The Department of Labor just released its Five Year Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2006-2011. One of the DoL’s four strategic goals is to strengthen economic protections for workers which includes enhancing pension and health benefit security. Here are the DoL’s national projects for that goal in 2006: The Employee Contributions Project is aimed at … Continue Reading
Number of single employer defined benefit plans covered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: 1985: 112,208 1995: 53,589 2005: 28,769… Continue Reading
That ‘s the title of a just published study by The Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College. The study compared defined benefit pension plan investment returns with 401(k) plan investment returns. Using data from 1988-2004, the study reports that: Defined benefit plans outperformed 401(k) plans by one percentage point. Part of the explanation … Continue Reading
The picture above certainly does not represent today’s accountant. And in a similar vein the Department of Labor (DoL) wants to know whether its Interpretative Bulletin 75-9 published over 30 years ago relating to the independence of accountants who audit ERISA plans is still relevant. The DoL published a notice yesterday in the Federal Register asking … Continue Reading
Max Goldman in his blog, The Performance & Talent Management Blog, writes about a recent survey by McKinsey that indicates HR executives overwhelmingly see employee benefits as being important in order to compete effectively. Particularly to be able to attract and retain top talent. However, says the study, most companies don’t understand what benefits employees … Continue Reading
The sun will not be setting after all on the favorable retirement plan tax provisions that were part of the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). For budget scoring purposes, the more than three dozen rules which included increases to contribution and benefit limits for IRAs and qualified retirement plans had “sunset” … Continue Reading
Former President Bill Clinton, whose birthday was yesterday, was heard last week lamenting the fact that he was about to turn age 60. Don’t feel bad, Mr. President, there are another 3 million who will join you this year – part of the first entrants of the baby boom generation. While few of them have … Continue Reading
The Internal Revenue Service announced an agreement yesterday with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences resolving outstanding tax responsibilities with respect to Academy Awards gift baskets. The agreement marks the beginning of an IRS effort to reach out to the entertainment industry with reminders that award show gifts and promotional giveaways are … Continue Reading
In an earlier post, Gambling On Retirement, I cited a survey done for The Tax Foundation that indicated that 21% of the respondents believe the lottery is a practical way to save for retirement. The Tax Foundation went on to assert that contrary to many people’s beliefs—and to state governments’ claims—the money that states raise … Continue Reading
In what could be called a New York state of mind, Congress passed into law H.R. 4019, signed by the President on August 3, which amends a 1996 federal law that bars the states from taxing certain retirement income received by non-residents. Retirement income was defined to include income from both qualified retirement plans and … Continue Reading
On Thursday, August 3, the Senate passed significant pension reform legislation by a wide margin (93 to 5). The bill enacted by the Senate is identical to the one passed by the House of Representatives last week. The President is expected to sign the bill into law. The legislation, called the “Pension Protection Act of … Continue Reading
While Congress grapples with legislation to prolong defined benefit pension plans including those in ailing industries, there is at least one industry whose retirement program is quite healthy. That industry, or game depending on your point of view, is professional football. Yesterday the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Players Association announced that they … Continue Reading
Here is today’s Chicago Tribune article on the ordinance that passed the Chicago City Council today requiring "big box" retailers, i.e., Target and Wal-Mart, to pay workers more than the minimum wage including benefits. Time to move on.… Continue Reading
Pardon me for being a Homer but as a Chicago resident and business owner, I have a vested interest in the proposed "living wage" city ordinace I mentioned in my last post. The ordinance, of course, is being compared, correctly or incorrectly, with the recently struck down Maryland law that attempted to impose health care … Continue Reading
While I don’t cover health care benefits in this blog (not even a topic listed on the left side of the masthead), here’s a health care benefit issue I can’t let pass by. This Wednesday our Chicago City Council is expected to vote on an ordinance that would require large retailers in the city to … Continue Reading
Susan Mangiero in her Pension Risk Matters blog writes about a recently introduced bill in California that would prohibit a company from paying out dividends or buying back shares until all required defined benefit plan payments have been made. The proposed bill – and the politics behind it – conveniently ignores the massive unfunded pension … Continue Reading
No one doubts that 401(k) plans have far surpassed defined benefit plans as the retirement plan of choice for corporate America (employers, that is, but not necessarily employees). But seeing this chart from Google Trends really puts it into focus. Thanks to Fred Wilson’s A VC Blog for the reference.… Continue Reading
It seem like every day we learn about another company that is freezing or terminating its defined benefit pension plan. And it’s not just the troubled automakers, airlines and steelmakers. It’s also healthy companies such as Verizon and IBM who have also moved to reduce or eliminate their pension plans as they shift more of … Continue Reading
Two views on the impact of gambling on saving for retirement: It’s a problem. The Tax Foundation’s on-line publication, FISCAL FACTS, reported in January on a survey wihch showed that the lottery diverted income from retirement savings. The survey conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation for the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning … Continue Reading
Those of us that live in ERISA Land tend to speak in acronyms. Sometimes to the total incomprehension of our clients. The recently passed tax bill, The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act, will also engender one. The resulting acronym will, no doubt, appear on attorney B. Janelle Grenier’s Benefit Acronym Lexicon, another addition to the 160 currently … Continue Reading
Fred Whittlesey in his Compensation Blog writes about 50 ways to pay your board. And the recipient of that compensation may be able to defer some or all of that compensation. While many companies have nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements under which independent directors can defer all or a portion of the fees otherwise payable to … Continue Reading
