Retirement Plan Blog

Here is the link to my presentation handout (43 pages, PDF) for the August 5, 2008 Seminar, Defined Benefit Pension Plans: What's Old is Now Again and better than ever. This was a 3 hour continuing education seminar sponsored by the Lanny D. Levin Agency, Inc., a General Agent for the Guardian Life Insurance Company.

If you're wondering about the picture up top, that's Fleetwood Mac ("new website coming soon") who after many years apart are getting back together and will be touring next year. And just like defined benefit pension plans: what's old is new again and better than ever.

Posted In Cash Balance Plans , Pension Plans , Publications , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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On Tuesday, August 5, 2008, I will be a co-presenter at the following seminar:

"GUARDIAN UNIVERSITY"
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
THE LANNY D. LEVIN AGENCY, Inc.

DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLANS:
WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN - And Better Than Ever!
(3 hours CE credit approved for Illinois Insurance Producers)

Speakers:
Jerry Kalish, National Benefit Services, Inc.
Lanny D. Levin, CLU, ChFC, LANNY D. LEVIN AGENCY, Inc.

Some of the topics:

• Legal and IRS update on 412(i) Plans [now 412(e)(3)]
• Larger deductions for traditional defined benefit plans under new funding rules
• The “green light” given to cash balance plans by the Pension Protection Act
• How profit sharing/401(k) plans can be combined with cash balance defined benefit plans to leverage significant benefits for owners and highly compensated employees
• How life insurance fits into all three types of defined benefit pension plans
• Case histories

Coffee & Rolls at 8:00 a.m.
Class begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. (ends at 11:30 a.m.)
Oakton College Business Conference Center, Golf Road, Des Plaines (just west of I-294)


Enroll here, or
FAX registration form (PDF), or
Call Allen Flynn (847) 266-2243 or Email allen_flynn@levinagency.com
(Your Associates and Professional Advisors are also welcome)
Posted In Cash Balance Plans , Pension Plans , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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See full-size image.

Exit strategies for business owners - particularly the baby boomers - is a matter to which they are giving increased attention. And so are their attorneys. Yesterday I participated in a continuing education program sponsored by the Financial Insitution Committee of the Chicago Bar Association for its members on this topic.

Our particular focus was ESOP as an Exit Strategy. I was joined by Grant McCorkhill, a Partner at Holland & Knight who specializes in transactional matters; and David Blum, a commercial banker and Vice President of First American Bank, an ESOP lender. We discussed:

• Exit Strategies for the Business Owners
• ESOP Essentials
• How an ESOP Gets Done

Click here to download a copy of our presentation (PDF, 20 pages).

Posted In Employee Stock Ownership Plans , Publications , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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I am honored to be a guest speaker at the 2008 Trust Forum sponsored by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) in San Antonio  on April 14-16, 2008. The CSBS is the national organization for state bank supervisors, and the nations leading advocate for the state banking system. The Trust Forum is the annual gathering of approximately 50 state bank examiners who supervise trust departments of banks and independent trust companies in their respective states.

The title of my presentation is:

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 and the Changing Financial Services Industry: New Challenges for State Bank Examiners.

I'm looking forward to meeting the attendees.
Posted In Pension Protection Act of 2006 , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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Gone scrambling. Back in two weeks. Posted In 401(k) Plans , Pension Plans , Individual Retirement Accounts , Employee Stock Ownership Plans , Pension Protection Act of 2006 , Public Employee Plans , Publications , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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I am honored to be a guest speaker at the 2007 Annual V3 Users Conference which is taking place in Palm Coast, Florida on June 6 - 8, 2007. The conference is being sponsored by Vitech Systems Group , a provider of public retirement and multi-employer benefit administration software for users of their V3 Benefits Administration System, an enterprise software solution designed specifically for the needs of public retirement systems.

The title of my presentation is:

THE PENSION PROTECTION ACT OF 2006:
New Challenges and Opportunities for Plan Sponsors, Their Employees, and the Administrators Who Make Their Benefit Programs Work

Vitech expects approximately 120 Fund Administrators, Trustees, heads of IT, and other users of the software. I look forward to this opportunity to meet people who are involved with this rapidly changing part of the benefits world.


Posted In Public Employee Plans , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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Last month, I wrote about the importance of correcting classifying your workers: independent contractors or employees. The IRS publication to which I included a link told you the rules. Now here is an opportunity to learn in a very practical way how to win audits on independent contractor status from Nancy Joerg, a shareholder and senior attorney, in the law firm of Wessels & Pautsch, P.C., a Midwest-based law firm that represents employers in labor and employment matters. Ms. Joerg is conducting a teleconference on Thursday, February 15, 2006, called "How to Win IDES Audits on Independent Contractor Status".

The IDES, the Illinois Department of Employment Security, is the Illinois state agency that audits companies to see whether their workers should be reclassified from independent contractor status to employee status. While the focus is obviously Illinois companies, non-Illinois employers may also find this teleconference helpful.





Posted In Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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"GUARDIAN UNIVERSITY�"
Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Lanny D. Levin Agency, Inc,
presents

Pension Protection Act of 2006�:
Challenges and Opportunities
(3 hours CE credit applied for)

Speakers:
Jerry Kalish, National Benefit Services, Inc.
Lanny D. Levin, CLU, ChFC, LANNY D. LEVIN AGENCY, Inc.

Some of the topics:

• Extension of EGTRRA Provisions
• Retirement Plan Provisions
• Long Term Care Provisions
• New 401(k) Safe Harbors
• New Rules on Taxation of Employer-Owned Life Insurance
• Charitable Rollover Rules
• New Distribution Rules for Non-Spousal Beneficiaries

Coffee & Rolls at 8:00 a.m.
Class begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. (ends at 11:30 a.m.)
Oakton College Business Conference Center, Golf Road, Des Plaines (just west of I-294)


Here is the link to the registration form (PDF), or
Call Phyllis Scholnick (847) 266-2243 or Email phyllis_scholnick@levinagency.com
Posted In Pension Protection Act of 2006 , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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Here is the information on the webcast I will be presenting for Lorman Educational Services, a leading provider of continuing educational programs in the United States and Canada.

Managing Your 401(k) Plan: Current Considerations and New Challenges
Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Time: 1:00 pm ET (12:00 pm CT, 11:00 am MT, 10:00 am PT)
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes
Agenda:

• Current fiduciary issues
• Current operational issues
• Current regulatory concerns
• Year End Planning
• Overview of the recently passed Pension Protection Act of 2006

Continuing Education Credits are available.
Click here for additional information and the registration form. Posted In Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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I will conducting a workshop for the Associates of New England Financial on Friday, September 8, 2006. The Associates of the Northbrook, IL firm specialize in personal and business financial programs, with emphasis on estate growth, wealth accumulation strategies, minimizing taxes, employee benefits, and maintenance of business interests.

My topic will be Targeting The Retirement Plan Market focusing on how Associates can help business owners accomplish their retirement plan objectives and in the process:

• Add value to client relationships
• Prospect, qualify and close retirement plan business
• Use retirement plans to grow individual clients
  

The workshop will include an overview of how the new Pension Protection Act of 2006 can be an important planning tool for their client retirement plans. The meeting runs from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in their offices in Northbrook, IL. Posted In Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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I'm active providing continuing education seminars, a number of which are sponsored by The Lanny D. Levin Agency, a Guardian General Agency, for its brokers. Here is an abbrevated version of my recent Roth 401(k) presentation (PDF download) requested by a number of brokers unable to attend.

Thanks again to Lanny Levin, the Agency's owner, for the opportunity to present. Posted In 401(k) Plans , Seminars and Speaking Engagements
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