Industry News...
Below are links to resources that contain
information about current developments in the retirement industry.
Retirement News for
Employers: Spring 2008IRS Website (www.irs.gov)
EP Connections: Interview with Joyce Kahn, New Law....Help for the small
Employer
Department of Labor Fact
Sheet on QDIA's
DOL Website (www.dol.gov)
The DOL recently issued a fact sheet with
information relating to Qualified Default Investment Alternatives in
Participant-Directed Individual Account Plans.
THE LOAN DANGER -
Borrowing from 401(k) Accounts can be a bad deal all around
by Randy MyersCFO Magazine
The credit crunch has come home to roost in many unlikely places, from the
student-loan market to the municipal-bond arena. Here's another improbably
victim: your human resources department. The subprime crisis and its many
ripple effects are prompting more financially strapped homeowners to borrow from
their 401(k) plans....
Consumers risk taxes, penalties when they raid their
401(k) retirement accountsby Eileen
Alt Powell; AP Business WriterAssociated Press
Although 401(k) and other employee-sponsored retirement accounts are supposed to
be for long-term saving, many of the plans allow participants to take money out
early under special circumstances. But under tax laws, there can be
serious investment and tax consequences if people borrow or withdraw from their
accounts before age 59 1/2...
401(k) Loans Can Bite You
by Eleanor LaiseThe Wall Street Journal
Feeling a cash crunch? Think twice before tapping into your 401(k)
account--especially as the economy slows.....
New Defined Benefits Funding Rules
by Jessica MarquezWorkforce Management
The
IRS April 1 deadline for employers to have Defined Benefit Plans certified by
Enrolled Actuaries is less than a month away and HR executives at companies with
underfunded plans should be preparing to tell employees how new funding rules
might affect their pension payouts......
Proposed
Regulation on Depositing Deferrals
This
proposed regulation, upon adoption, would establish a safe harbor period of 7
business days during which amounts that an employer has received from employees
or withheld from wages for contribution to employee benefit plans must be
deposited. Plans with more than 100 employees would have different
requirements......
Recent Supreme Court Decision
On
February 21, 2008, the U.S. Supreme court ruled in LaRue v DeWolf, that
individual participants in Defined Contribution Retirement Plans can file suit
(under ERISA) for loss of assets/investments in their individual accounts
allegedly caused by fiduciary breach.....
Smoothing Your Retirement Plan
by Andrea CoombsWall Street Journal Online
Nobody
ever said figuring out how much you need to set aside for retirement is easy.
Among the many variables: your income for the next decade (or two or three),
future inflation and investment returns, and the magnitude of expenses such as
medical care once you retire. The real kicker: You have to guess how long
you'll live.......
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