(k) plan. Source: US News

2010 End of Year Plan Sponsor "To Do" Lists In this article, seven "to do" lists are provided on qualified plans issues that may require plan sponsors to take action before the end of 2010 or in early 2011. Source: Snell & Wilmer LLP.

Ten Reasons to Give Thanks for U.S. Retirement System Fewer Americans are retiring with traditional pensions. Half of working Americans don't have an employer-sponsored retirement plan. And the percentage of folks who are "very confident" about having the same standard of living in retirement as during their working years is roughly one in four. Then again, retirement experts say there's also plenty for which to be thankful. Here is ten reasons to give thanks for U.S. retirement system. Source: Marketwatch.com.

2011 Retirement Plan Rollover Chart This is a chart of what the Internal Revenue Service regards as permissible when rolling funds over from one type of retirement account to another. Revised and updated for 2011. Source: 401khelpcenter.com (PDF File).

Retirement Plans Mean Big Decisions for Small Business Owners If you are self-employed or own a small business you are too smart to believe that Social Security will provide a dream retirement. But with everything else you have heaped on your plate, you may not have taken the time to implement a company retirement plan. There are three good reasons to establish one. Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution.

WEBCAST: Leakage of Participants' DC Assets - Is it Eroding the Future of Retirement? In this complementary Webcast replay, join industry experts from Aon Hewitt and the Employee Benefits Research Institute as they review the issues around leakage in defined contribution plans, including assets leaving the system through loans, hardship withdrawals, and cashouts (post-termination). Source: Asset International.

Seizing the 401k Opportunity Is it truly worth the time and effort to build a 401k practice — or expand your existing one? That depends: How do you feel about an almost $3 trillion market that could help insulate your business from market volatility and deliver a relatively consistent level of institutional-quality assets, as well as be an additional source of fee revenue? Source: Investmentnews.com.

SEC Proposes Rules to Strengthen Oversight of Investment Advisers The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose new rules to strengthen the SEC's oversight of investment advisers and fill key gaps in the regulatory landscape. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

Are You an ERISA Fiduciary? It May Become More Likely if You Give Invest. Advice The consequence of a proposed DOL regulation will be to impose an obligation to act in the interest of participants and potential personal liability on a larger class of advisers, and potentially to change the practices of some broker-dealers and consultants who currently take the position that they are not fiduciaries. Source: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.

Bundled 401k's May Be Ripping Off Your Clients A new DOL regulation will ratchet up the scrutiny of bundled 401k plan fees. You can help your plan sponsor clients -- and potentially their plan participants -- by guiding them through the pros and cons of bundled vs. unbundled services. In the process, you can also deepen your relationship with them. Source: Registeredrep.com.

401k Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2009 The average 401k retirement account balance rose 31.9 percent in 2009, according to a report released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute analyzing a group of consistent participants. The rise in 2009 was in line with the 2003-2007 pattern of steady increase in account balances and in contrast to the 27.8 percent decline in 2008. The EBRI/ICI report, "401k Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2009," is based on the largest database of its kind. Source: Investment Company Institute (PDF File).

A Look at Private-Sector Retirement Plan Income After ERISA Across all income groups, retirement income from employer-sponsored retirement plans is more prevalent among retirees today than in the mid-1970s, when sweeping new retirement plan regulations were enacted, according to a new study released by the Investment Company Institute. Source: Investment Company Institute (PDF File).

401k Investors Enjoyed 2009 Market Advances Long-term 401k participants took a big hit to their accounts in 2008, but otherwise enjoyed an average 31.9% advance in 2009, according to a new study. Source: Planadviser.com.

DOL Disputes Adopting Moench Presumption for Fiduciaries of ERISA-Governed Plans The U.S. Department of Labor recently argued that a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit got it wrong when it adopted the "Moench presumption" for assessing whether fiduciaries invested imprudently in employer stock in Quan v. Computer Sciences Corp. Source: Ballard Spahr LLP.

Final Approval of Settlement in General Dynamics 401k Lawsuit Under the settlement, the parties will implement certain practices designed to maximize the returns plan participants receive from their 401k Plan investments by continuing to keep the costs of those investments low, including the use of an outside consultant to review certain aspects of the 401k Plans and report to General Dynamics and an independent fiduciary, and enhanced disclosures to participants regarding fees and expense associated with their investments. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

IRS: No Mandatory Withholding for In-plan Roth Rollovers Plan sponsors who are allowing direct Roth rollovers from 401k and 403(b) plans don't have to worry about mandatory withholding for those distributions." Source: Plansponsor.com.

New Guidance on In-Plan Roth Rollovers On November 26, 2010, the IRS issued this 12 page notice (Notice 2010-84), containing guidance for 401k and 403(b) plans about in-plan Roth rollovers, a feature that permits plan participants to roll over eligible rollover distributions (ERDs) made after September 27, 2010, from a non-Roth account into a designated Roth account in the same plan. Notice contains new guidance and 2010 forms 1099-R and 8606 reporting instructions. Source: IRS (PDF File).

IRS Retirement News for Employers - November 26, 2010 In this edition: In-Plan Roth Rollovers; Rollovers as Business Start-Ups; Fixing Common Plan Mistakes; Form 5500 Notices Sent in Error Need a Response; Desk Side Chat...With Monika Templeman; We're Glad You Asked; What is an Annuity?; Download Free Material on IRS.gov; New on the Web; Governmental Plans Updates; DOL News; EP Recent Published Guidance; Mark Your Calendar; and, Timing is Everything. Source: IRS

For more information about custom retirement plan design and how Benefit Plans Plus can help make your business more successful visit www.bpp401k.com

BPP401k.com Newsletter November 24

2010 Year-End Compliance Summary With the end of 2010 fast approaching, employers should take time to review their employee benefit plans and assess whether any actions, such as adopting plan amendments and implementing administrative changes, must be taken before December 31, 2010. This White Paper lists the primary compliance issues and developments affecting health and welfare plans, retirement plans and executive compensation programs that employers should consider prior to year-end. Source: McDermott Will & Emery (PDF File).

U.S. Labor Department announces nationwide enforcement actions to protect millions of dollars in worker retirement and health benefits The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a series of enforcement actions to protect more than $7 million for workers in retirement plans or health plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

DOL on Furnishing SPDs to Participants Question: Can SPDs be furnished by mailing a letter or postcard to all participants to let them know a new SPD is available and they can obtain a free copy by calling a telephone number and requesting one? Here is DOL's answer. Source: Benefitslink.com.

2011 Sample Compliance Calendar This calendar provides general key retirement plan compliance requirements common to most calendar year plans. Source: ERISAdiagnostics.

"Beyond the Control of the Participant" Is Key in Emergency Distribution Requests An unforeseeable emergency distribution can be made to a participant of an IRC Sec. 457 or Sec. 409A deferred compensation plan as long as the unforeseen emergency arose as a result from events beyond the control of the participant, says the Internal Revenue Service. Source: CCH.

Some employers steal from 401k plans In tough times, some business owners are facing a tough choice: Pay the bills or deposit their workers' money into the 401k plan. Here's how to protect yourself. Source: MSN Money

Plan Sponsors Misunderstand Target Date Funds Sponsors of 401k and other defined contribution retirement plans are unaware of or unsure about many key aspects of target date funds, despite the fact that more plans are offering these funds as an investment option. Source: Society for Human Resource Management.

Making the Case for Unbiased Education Employers are recognizing the need for in-depth retirement education to help employees get back on track for retirement, but CFOs are not convinced they should pay a financial education provider to deliver education. Is there a case that unbiased education is worth paying for? Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

Study Identifies Key 401k Plan Features That Help Drive Participation and Savings Rates The study shows that while professional advice plays a critical and direct role in positively impacting the behavior of 401k plan participants, additional 401k plan features including the employer match, automatic enrollment and automatic savings increases can have a significant impact as well. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

The Impact of Auto-enrollment and Automatic Contribution Escalation on Retirement Income Adequacy This 12 page paper expands upon earlier work by EBRI to provide the first results of a new simulation model that estimates the impact of changing 401k plan design variables and assumptions on retirement income adequacy. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute (PDF File).

Q3 2010 Employee Trend Analysis In Q3 2010, more than one in every four calls into Financial Finesse's helpline was related to retirement planning, and in total, over 60% of employee interactions involved discussions surrounding long-term planning issues. If this trend continues, more employees should be financially better prepared for the future. Review the key trends in this report. Source: Financial Finesse (PDF File).

Plan Administrator Liable for Delay in Providing Requested Documents As this case illustrates, the fact that documents subject to disclosure under ERISA are in a third party's exclusive possession does not excuse the plan administrator's statutory obligation to produce those documents. Source: Employee Benefits Institute of America.

DOL Cracking Down on 401k Fraud The Department of Labor is cracking down on employers who fail to deposit workers’ retirement or health plan contributions and using the money for their own purposes. Source: Employee Benefit News.

Phase Three -- Disclosure in Retirement Plans The Department of Labor has completed its three-pronged approach to requiring more disclosure and transparency of fees and other expenses related to retirement plan administration and investments. The new disclosure regulations are extensive. Compliance will require significant efforts. Source: Warner Norcross & Judd LLP.

New Rules Regarding Fee Disclosures to Participants in 401k & 403(b) Plans The new DOL regulations are a big deal. They impose significant new requirements on plan administrators. Along with the other new DOL regulations requiring more disclosure of plan fees by service providers to plan administrators, these new requirements continue to promote more transparency in fees relating to retirement plans. Source: Miller Johnson.

Proposed Regulation on ERISA Definition of Fiduciary; Part One The most notable omissions from the existing 5-part test are that such advice no longer needs to be provided on a regular basis nor does it have to be the primary basis for making investment decisions. The removal of those conditions may result in certain individuals who previously did not meet the 5-part test to meet the definition of a fiduciary. Further, the regulation would extend fiduciary status to plan-specific appraisals and fairness opinions, also broadening the exposure to a finding of fiduciary status. Source: McKay Hochman.

For more information about custom retirement plan design and how Benefit Plans Plus can help make your business more successful visit www.bpp401k.com

BPP401k.com Newsletter November 17

Study Finds Age, Not Finances, Drives Retirement Timing Charles Schwab released findings from its latest quarterly retirement pulse survey designed to understand how pre-retiree baby boomers approach fundamental questions about when it's time to retire. According to the results, 46 percent of 50- to 60-year olds have a target date or age in mind, 38 percent have a target nest egg in mind, and 34 percent have neither of these. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

New regs forcing '401(k) dabblers' out of market: Expert Tougher regulation in the 401(k) marketplace is driving “dabblers” out of the plan advisory business, according to an industry executive. Source: Investment News

7 Ways to Check Up on Your 401(k) For many people, starting to contribute to a 401(k) is difficult. But the more challenging part is actually maintaining your retirement accounts. Sure, your contributions and investments are automated. But your financial situation changes over time. Here are seven details you should check up on to make sure your 401(k) is on the right track. Source: US News and World Report

HR's Role in New 401k ERISA Regulation New regulations have been handed down from the U.S. Department of Labor related to fiduciary requirements for fee disclosures in retirement accounts, including 401k's. HR can play a key role in compliance by effectively getting the new information out to employees, experts say. Source: HREonline.com.

Why Target-Date Funds Can Miss Marks While TDFs remain the favored default investment in 401k plans, fund providers are still refining their offerings. At issue are asset allocations, risk exposures and what happens to the fund once the retirement date is reached. Overall, these exposures and policies are called the fund's "glide path" and each fund company has a different asset allocation approach. Source: Investorplace.com.

Avoid Fiduciary Liability When Choosing the Class of 401k Funds OK, you finally have the 401k plan running smoothly. You allow the participants to direct their own investments from a menu of mutual funds – some of the best funds on the market. In fact, you even hired an investment consultant to help you pick the funds. Your committee meets with the consultant periodically to be sure the menu is still good, and once in awhile you replace a low-performing fund with one promising a better performance. Nothing else for the committee to worry about, right? Source: Warner Norcross & Judd LLP.

Shining a Light On Murky 401(k) Fees After a years long effort, the U.S. Department of Labor last month unveiled final rules requiring 401(k) plans to give workers detailed breakdowns of fees deducted from their accounts. Yet fund firms and retirement-plan providers are still fighting hard to fend off new restrictions on the murkiest of mutual-fund expenses: so-called 12b-1 fees. Source: Wall Street Journal

Understanding 401k Fees The debate over 401ks has shifted to the question of fees. Critics share a common complaint: 401k fees are too high. The median 401k plan, according to one study, costs about 0.70%. Some ask why the cost is so high. Here are four reasons. Source: Vanguard Blog.

IRS Will Contact Plans That Fail to Respond to 401k Compliance Questionnaire

Plan sponsors that received the IRS' 401k compliance check questionnaire must complete it or they will be contacted by the Service, Employee Plans Director Monica Templeman said on October 21, 2010 during an IRS webinar. Templeman reiterated that the 401k compliance questionnaire that was sent to 1,200 plan sponsors earlier this year is not an audit but, nonetheless, should be used by companies as an internal audit to fix any problems. Source: CCH.

eRollover Launches New Website eRollover (www.erollover.com), the independent, online consumer destination focused on retirement, today announced the launch of their new website. eRollover CEO Tim Harrington said the new design is intended to enhance the Member experience by creating an approachable look and feel, increasing the ease of site navigation, and complimentary analytical tools to help members take charge of their retirement planning. Source: Business Wire

403(b) Plan Compliance Issues Unearthed 2010 is the year that is illuminating retirement plan problems plaguing 403(b) plan sponsors. Listed in this article are the most common problems seen thus far. The astute plan adviser will anticipate and resolve these issues for his or her 403(b) plan. Source: Employee Benefit News.

DOL Blasts 9th Circuit for Prudence Presumption Endorsement Lawyers representing Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis have asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a three-judge panel's recent decision embracing the “presumption of prudence" standard often seen in employer stock-drop lawsuits. Source: Plansponsor.com.

Supermarket Chain Agrees to Restore $8M to 401k Plan C&K Market Inc. agreed to restore $3 million in cash plus interest and to sell property in order to make restitution for a series of imprudent loans made with plan assets. Source: Planadviser.com.

PLANSPONSOR Releases Summary of 2010 DC Plan Survey According to the just-released annual PLANSPONSOR defined contribution survey, 401k participation rates this year were basically flat and plan sponsors remained unsure about target-date asset allocations and retirement-income offerings. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

Survey Reveals Plan Sponsor Confusion on Key Aspects of Target-Date Funds A new survey conducted by Janus Capital Group revealed a broad gap between plans' utilization and understanding of target-date funds, despite the fact more plans are offering such options than ever before. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

Fidelity Reports Pre-Retirees Doubled 401k Account Balance Over Past 10 Years
Fidelity Investments released 401k data showing that pre-retiree participants who continuously held a 401k plan with Fidelity for the past 10 years more than doubled their account balances. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

ICI Tears Into 12(b)1 Proposal The mutual fund trade industry's voice has weighed in on the 12(b)1 debate – and, as might be expected, they aren't keen on some of the changes under contemplation. Source: Plansponsor.com.

DOL Expands Definition of Fiduciary and Investment Advice The proposed regulation is likely to be controversial among many sectors of the market for financial services and information. Additionally, the DOL's request for comments about how the proposed regulation should apply to advice or recommendations concerning distributions and rollovers may generate concerns among plan sponsors and service providers that assist with distributions. Good overview of regulations. Source: K&L Gates LLP.

Regulatory Brief: Participant Fee Disclosure The new regulation applies to all self-directed plans and is not limited to those plans that seek ERISA 404(c) protection. Plan sponsors will have until the plan year beginning on or after November 1, 2011, to comply. For calendar-year plans, compliance is required by January 1, 2012. Source: Vanguard (PDF File).

New Requirements on Fee Disclosure for Retirement Plans Fee transparency in retirement plans, particularly participant directed plans such as 401k and 403(b) plans, has been the subject of heated debate for the past several years. The DOL recently issued several sets of regulations designed to facilitate fee transparency by requiring various forms of disclosure by service providers and plan administrators. This is a review of those new regulations. Source: Ice Miller.

For more information about custom retirement plan design and how Benefit Plans Plus can help make your business more successful visit www.bpp401k.com

BPP401k.com Newsletter November 10

Four Risks for Every 401k Outside of the fortunate few who can count on pension plan income in their golden years, the overwhelming majority of American investors are reliant on 401k plans or similarly structured defined contribution programs, and will therefore usually not have any guaranteed amount of retirement income beyond social security. With this in mind, this article reviews four risks that each individual with a 401k plan should be aware of. Source: U.S. News & World Report.

IRS Lays Out its Employee Plans Agenda When it comes to employee benefit plans, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has laid out its work plan for next year. The FY 2011 EP Work Plan includes seven operating priorities which, according to the document, address EP’s mission in FY 2011 of protecting retirement plan assets and the benefits of plan participants. Source: Plan Sponsor

Ex-Wife Entitled to 401k Account Balance Even though an ex-wife waived her right to her now-deceased ex-husband's 401k plan savings, she is still entitled to the money, a federal judge in New Jersey has ruled. Source: Planadviser.com.

Understanding 401k Fees and Making Every Basis Point Count Aon Hewitt retirement expert Pam Hess and her co-author Valerie M. Kupferschmidt discuss the components of Total Plan Cost in DC plans, along with methods to reduce them. Source: Hewitt Associates

Retirement News For Employers The Internal Revenue service today acknowledged that some taxpayers may receive an “inadvertent denial” of their timely filed From 5558 Requests for Extension. In a November 5, 2010 ”Special Edition” of The Service’s “Retirement News for Employers” also published “Procedures for plan sponsors who received extension denial letters in error.” Source: Benefits Forward

Dusting Off 401k Educational Campaigns The economy eventually will get back into full swing, so employers should use this downtime to give their 401k educational campaigns a fall cleaning - reevaluating the program to ensure it's fresh and up to date. Source: Employee Benefit News.

PODCAST: What You Need to Know About the New Fee Disclosure Rules John Lowell, Vice President, Aon Hewitt, chats with EBN Associate Editor Kathleen Koster about the Department of Labor's regulations on fee disclosure and what plan sponsors should be mindful of when complying with the new rules. Source: Employee Benefit News.

Does Your Qualified Retirement Plan Need to Be Amended This Year? This six page advisory reminds plan sponsors of deadlines for amending qualified retirement plans and identifies those plans that must be amended now or in the near future. Source: Alston & Bird LLP

Complexity and Confusion Cause Americans to Ignore Old 401k's In today's economy, changing jobs every few years is as American as apple pie. So too is leaving behind a large amount in retirement savings at previous jobs. According to a new survey, Americans are unsure about the process to roll over a 401k into an Individual Retirement Account or where to transfer their money. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

Plan Terminations and Other Investment Events Court cases often turn on the question of whether fiduciaries engage in a thoughtful process of evaluating an investment decision. Courts typically give a great deal of deference to decisions reached through a formal process that includes a focus on the purpose of the plan, discussion of the alternatives, input from advisers and consultants, and a documented decision. Source: Reish & Reicher.

Automatic 403(b) Toolkit An automatic 403(b) plan automatically enrolls employees at a set contribution rate. It requires no initial action by employees. They are in the plan unless they opt out. In an automatic plan, contributions go into a pre-selected investment fund. Also, employers may set contributions to increase automatically each year. This 34 page toolkit provides helpful information and communications samples to help plan sponsors automate their 403(b) plan. Source: Retirement Made Simpler

The Path Forward: Designing the Ideal Defined Contribution Plan This is a research study conducted for Northern Trust by Greenwich Associates, that asked 50 large U.S. defined contribution plan sponsors and five leading investment consultants to outline the steps they think would be required to make defined contribution plans more efficient retirement savings tools for U.S. workers. Source: Northern Trust

Study: Americans Missing Opportunity to Maximize the Value of Workplace Retirement Plans The study, commissioned by the ING Retirement Research Institute, confirmed that employer-sponsored retirement plans are incredibly important to the workers who participate in them, but most are not maximizing the savings power of these plans to their full potential. The research found that plan investors often fail to recognize the potential long-term benefits that even a small contribution rate increase can produce in helping them successfully reach their retirement goals. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

The Effect of Emergencies on Retirement Savings and Withdrawals Existing studies—and software—often fail to consider how emergencies could affect the sustainability of investment withdrawals in retirement. This paper proposes an initial withdrawal rate that allows for reasonable risk. Source: Financial Planning Association.

New Congress Means Little Pension Action Ahead The GOP House majority suggests that it could be harder for defined benefit plans to win additional relief from funding obligations and that executive branch agencies will be taking the lead on other retirement plan issues. Source: PIonline.com.

Tibble v. Edison International: Excessive Fees Get a Trial It remains to be seen what the Ninth Circuit will do with Tibble. However, on the whole, Tibble represents a significant victory at the district court level for the defendants. The court reaffirmed the principle that the fact that a plaintiff's expert can point to an investment with better performance or lower fees in hindsight will not establish a breach of the duty of prudence where the fiduciaries have diligently and appropriately investigated the investment and made a decision consistent with mainstream investment decisions by plan fiduciaries—particularly where the plan's menu of investment options provides a broad array of investment and expense ratios and where the fees for each option are adequately disclosed to the participants. Source: Reish & Reicher PC

Proposed Regulation on When an Investment Advice Provider is a Fiduciary The DOL intends for these proposed regulations to better reflect the statutory language of ERISA, while simultaneously addressing the realities of the current investment marketplace. When final regulations are issued, the result will likely significantly increase the number of persons providing investment advice who are held accountable as fiduciaries under the law. The proposed regulations place all service providers who provide investment advice on notice that the definition of a fiduciary under ERISA is broadening, and that the impact will be widespread. Source: Trucker Huss, APC.

DOL Proposes Expanded Definition of Fiduciary The broadened definition is also intended to improve DOL's ability to enforce ERISA violations against investment advisers by reducing the amount of time and resources required to establish that an investment adviser is a fiduciary under the Current Rule. Source: Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP

For more information about custom retirement plan design and how Benefit Plans Plus can help make your business more successful visit www.bpp401k.com

BPP401k.com Newsletter November 3

Dos and don'ts for repairing your 401(k) retirement nest egg After a year and a half of stock market gains, you might be feeling a little better about your 401(k). Ok, with emphasis on a little; once shattered, it may now only be battered. Source: USA Today

IRS Announces Pension Plan Limits for 2011 The Internal Revenue Service announced on October 28, 2010, cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2011. In general, these limits will either remain unchanged, or the inflation adjustments for 2011 will be small. Complete details provided. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

DOL unveils new 401(k) to-do list: and it’s a big one! The Department of Labor wants your company to be clearer about all those retirement plan fees and expenses. Too bad it’s given employers 134 pages of rules on how to do it! Source: CFO

2010 Year-End Compliance for Qualified Retirement Plans During the last quarter of 2010, tax-qualified retirement plan sponsors should review their plans and amend them by the end of the year, to comply with applicable legislative and regulatory changes that have occurred over the past few years. This article summarizes these changes and other year-end housekeeping matters that are necessary for continued compliance with retirement plan requirements. Source: McGuireWoods.

Why Fees May be Less Important to 401k Plan Sponsors Professor Lee's research exposes two myths commonly perpetrated by some in the financial services industry and seemingly taken as accepted or standard investment theory by regulators. He erodes the all-too-common lore regarding the predominance of index investing over active management. It's therefore critical 401k plan sponsors fully vet all the relevant research as part of their standard due diligence process. Source: Fiduciary News.

401k Fatigue a Common Complaint Among Employees Many industry pundits point to recent statistics as signs of lingering economic hardships impacting defined contribution plan participants. But these statistics may also suggest potential disillusionment with 401k plans. Source: Callan

Roth 401k Conversion: Pros and Cons While there's a lot of buzz these days about Roth 401k conversions, there are rules and considerations which limit the situations where it might work for you, starting with the fact that you generally need to be at least 59-1/2 years old to be eligible to do it. But the real question is, is it a good idea? Source: CBS MoneyWatch.

Roth 401k and 403(b) In-Plan Conversions - Plan Sponsors Beware Although conceptually appealing and perhaps financially beneficial for some plan participants, the passage of this law so late in the year with almost no advance warning has created a minefield of issues, frustration and potential risk for plan sponsors, participants and record keepers. The new law does not include the information and details that plan sponsors and recordkeepers need in order to make the necessary plan and administrative changes to offer the feature. Source: SPARK Institute

Research Shows Americans Paying Greater Attention to Retirement Savings With persistently high unemployment, a sluggish housing market and a slow-growth economy, the Great Recession has had a negative impact on many people's finances. One unexpected bright spot has emerged, though, as more Americans say they are now focusing more on saving for retirement. Source: 401khelpcenter.com.

Some SunTrust Stock Drop Claims Thrown Out A federal judge in Georgia has rejected claims SunTrust Banks breached its fiduciary duty by keeping company stock as an investment option in its 401k plan after it was no longer prudent. Source: Plansponsor.com.

Proposed $43 Million Settlement in ERISA 401k Plan Class Action Participants in an ERISA plan associated with National City Corporation will benefit from a proposed $43 million settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging those defendants responsible for administering the National City Savings and Investment Plan breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA by making imprudent investments not in the best interests of Plan holders. Source: Lawyersandsettlements.com.

Final Regulation on Fiduciary Requirements for Participant Disclosure For plan years beginning on or after November 1, 2011, plan administrators must disclose to plan participants and beneficiaries who have the right to direct the investment of assets held in their accounts both plan-wide and individual fee and expense information that may be charged against their plan accounts. The final regulation also noted that there may be "extraordinary situations when fiduciaries will have a disclosure obligation beyond those addressed" in this regulation. Source: Proskauer Rose LLP.

DOL Proposes to Expand Fiduciary Status Under ERISA The DOL proposed to replace its long-standing regulation defining the circumstances in which invest. advice confers fiduciary status under ERISA, with a new, more expansive definition. The proposal would take effect 180 days after publication of a final regulation. This is a six page summary of the proposed definition. Source: Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

DOL Proposes New ERISA Fiduciary Definition The DOL indicated that, by giving a broader and clearer under-standing of the circumstances that will cause persons providing such advice to be subject to ERISA's fiduciary standards, the proposed regulation would better protect plan participants from conflicts of interest and self-dealing. This article provides a description of the proposed regulations. Source: Dechert LLP

Individual Account Plan Changes for Plan Sponsors to Consider Individual account plan administrators should consider amendments to their 401k and 403(b) plans and summary plan descriptions in order to implement two recent legislative and regulatory items. The details of these new items are outlined in this article. Source: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Comparative Analysis - Disclosure Obligations of 408(b)(2) vs. Schedule C This five page comparative analysis, although not comprehensive, is a summary of the similarities and differences between the disclosure obligations required for the 408(b)(2) exemption and similar disclosures required as part of a benefit plan's annual report on Form 5500. Source: 401khelpcenter.com

Get Ready for Investment Comparison Charts: DOL Beefs Up Required Participant Fee Disclosure The DOL released long-awaited final rules on required disclosures to be made to participants and beneficiaries who can direct investment of their accounts in 401k plans and other defined contribution plans. The DOL used focus groups to clarify what information participants would find meaningful in making better informed decisions. The end result of this process is significant changes in the information that must be provided as a matter of general fiduciary responsibility. Source: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.

Year-End Checklist for Retirement Plans As the end of 2010 approaches, there are a number of amendments and other year-end action items that need to be completed by plan sponsors with regard to their retirement plans. Here is a checklist. Source: Miller Johnson.

For more information about custom retirement plan design and how Benefit Plans Plus can help make your business more successful visit www.bpp401k.com