Employee Benefits

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Employee Benefits

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2006 Articles

Current state of cash balance plans By Jennifer Hope Strouf June 2006 Currently “cash balance plans” are not defined by the Code or ERISA.
DB: RIP? December 2006 The Pension Protection Act of 2006 is supposed to strengthen defined benefit (DB) plans, but new rules for funding and mortality/interest rate assumptions, along with new disclosure requirements, may actually help to undermine DB plans.
Employee benefits research on the Web December 2006 Useful links for employee benefits practitioners.
FASB issues exposure draft on changes to accounting for pension and other post-retirement benefit plans By Stewart D. Lawrence June 2006 The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued the Exposure Draft: Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans, an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 132 (R).
Federal caselaw update December 2006 Howard Delivery Service, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Co., 126 S. Ct. 2105 (2006).
Federal caselaw update June 2006 In re Fruehauf Trailer Corp., 444 F.3d 203 (3d Cir. 2006). Entity formed to succeed Chapter 11 debtor as sponsor and administrator of pension plan sued to set aside prepetition plan amendment as fraudulent transfer.
The future of automatic enrollment: An analysis of recent legislative activity By William E. Hansen March 2006 President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, “A secure retirement rests on a three-legged stool: Social Security, Private Pensions, and Private Savings.
Key provisions of HR 4: Pension Protection Act of 2006 By Sal L. Tripodi & Teresa T. Bloom September 2006 On August 3, 2006, the Senate passed HR 4, the Pension Protection Act of 2006, by a vote of 93 to 5.
Roger C. Siske dies at 61; practiced law at Sonnenschein for 36 years By Leslie A. Klein March 2006 Roger C. Siske, a nationally renowned employee benefits and executive compensation lawyer, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack on Wednesday, January 4, while skiing in Colorado. He was 61.
Seventh Circuit rules that Cash Balance Plans are not age discriminatory; Second, Third, and Ninth Circuits could follow By Peter M. Varney & David R. Godofsky September 2006 Rejecting resoundingly a theory that has spawned lawsuits in federal district courts from coast to coast, the Seventh Circuit held that defined benefit plans employing a “cash balance” formula do not violate ERISA’s prohibition on age discrimination.
“Tax Expenditures” For FY 2007 June 2006 Health and welfare and pension plans receive favorable treatment under the Internal Revenue Code: employers get an immediate deduction for the contributions, and employees can defer or avoid altogether income taxes on the benefits.