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Reducing Fiduciary Liability for your Retirement Plan: The Designated Investment Manager Alternative By Randall W. Cook SAALFELD GRIGGS PC As we have reported in past issues of Business Briefs, business owners who sponsor retirement plans are considered “fiduciaries” to the plan, and generally have a legal duty to protect the plan participants from unreasonable investment …
Redesign Your Retirement Plan in the Wake of Market Losses: Mixing the Good with the Bad By Randall W. Cook SAALFELD GRIGGS PC In today’s volatile stock market, more and more employers are becoming increasingly preoccupied with their retirement plan’s investment returns. Although properly investing your retirement plan assets is certainly fundamental to solid retirement …
Pension and Individual Retirement Account Implications of EGTRRA The “Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001” (EGTRRA) was passed by Congress on May 26, 2001 and signed into law by President Bush on June 7, 2001. This legislation will affect numerous tax-related areas, including income tax rates, estate planning, and retirement planning. The …
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation: You Haven’t Dropped the Ball…Yet Sit back, relax — at least for a few more months. Around this time last year, new Internal Revenue Code Section 409A was enacted, making several major changes to deferred compensation and employee benefit tax rules. The IRS then issued Notice 2005-1, providing initial guidance with respect …
The Price of Justice By Hunter B. Emerick Saalfeld Griggs PC My learning curve as a new member of the Board of Governors for the Oregon State Bar has been quite steep. The Board oversees many functions of the Bar, including attorney discipline, legal malpractice insurance and operations. One of the highest priorities of the …
The Business Person’s Guide to Winning Documentation By Randall P. Sutton Saalfeld Griggs PC In a court trial, the “truth” is whatever the judge or jury believes. Because both sides tell contradicting stories, a trial is all about what you can prove, not what actually happened. Lawyers use testimony and exhibits to prove a case. …
The Roth 401 (k) Plan As of 2006, retirement plan sponsors can add Roth 401(k) features to their retirement plans, allowing plan participants to make after-tax deferrals out of their wages. Unlike conventional 401(k) deferrals, which grow tax deferred until withdrawal, Roth 401(k) deferrals grow tax free, just like amounts saved via Roth IRAs. This …
Social Media and Electronic Discovery By Litigation Practice Group Saalfeld Griggs PC Businesses are using social media outlets with increasing frequency as a means for marketing, and communicating with current and potential customers. Social media allows businesses to reach masses of people in relatively short periods of time, and with relatively little expense. The most …
New DOL Regulations Impose Significant Obligations on Retirement Plan Fiduciaries By Randall W. Cook SAALFELD GRIGGS PC The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued final regulations that impose new and significant legal obligations on fiduciaries to retirement plans that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). Both of these regulations …
Recent Legislation Affects Contractor’s Written Warranty Agreements By Hunter B. Emerick Saalfeld Griggs PC In its most recent session, the Oregon Legislature amended the 2003 Notice of Defect Act. The Notice of Defect Act generally requires that a residential owner provide a written notice to a contractor describing the details of any construction defect before …