Pension Protection Act Blog

“This case requires us to once again navigate the complex statutory scheme set out in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974….”

- Judge Clifton, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided whether or not a participant in a plan with a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA) may change […]

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Justice Scalia, on 60 Minutes this last Sunday, mentioned that his original plan when he was appointed to the Supreme Court had been to retire from the Court at age 65 because justices can retire from the Court at age 65 at 100% of annual compensation. Instead, he decided to stay on the Court […]

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A little over a year ago, I started this blog to keep track of my notes about the Pension Protection Act. One of my first posts was about rollovers to nonspouse beneficiaries. One year and 126,210 visitors later, rollovers to nonspouse beneficiaries remain a hot topic.
Last week, the House of Representatives finally passed […]

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Today, among several items released by the IRS, is guidance on QOSAs. QOSAs are Qualified Optional Survivor Annuities. Section 1004 of the Pension Protection Act amended Code section 417 to require that plans subject to Code section 401(a)(11) must offer participants a specific optional form of benefit as an alternative to a Qualified Joint & […]

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When a participant dies before filing for legal separation or divorce from their spouse, who is entitled to the participant’s benefits under the plan? The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed this situation in Greenebaum Doll v. Sandler, Nos. 06-6494, 06-6496 (6th Cir. Dec. 3, 2007).
In Greenebaum, the participant died three days after […]

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The IRS issued a change in their position on the impact of Section 845 of the Pension Protection Act.
Earlier this year, in Notice 2007-7, the IRS issued Q&A 23, which states:
Q-23. Can the accident or health plan receiving the payments of qualified health insurance premiums be a self-insured plan?
A-23. No. The accident or health plan […]

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For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, the Pension Protection Act amended Code section 417(e)(3), changing the applicable interest rate and applicable mortality table. For single employer defined benefit plans terminating before January 1, 2008, this change created a potential lump sum valuation issue because a plan could be terminated before […]

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Lizzie Palmer has posted an amazing video on YouTube. The video has nothing to do with plan documents or ERISA directly.
Earlier this month, I posted about reviewing the USERRA provisions in plan documents before making year-end contribution projects for next year. Paul Secunda of the Workplace Prof Blog discusses an article in the […]

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In a cautionary tale about how plan documents can be written too carefully, the 7th Circuit this week, in Williams v. Rohm and Haas Pension Plan, __ F.3d __ (S.D. Indiana) (Aug. 14, 2007), affirmed both the district court’s decision to grant of class certification, and to grant summary judgment, to the participant.
The participant was […]

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The IRS issued Notice 2007-69 today. It resolves some of the issues involving the changes to normal retirement age raised by the Final Regulations on Distributions from a Pension Plan Upon Attainment of Normal Retirement Age, which the IRS released on May 22, 2007. (hat tip to BenefitsLink.com.)
This Notice addresses 3 main issues […]

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