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By: Melissa B. Kurtzman The end of the calendar year is soon approaching. For sponsors of qualified benefit plans, this means that plan amendments must be adopted and certain notices may need to be distributed. Below is a summary of the majo... More...

The Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations on May 18, 2009 which allow for the suspension or reduction of safe harbor nonelective contributions under certain 401(k) safe harbor plans. A safe harbor 401(k) plan is a 401(k) plan that... More...

The IRS has issued Notice 2009-48 outlining the reporting and notice obligations for employer-owned life insurance policies. The new rules become effective June 15, 2009. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) added Internal Revenue Code section... More...

On February 12, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a decision in Hecker v. Deere Company, Nos. 07-3605 & 08-1224, affi rming dismissal of a complaint alleging that the fi duciaries of two 401(k) plans sponsored by Deer... More...

Excerpted from Benefits and Compensation Law Alert Sandwiched in with all the infrastructure development and green energy provisions of President Barack Obama and the Democrat's economic stimulus plan are several provisions that affect employee be... More...

The Top Ten Things to Do If Your 401(k) Plan Fails Nondiscrimination Testing 401(k) plan sponsors generally do not relish the annual call from their 401(k) consultant with their plan's nondiscrimination testing results. If your plan regularly pa... More...

There are a growing number of dual-income and single parent families that depend on the income of working women. Meanwhile, these women may also be juggling childcare and eldercare responsibilities. Today's women are not only facing greater financi... More...

The number of employees on international assignments has doubled over the last three years as part of the continuing trends towards globalisation, according to a survey conducted by Mercer. Mercer's 2008/2009 Benefits Survey for Expatriates and ... More...

On October 16, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service issued IR 2008-118, announcing the cost-of-living adjustments applicable to retirement plan limits for 2009. Most of the limits increase for 2009, as the increase in the cost-of-living index met the s... More...

Institutional investors have, once again, topped their previous record ownership levels in the largest 1,000 U.S. corporations, The Conference Board reports in the latest edition of its Institutional Investment Report. Data on institutional invest... More...

Economic turbulence, demands for increased financial disclosure, changes in financial reporting and increased pension funding requirements are combining to make defined benefit pension plan risks more obvious, and requiring more proactive management ... More...

On June 19, 2008, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Glenn, holding that where an insurance company both determines an appeal for ERISA benefits and pays that claim, a conflict of interest as described in Firest... More...

In Kentucky Retirement Income Systems v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 06-1037 (June 19, 2008), the United States Supreme Court interpreted the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to permit Kentucky to increase disabled public... More...

First growth, then income. If you're like most investors, you want to achieve growth while you're working and income after you retire. But that doesn't necessarily make it smart to change your investment strategy when you retire by shifting your port... More...

Excerpted from Arkansas Employment Law Letter written by attorneys at the law firm of Jack Nelson Jones Fink Jiles & Gregory, P.A. Q. How do I go about starting a 401(k) plan for my employees, and what are some of the general requirements? ... More...

Getting members to appreciate and value their pension is the top challenge facing Europe's defined contribution pension plans, yet only a small proportion currently invest in member education, according to a survey by Mercer. The survey covered 235 o... More...

When you think about how long many people are living after retirement, 20-30 years, that's a lot of money needed. Looking at what your costs are now can make the financial seem impossible. But things are usually different after we retire. No more ... More...

A confluence of events has brought increased scrutiny to employer retirement plans that should certainly result in change. First, all are familiar with the impact of theboomer population and their expected life span. Second, there is an onslaught... More...

On December 26, 2007, the EEOC published its final rule permitting an exemption from the ADEA for employers who offer retiree health care benefits that coordinate with Medicare. The final rule confirms the ability of employers to continue the practic... More...

Planning for retirement is tougher and more complicated for middle-aged Americans who are single or married with children from previous relationships than it is for those with "traditional" families. According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute'... More...

With 77 million baby boomers headed for retirement, nearly every facet of corporate pension plans will be subject to analysis and change. The decline in defined benefit plans and the rise in defined contribution plans - combined with increasing longe... More...

Organizations utilize a variety of methods to contain and reduce costs, and while trends exist nationally, they often vary at the regional level. The Benefits USA 2007/2008 survey of more than 5,400 benefit plans found 65.8 percent of organizations n... More...

Companies are changing their change in control (CIC) programs for executives. According to a survey by Mercer, the majority of participating companies (60 percent) made changes to their program in the last two years, and those changes are in response... More...

Most employers offering retirement plans to supplement government-sponsored pension systems now do so through defined contribution (DC) or hybrid approaches, according to a new global guide from Mercer. Mercer's Introduction to Benefit Plans Around t... More...

Longer lives and better health translate into longer retirements and new concepts of what retirement should be. Many of today's retirees view retirement as a time to shift gears but not necessarily to slow down.They keep their skills sharp in new job... More...

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Retirement Plans Must Be Amended Before Year End

New Safe Harbor 401(k) Guidance Helps Economically Distressed Employers

IRS Mandates New Reporting and Notice Obligations for Employer-Owned Life Insurance

The Seventh Circuit Dismisses ERISA 401(k) Revenue Sharing & Excessive Fee Lawsuit

What Obama's Economic Stimulus Plan Means for Employee Benefits Plans

Top Ten Things to Do If Your 401(k) Plan Fails Nondiscrimination Testing

How HR Can Help Address Gender Disparity in Life Insurance Coverage

Expatriate Employee Numbers Double as Companies See Increased Value in Expatriate Assignments

IRS Announces Retirement Plan COLA Adjustments for 2009

U.S. Institutional Investors Boost Ownership of U.S. Corporations to New Highs

More Than One-Fourth of Plan Sponsors Lack a Funding Policy for Their Defined Benefit Plans

The Supreme Court Considers Conflicts of Interest in Benefit Claims Procedures

Supreme Court Charts New Course in Pension Plan Case Interpreting ADEA

Do Retirees Need a New Investment Strategy?

Looking at The Basics of a 401(k) Plan

European Pension Survey – Defined Contribution Schemes

RETIREMENT: The Biggest Job You'll Ever Have

Four Questions: To Ask of Your Retirement Plan

Coordination of Retiree Health Benefits with Medicare and State Health Benefits

Non-Traditional Families Face Retirement Planning Hurdles

Corporate Pension Plans Are Being Reevaluated

Health Care Cost Containment and Reduction Methods Vary By Region

Companies Modify Change in Control Benefit Provisions to Respond to Shareholder Concerns

Defined Contribution, Hybrid Plans Prevail Among World’s Leading Employers, Mercer Finds

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