Director of Plan Conversions
for Charles Schwab in OH

Junior Associate
for Baker & McKenzie LLP in CA

Mid-Level Associate
for Baker & McKenzie LLP in CA

Onsite Participant Counselor - Retirement Services
for Diversified in TX

Data Integration Director
for Diversified in NY

Pension Administrator
for TPA Firm in Northern New Jersey in NJ

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Annual Women?s Retirement Symposium: A Lifetime Financial Journey: Helping Women Reach Retirement Security in District of Columbia on December 6, 2011 presented by Women?s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)

The Hottest Ticket in Town! [Advert.]

ASPPA co-sponsors several regional conferences each year with the IRS to provide discussion opportunities with colleagues and local, regional and national government representatives from IRS and DOL. Check to see when we're coming to your region!

Court Denies Summary Judgment in CalPERS Alleged Kickback Case
"A California judge has rejected a request from prosecutors to declare that a former state pension board member orchestrated illegal investment deals and should surrender $40 mil.lion in fees." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

457 Answer Book [Advert.]

457 Answer Book is an in-depth resource that provides answers to the questions that tax-exempt organizations, state and local governments, their accountants, tax and legal advisors, 457 administrators, and investment counselors need to know.

DOL Creates Hotline for Former USProtect Corp. Employees
"The dedicated number . . . will provide updates related to back wages and retirement assets due to the employees, as well as give them the opportunity to submit updated contact information." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

IRS Phone Forum on Retirement Plan Errors
"Michael Sanders noted 401(k) plans make up the biggest number of examinations for the IRS. Common errors in 401(k) plans include incorrect employer matching contributions, failure to correct ADP or ACP discrimination testing failures, plan account additions in excess of 415 limits, late deposits of employee deferrals, failure to use correct compensation, failure to include all eligible employees in discrimination testing and the misclassification of highly compensated and non-highly compensated employees." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Rethinking 401(k) Litigation Risk Management (PDF)
"Fiduciaries should always keep in mind the advice of the SEC's Robert Khuzami: 'Whether you're dealing with terrorism or securities fraud, it's better to be in the prevention business than the cleanup business.'" (Investment Horizons, Inc.)

The Tyranny of Compounding Fees: Are Mutual Funds Bleeding Retirement Accounts Dry?
"This paper partitions the real total return of the S&P 500 into: (1) return to mutual fund investors and (2) return to the financial services industry. The author calculates these shares for all 10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-year investment periods using data from January 1871 to June 2011." (Financial Planning Association)

California Governor Introduces 12-Point Pension Plan
"The plan proposed moving new employees to a hybrid system that combines pensions with a [401(k)] style plan. Many employees will have to contribute at least half of their pension costs. Also, [the governor] proposes raising the retirement age from 55 to 67 years old." (News10.net)

Contractor's PBGC Work Faulted
"[A new audit] said that while several thousand retirees might now be getting too little, preliminary attempts to correct the mistakes suggested the discrepancies might be small, no bigger than $25 a month. The report pointed out that the recalculations were not final yet, and even when they were, they would never be perfect. The bigger issue is one of credibility and the seeming inability of a federal agency, charged with making scrupulously accurate payments to about 1.5 mil.lion retirees, to establish adequate controls." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Creating a New Public Pension System (PDF)
"Sound pension reform meets four general criteria: (1) establish transparency with respect to the true cost of the benefits promised to public employees; (2) mandate that the pension plan sponsor pay the full cost of accrued benefits each year; (3) mandate that the pension plan sponsor pay down the unfunded accrued liability over a reasonable time horizon and (4) improve the generational equity, portability and security of benefits for public employees." (Laura and John Arnold Foundation)

Full Funding and Cost Disclosure Needed in Public Pension Plan Reform, Paper Says
"The policy paper, 'Creating a New Public Pension System,' said reform must address structural problems involving unpredictable costs, incentive to underfund, and labor market distortions . . . ." (Business Insurance)

'Benefits' Listed in 'Summary of Employee Benefits' for a Texas School District Are Questionable
"'There is a quirk in federal law that states individuals who do not contribute to Social Security but do have another retirement plan (such as a school employee's TRS retirement) cannot draw spousal Social Security benefits when their Social Security-eligible spouse dies.'" (The E.W. Scripps Co. via TimesRecordNews)

Judge Puts Off Ruling on Same Se.x Pension Case
"Suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2009, and they thought the case might be decided, one [way or another this week]. Instead, the judge postponed the hearing, saying he wanted to hear [the partner's] arguments in favor of the suit as well as the state's arguments against it." (www.FOX2now.com)

Today's Low-Rate Environment and the Expense Ratio of Investment Funds
"A ballpark estimate of the long-term impact of investment costs is to simply multiply the annual fee by the number of years you plan to invest: fee x years = cost. That gives you an order of magnitude correct estimate of how much money you're paying the fund provider over time." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Retirement Expenditure Decisions
"[This paper] identifies how accumulated assets can be used optimally throughout retirement to produce life-long income when required, to make provision for contingencies — such as unanticipated spikes in expenditure — and to optimize the size and timing of bequests." (Social Science Research Network)

Two Updates on Compensation Clawbacks
"First, the SEC announced that the former Chairman and CEO of CSK Auto Corporation has agreed to return $2.8 mil.lion in bonus compensation and stock profits that he received while the company was committing accounting fraud to O'Reilly Automotive, which has since acquired CSK Auto. . . . This was the SEC's first SOX clawback case against an individual who was not alleged to have otherwise violated the securities laws." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)

Financial Literacy: The Investment of a Lifetime (PDF)
"Ensuring people have adequate financial literacy skills means building a foundation in reading and numeracy in school. But this is only the beginning. Studies show that financial literacy programs work best when they are well targeted and well timed - right before a financial decision is made." (Toronto-Dominion Bank Group)

Updated List of Employee Ownership Plans in Major Public Companies
This list, updated and released in December 2011, shows which of the 900 largest publicly traded companies (the S&P 500 and the S&P mid-cap 400) have various forms of employee ownership, including stock options, stock purchase plans, ESOPs, 401(k) plans, and more. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Employee Ownership Update for December 1, 2011
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses Berkshire Hathaway's impending acquisition of employee-owned Omaha World-Herald Co.; the NCEO's revised list of employee ownership plans in large public companies; Oxford awards for job creation in employee ownership companies; and NCEO board nominations. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

US Labor Department Creates Hotline to Update Former USProtect Corp. Employees on Status of Back Wages and Retirement Benefits (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Aetna Encourages Evidence-Based Treatment Decisions Through Education Program for Providers (Aetna)

Marcus Evans Summits Announces BenefitsLink as a Premier Media Partner at the Corporate Benefits Summit 2012! (marcus evans)

Fidelity Analysis Highlights Positive Impact of Pension Protection Act on 401(k) Plans and Their Participants (Fidelity Investments)

A Professionally Bundled Collaboration Brings Out the Best (TSC (Tax Sheltered Compensation))