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Sponsored by: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

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Final 403(b) Regulations Offer Planning Opportunities and Some Surprises for Plan Sponsors
Excerpt: "The final regulations continue two themes contained in the proposed regulations, in that the final regulations consolidate IRS and Department of Labor guidance issued since the last 403(b) annuity regulations were published in December 1964, and clarify provisions uniquely applicable to 403(b) plans." (McDermott Will & Emery)

Working Paper: Why Do Firms Offer Risky Defined Benefit Pension Plans? (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "[I]n our model, pension sponsors maximize their value by making their pension promises free of risk. We close by positing some explanations for why no real-world firm follows the prescription of our model." (Federal Reserve Board)

Widower to Receive Partner's Pension Originally Denied Re: The Federal Defense of Marriage Act
Excerpt: "The union's decision to change its pension plan policy may be a sign of change within organized labor. Over the last several years, more and more unions have formally endorsed marriage equality, although it is not known how many unions have changed their pension policies or those covering domestic partner benefits." (Bay Area Reporter)

Boston MBTA's Retirement Plan Pays Off As Ex-Officials Get Pension and Work Government Jobs
Excerpt: "Two former top officials at the MBTA are taking advantage of the generous terms of the agency's retirement plan, which allow employees to begin receiving a full pension at an early age, while simultaneously collecting six-figure salaries in other government jobs." (The Boston Globe)

Chilean Pension Funds Allowed More Foreign Investments
Excerpt: "Chile's Central Bank recently decided to allow Pension Fund Managers (AFP) to allocate more funds to foreign investments. The limit on foreign investments will gradually increase from 30 percent to 45 percent." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

In Sweden, New Mortality Tables for Pension Plans Impact Financial Statements
Excerpt: "International companies are likely to see an increase in their Swedish pension liabilities and expenses as a result of new mortality tables published by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen)." (Towers Perrin)

IRS Expands List of Arrangements Considered 'Qualified Pension or Retirement Plans'
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Revenue Ruling 2007-58 which supplements Revenue Ruling 94-62 by expanding the list of entities that are treated as 'qualified pension or retirement plans' within the meaning of ? 1.817-5(f)(3)(ii) of the regulations." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Industry Groups' Letter to Treasury Regarding Backloading Issue (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The undersigned organizations are writing to ask that the Internal Revenue Service suspend temporarily any adverse actions relating to backloading of benefits resulting from grandfather provisions in hybrid pension plans." (American Benefits Council)

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Sponsored by: ERISAdiagnostics, Inc.

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Text of Letter from 92 Law Firms to IRS Commissioner Requesting Extension on 409A Compliance Deadline (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "[W]e respectfully request that the period to bring plan documents into compliance with Section 409A be extended until December 31, 2008. We further request that all transition relief currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 2007 (including the 'reasonable good faith compliance' standard for plan operation) be extended until December 31, 2008 and that the date of the applicability of the final regulations be changed to January 1, 2009. . . . [W]e urge you to solicit practitioner input on ways for employers to comply on a simplified and bulk basis . . . and to develop a voluntary correction program for inadvertent Section 409A violations." (Ninety-Two U.S. Law Firms)

A Quick Look at Potential Legislative Changes to Federal Pay and Benefits
Excerpt: "[Congress] has adjourned for its August recess. But it can't hurt to check in on some pending legislation that could affect your checkbook if it advances when lawmakers return." (GovExec.com)

Companies Altering Long-Term Incentive Strategies for Executives Outside U.S.
Excerpt: "Only 24% of the U.S.-based multinational corporations participating in a recent Towers Perrin compensation survey said they expect to grant the same number of shares to both U.S. and non-U.S. employees at the same level in the organization in the near future." (Towers Perrin)

Overview: 409A Rules Contain Provisions for International Deferred Compensation Arrangements
Excerpt: "Noncompliance with the regulations will result in adverse tax consequences to the individuals, including immediate taxation at vesting plus an additional 20% tax. As a result, employers need to know how these special rules work in order to determine whether individuals in their organization may be subject to U.S. tax." (Towers Perrin)

Record Retention for ERISA Plan Administrators - How Long Do We Keep This Stuff?
Excerpt: "Depending on the purpose, several answers can be given to the question of how long to retain ERISA records. For defense purposes, one might wish to have records that exceed what is legally required. Several resources are available to assist the plan administrator in making the assessment of the minimum retention periods." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

California High Court Gets Marriage Briefs
Excerpt: "Four civil rights groups filed briefs with the California Supreme Court last week, arguing that the state violates its own constitution by denying same-sex couples the right to marry." (Yahoo! News)

National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2007 (PDF)
39 pages. Excerpt: "Just over one-half of workers in private industry participated in employer-sponsored retirement and medical care plans in March 2007. More workers had access to medical plans (71 percent) than to retirement plans (61 percent), but workers were more likely to participate in the latter." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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Newly Posted Events

Invest n Retire® 3rd Annual 401(k) Conference
in Oregon on October 22, 2007
presented by Invest n Retire, LLC

Retirement, Termination, and Change Web Seminar
Nationwide on September 25, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

Understanding the New Cafeteria Plan and Dependent Care Regs
Nationwide on September 20, 2007
presented by CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

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Newly Posted Press Releases

Mergers and Acquisitions Executives Get Biggest Raises, Watson Wyatt Data Services Reports
Watson Wyatt Data Services

U.S. Labor Department Obtains Settlement Appointing Independent Fiduciary To Manage Pension Plan Of Cleveland-based Polytech Inc.
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

89% of Companies State ESOPs are Good Business
Employee Ownership Foundation

ProView Global Selects COBRApoint to Power Revolutionary COBRA Service
COBRApoint

Mcube 401(k) Plan Added As A Client To the Invest N Retire Platform
Invest n Retire, LLC

IRA Rollover Market Grew By 38% From 2004 To 2007, Recovering From Recent Decline
Spectrem Group

Bionostics Relies on Synapses Retirement Income Report Tool to Educate Employees on 401(k) Contributions
Synapses Inc.

Lifespring Health and National City Team Up to Combat Rising Healthcare Costs With the Lifespring Health Everyday Rewards Visa(R) Credit Card
Lifespring Health

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

Internal Counsel
for Emeriti Retirement Health Solutions
in NY

Relationship Manager
for John Mulligan & Associates
in CA, DC, MD, NJ, TX, VA

Defined Contribution Administrator
for Jim Poekert and Associates, Inc.
in FL

Account Manager
for Correll Co.
in IL

ERISA Tax Associate
for Holme Roberts & Owen
in CO

Associate Plan Administrator
for Philadelphia Based Industry Leader In Plan Administration
in PA

TPA Regional Manager - Northeast Region
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in MA, PA

Director of Administration
for Cutting-Edge National Third Party Administration Firm
in TX

Administrator
for Benetech, Inc.
in AZ, CA, GA, IL, TX

Manager, Retirement Plan Administration (TPA)
for Benetech, Inc.
in TX

Trust Administrator I or II
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA

Defined Contribution Analyst II
for Standard Insurance Company
in WA

Benefits Administrator
for The Fresh Market
in NC

Benefits Supervisor
for The Fresh Market
in NC

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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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