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Sponsored by: www.ftwilliam.com

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Text of Corrections to IRS Final Regs on Designated Roth Accounts in 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD9324) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 30,2007 (72 FR 21103) providing guidance concerning the taxation of distributions from designated Roth accounts under qualified cash or deferred arrangements under section 401(k)." (Internal Revenue Service)

Overview: IRS Releases Roth IRA Rollover Final Regulations
Excerpt: "Plan sponsors of prototype Roth IRAs interested in taking rollovers from 402A Roth Accounts first have to change their IRA documents to be allowed to do so. That was a key outcome contained in final Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations that will affect administrators of, employers maintaining, participants in, and beneficiaries of 401(k) and 403b) plans, and owners and beneficiaries of Roth IRAs and trustees of Roth IRAs, tax officials said." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Former PBGC Chief Argues Corporate Executives Too Eager to Abandon Their Defined Benefit Pensions
Excerpt: "Belt argues that corporate executives eager to abandon their defined-benefit pensions may be cutting off their proverbial nose to spite their face. That's because in 10 or 15 years, when those executives are trying to encourage employees to retire early, employees won't be able to afford retirement." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

401(k)s Pose Challenges for Advisers
Excerpt: "According to a new white paper, although 83% of plan sponsors who used financial advisers were very satisfied with them, 42% of surveyed sponsors didn't even use one." (Investment News; free registration required)

Are Separately Managed Accounts Good for 401(k) Plans?
Excerpt: "The jury is still out on the ultimate appeal of SMAs within 401(k)s." (Financial Advisor)

Significant Number of Multiemployer Plans Do Not Meet PPA Funding Requirements, Survey Finds
Excerpt: "Forty-two percent of multiemployer plans in a recent survey would not meet the funding requirements implemented under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 . . . if measured today, according to consultant Segal Company." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Plan Sponsors Should Think Beyond PPA-Required Participant Communications (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Seizing the opportunity to expand the scope of the required retirement benefit statements can help achieve two important human resources objectives: Encourage Retirement Planning and Savings . . . [and] Enhance Understanding of the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to Improve Retention of Key Employees. . . . There is a spectrum of increasingly robust approaches that go beyond simply complying with PPA '06 requirements: . . ." (Sibson Consulting, a Division of Segal)

Stanford Group Issues Pension Governance Standards
Excerpt: "A committee of the Stanford Institutional Investors' Forum at Stanford Law School, in cooperation with the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance, have announced new standards designed to improve fund governance and curb abuse of fund assets." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Text of Court Opinion in Nager vs. Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of NYC -- Allegations of Improper Investments in Teachers' Retirement Plan (PDF)
57 pages. Excerpt: "This action was commenced by plaintiff Arnold H. Nager ('Nager') as a proposed class action in February 1997 by the filing of a summons and complaint in the Supreme Court, New York County. R-43. Nager's principal claim was that the assets of the Variable B Annuity Program ('Variable B') of the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York (the 'TRS') had been improperly invested and that he and the proposed class had been damaged." (Rosen Preminger & Bloom LLP via bWise Guys, LLC)

Convicted Former Illinois Governor Loses Pension Plea
Excerpt: "An Illinois judge on Thursday rejected an attempt by former governor George Ryan to keep pension benefits he earned before engaging in activities for which he was recently convicted." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

When Does It Pay to Take Social Security Benefits Early?
Excerpt: "The question: Is it smart to claim Social Security benefits as soon as eligibility begins at age 62? Or is it better to wait until what the government terms 'full retirement age,' which falls between 65 and 67, depending on the year of one's birth?" (The Christian Science Monitor)

Cash-Balance Plans Let Successful Business Owners Save More
Excerpt: "For business owners with the goal of maximizing tax-deferred retirement savings, a cash-balance plan is often just the ticket. 'The numbers can be breathtaking,' says Minneapolis consulting actuary Jim Van Iwaarden, who has seen owners sock away as much as $200,000 annually." (Financial Advisor)

IRS 30 Year Treasury Securities Rate Updated for May 2007
30 Year Treasury Securities Rate for May 2007: 4.90% (Internal Revenue Service)

IRS Composite Corporate Bond Rate Table Updated for June 2007
Corporate Bond Weighted Average Interest Rate = 5.81 for June 2007 (Internal Revenue Service)

EBRI Report on the 2007 Minority Retirement Confidence Survey (PDF)
20 pages. Excerpt: "Although minority workers are at least as likely as American workers overall to feel confident about their retirement security, their preparations lag behind, according to the 2007 Minority Retirement Confidence Survey (MRCS)." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

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Sponsored by: SUNGARD RELIUS

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Investigators Find Gap in Stock Option Reporting
Excerpt: "There is a multibillion-dollar gap between what public companies book as expenses for their executives' stock options and what they report to the IRS under two different sets of rules, according to Senate investigators and a key senator who is seeking to change the reporting system." (AP via The Washington Post; free registration required)

How a Restrictive Executive Bonus Arrangement Benefits Everyone
Excerpt: "[The restrictive executive bonus arrangement (REBA), provides benefits to both parties involved - employee and employer - and lets you compensate selected executives through employer-paid premiums used to purchase insurance on the executive's life. " (Investment Advisor)

The Impact of IRS Final 409A Regs on U.S. Participants in Foreign Deferred Compensation Plans
Excerpt: "In a globalizing economy, many non-U.S. companies maintain deferred compensation arrangements in which U.S. citizens or residents participate, while many Americans participate in their foreign employers' plans. Section 409A is thus more than domestic tax law. . . . Some potential problems are ameliorated by the final regulations, but many complications and traps for the unwary remain." (Deloitte)

ERISA Plans As Contracts - Supplying the Missing Terms
Excerpt: "In Gilliam, the Ninth Circuit was asked to decide whether the district court properly determined that severance pay should not be included as wages in calculating benefits payable under a top hat plan." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

MetLife Study Shows Employee Retention As Top Benefit Motive
Excerpt: "More than half of employers (55%) see employee retention as the most important reason for offering benefits, a recent report by MetLife found." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Code Provision Requiring IRS User Fees Made Permanent
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Details about user fees can be found in Revenue Procedure 2007-8 (this year's version of the annual IRS release on the subject) and in the Instructions to IRS Form 8717 (User Fee for Employee Plan Determination, Opinion, and Advisory Letter Request)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

The 2007 Benefits and Talent Survey
Excerpt: "In January 2007, Aon Consulting conducted a survey of 2,172 employers in the United States to examine what their current benefit and talent strategies are, as well as what actions they plan to take in the future to attract, retain, develop and reward employees. The survey focused on four areas of critical concern to employers -- health care, retirement, employee communication, and talent." (Aon Consulting; must register to receive full text of survey)

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Newly Posted Events

Participant Benefit Statements - Where Do We Stand?
Nationwide on June 26, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

The Final Regulation Under Section 409A: Nightmare or Opportunity? - Webcast
Nationwide on June 20, 2007
presented by Lorman Education Services

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Newly Posted Press Releases

CIKR to Represent Independent 401(k) Plan Recordkeepers
Council of Independent 401(k) Recordkeepers (CIKR)

SSA's Office of Policy is Completing The Posting of the Annual Statistical Supplement, 2006.
Social Security Administration

Guardian Launches Pre-Paid MasterCard(R) Debit Card and Web Tools to Facilitate Use of Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Guardian

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Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
( Post a Job | View All Jobs )

Retirement Plan Consultant
for Valley Forge Pension Management, Inc.
in PA

Retirement Services Sales Consultant
for Administaff
in TX

Employee Benefits Analyst
for Foothill-De Anza Community College District
in CA

Admin assistant / account manager
for Boutique employee benefits office
in TX

Plan Administrator
for Sanders Petmecky, LLC
in GA

Retirement Plan Specialist
for SVA Retirement Plan Services, LLC
in WI

Client Relationship Manager - Atlanta, Georgia or Florida
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in FL, GA

HM Benefits Service Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ

Client Relations Manager/Enroller, Indianapolis, IN
for ING, Financial Services
in IN

Client Relationship Manager- Retirement Plans
for Pendleton Resources
in IL, NY

Assistant Benefits Department Manager
for Laborers' National Pension Funds
in DC

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Handy Links:

• View Today's Active Message Threads
• Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
• Employee Benefits Library

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