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Today's sponsor is International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

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

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[Guidance Overview] Proposed Small Plan Safe Harbor for Remitting Participant Contributions to Plan (PDF)
Excerpt: "Comments on the proposed regulation are due on or before April 29, 2008. The final regulation would be effective on publication. Prior to that effective date, DOL will not assert an ERISA civil violation in the case of plans with fewer than 100 participants that remit contributions to a plan account in accordance with the proposed safe harbor." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)

[Guidance Overview] Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated March 5, 2008, for Retirement Plans (PDF)
12 pages. This 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 retirement plans. (Hewitt Associates)

[Guidance Overview] When a Plan Fails the ADP or the ACP Test (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "We frequently speak with clients who believe that, if their 401(k) plan fails the ADP or ACP test, refunds to highly compensated employees must be issued by March 15. This is not quite true, and understanding the entire truth will lead many plan administrators to a different, better course of action." (Alston & Bird LLP)

[Guidance Overview] Prudent Selection and Monitoring of Providers
Excerpt: "The DOL guidance on selecting a provider focuses on process. That is, in selecting a provider, the trustee should engage in a process that is designed to elicit information necessary to assess the provider's qualifications, quality of services offered and reasonableness of fees charged for the service." (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)

California Teachers Pension Giant CalSTRS Agrees to Reduce Required Payments
Excerpt: "Trustees of the California State Teachers' Retirement System agreed Thursday to allow the state to reduce its contribution to a supplemental pension plan as long as payments from the fund to teachers never dip below a fixed rate." (The Sacramento Bee)

Study Shows Many DC Participants All in Equities or Have No Stocks at All
Excerpt: "While the average U.S. household invests about 55% of its 401(k) or other defined contribution plan assets in stocks, many Americans are going to extremes when it comes to the equity markets." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Pension Insurer Wants in on Delta-Northwest Merger Talks
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. wants to be included in talks between Northwest and Delta airlines because it said a merger could leave the carriers without enough assets to cover their pensions. The Feb. 28 letter from the federal government's pension insurer was first disclosed Thursday by Finance and Commerce, a Twin Cities financial newspaper." (AP via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Retirement Planning Is Essential in Unsettling Times
Excerpt: "Even in the best of times, retirement planning is an inexact science. Right now the challenges are mounting amid sagging real estate prices, a volatile stock market, declining certificate of deposit yields, rising inflation and a soft economy. Those factors make it harder to estimate how much money you'll need to spend in retirement, and how much you'll have available in savings. If you're within a decade or so of retirement, now's the time to do some serious planning." (azcentral.com)

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Sponsored by: Benefits and Compensation Solutions

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview] The Universal Fiduciary
Excerpt: "The common denominator for almost all fiduciary governance is the concept of a 'prudent' fiduciary. Further, the conduct required of a prudent fiduciary is, universally, that of a prudent process. Procedural prudence may seem, at first blush, like an amorphic concept ... attractive sounding, but difficult to apply. Or, procedural prudence may sound like a grand idea in the realm of academics, but of little application in the real world. However, neither of those conclusions is correct. Instead, prudent process is, at a fundamental level, both specific and implementable. But it does require a commitment to engaging in a process to make decisions." (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)

[Guidance Overview] Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated March 5, 2008, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
14 pages. This 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 human resources and employment law. (Hewitt Associates)

Congressional Panel to Review Executive Payouts Given by Troubled Firms
Excerpt: "Chief executives of three financial companies who received outsize pay packages even as their shareholders lost billions in the spreading credit crisis are scheduled to testify before Congress on Friday, and if a memorandum released ahead of the hearing is any guide, they can expect quite a grilling." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Supplemental Information on CEO Pay and the Mortgage Crisis (PDF)
23 pages. Excerpt: "In preparation for the Committee's hearing, the Committee has received thousands of pages of documents from the three companies, including board minutes and internal company emails. The Committee staff also has reviewed hundreds of public Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and consulted with leading experts in executive compensation. This memorandum summarizes some of the questions raised by the materials reviewed by the Committee staff." (U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)

House Panel Questions High Pay for CEOs
Excerpt: "The heads of three companies implicated in the mortgage crisis have been asked to explain how they collectively received hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation while their companies were losing money. Slated to appear Friday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee were Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender; Stanley O'Neal, formerly of Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Charles Prince, formerly of Citigroup Inc." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Small Biz Owners Planning for Boomer Retirement 'Brain Drain'
Excerpt: "Twenty-eight percent of the small-business owners in a recent survey have planned to have older workers transfer their professional knowledge to younger colleagues. A news release from the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) about its survey on the potential for a 'brain drain' when baby boomers retire, said respondents in the current survey also reported they had more older workers this year than last." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

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Newly Posted Events

e-Communications: Grease Is the Word
in Illinois on March 20, 2008
presented by WEB - Chicago West

Learn About ftwilliam.com's New 403(b) Plan Documents
Nationwide on March 13, 2008
presented by ftwilliam.com

PEBA's Annual Forum: The New Workforce- Building a Culture of Innovation and Integration
in Pennsylvania on April 10, 2008
presented by PEBA --Penjerdel Employee Benefits & Compensation Assn.

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Newly Posted Press Releases

Education Level And Marital Status Among Factors Influencing 401(k) Investing, Watson Wyatt Finds
Watson Wyatt

Murtaughff Named Communications Chief at PBGC
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

New FMLA Military Provisions Raise Questions Among HR Professionals
J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

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

Employee Benefits Administration
for Primary Consulting, Inc.
in ANY STATE

Administrator - TPA
for Benetech, Inc.
in TX

Sales Vice President for Qualified Plans
for The Keane Organization
in PA

Wachovia Retirement Services Relationship Manager I
for Wachovia
in PA

Senior Investment Advisor
for StanCorp Equities Inc.
in OR

Project Manager Health & Welfare Vendor Management
for Discover Financial Services
in IL

Project Manager Retirement Plans Vendor Management
for Discover Financial Services
in IL

Sr Associate Benefits Analysis
for Discover Financial Services
in IL

Senior Product Analyst
for Charles Schwab
in ANY STATE, AZ, CA

Director of Brokerage Services
for USI Consulting Group
in NY

Senior Actuarial Analyst
for USI Consulting Group
in NY

Relationship Manager Associate
for Benefit Funding Services Group
in CA

Regional Retirement Representative
for OppenheimerFunds
in MO

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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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