An online, clickable version of this newsletter is available at: http://benefitslink.com/2003/2003_05_16_retirement.html ======================================== BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter May 16, 2003 - 13,192 subscribers ======================================== We thank and invite your attention to today's sponsor: AccuDraft ================================================================ Plan Documents $295 with AccuDraft's Online Document System (Advert.) http://benefitslink.com/cgi/ad.cgi?ad=2003_05_16_retirement (Click on above address, or copy and paste it into your web browser, to learn more.) Need plan documents every so often? Try a new, quick and easy way to draft the documents you need. Introducing AccuDraft's Online Document System. Create single documents as you need them in real-time over the web. No monthly fees – just pay-as-you-need-them. Through this special newsletter offer, get 1/2 off your first Volume DC document. Click above to demo the system and take advantage of this offer (expires June 15, 2003). (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) ---------------------------------------------------------- Senate Adopts a Tax Cut Plan Including Reduction, Then Suspension, of Taxes on Dividends http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/16/politics/16TAX.html?th Excerpt: "The Senate Thursday night approved a sweeping tax cut bill that would reduce then suspend taxes on stock dividends before restoring them in 2007, adopting at least for now the central element of President Bush's tax plan.... The bill will now go to a conference with the House, which passed a substantially different tax cut package last week." (New York Times; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- Provisions in Pension Preservation and Savings Expansion Act (HR 1776) Applicable to Public Plans http://www.nasra.org/current_topics.php?action=item&art=45 Target page includes link to 7-page document prepared in part by Rod Crane of the Segal Company. (National Association of State Retirement Administrators) ---------------------------------------------------------- Glory Days Might Never Return For 401(k) Plans http://www.ifebp.org/2003/05/15/eng-coxnews/eng-coxnews_092353_4073473438651013437.asp Excerpt: "Now the 401(k) plan, the one leg of the traditional three-legged retirement stool that the worker has the most control over, is seen as just another shaky support. Charles Prestwood, an Enron retiree from Conroe, Texas, is the poster boy for retirement nightmares." (Cox News via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) ---------------------------------------------------------- Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans: Summary of Features and Requirements http://www.mhco.com/Hot%20Topics/ACP-ADP%20Safe%20Harbor%20Contributions.htm Excerpt: "A brand new 401(k) plan must have at least 3 months remaining in the short plan year to immediately start a safe harbor. For example, by October 1 for a calendar year plan.... An exception to the 3 month rule exists for a brand new company, which may establish a safe harbor plan with one month in the plan year." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.) ---------------------------------------------------------- Employer's Literature Did Not Trump Plan Document's Section 415 Limits on Benefits Under DB Plan (PDF) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/7th/022765p.pdf 8 pages. Helfrich v. Carle Clinic Association, No. 02-2765 (7th Cir. 5/12/03). Another well-written opinion by Judge Frank Easterbrook. Excerpt: "One summary plan description is in the record. This document ... is 21 single-spaced pages. It fully describes the cap required by statute as a condition of tax deferral. The three documents that plaintiffs call 'summaries' do not look remotely like summary plan descriptions and must have been prepared by [the employer] rather than by the plan." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, via FindLaw.com) ---------------------------------------------------------- Provisions in House-Passed Pension Security Act of Interest to Governmental Pension Plans (PDF) http://nctr.org/content/pdf/fedupd051403.pdf 2-page memo. Excerpt: "Of interest to state and local government (SLG) plans is HR 1000's federal notice requirement. The provision would require an annual notice that describes generally accepted investment principles. It would apply to both private and SLG plans with self-directed accounts and also to governmental 457 plans." (National Council on Teacher Retirement) ---------------------------------------------------------- Federal Pensions: DOL Oversight and Thrift Savings Plan Accountability http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-400 22 pages. GAO-03-400, April 23, 2003. Excerpt: "To strengthen DOL oversight and to increase accountability of the TSP Board, Congress should consider amending FERSA to require DOL to establish a formal process by which the Secretary of Labor can report to the Congress issues of critical concern associated with the actions of the Executive Director and TSP Board members." (U.S. General Accounting Office) ---------------------------------------------------------- Congress Gets Pressure to Keep an Eye on TSP Operations http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57376-2003May14.html Excerpt: "To improve oversight of the Thrift Savings Plan, Congress should set up procedures that would keep it better informed about the operations and policy decisions at the federal employee retirement program, according to a draft report prepared by the General Accounting Office." (Washington Post) ---------------------------------------------------------- ASPA Seeking Nominations for Harry T. Eidson Founder's Award http://www.aspa.org/mem/awards.htm#harry Excerpt: "[ASPA founder Harry T.] Eidson firmly believed in the importance of a private pension system for the United States and was committed to building an organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing such a system. This award is presented to the individual that makes the greatest contribution to ASPA, the private pension system, or both." (American Society of Pension Actuaries) ---------------------------------------------------------- Traditional Defined Benefit Pension Plans Fading Away http://www.ifebp.org/2003/05/15/eng-coxnews/eng-coxnews_092405_2928101029931188303.asp Excerpt: "The share of workers depending on pensions as a primary income source in retirement plunged from 39 percent in 1975 to just 21 percent by the late 1990s, according to the General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress." (Cox News via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) ========================================================== Links To Items on Executive Comp, Benefits In General ---------------------------------------------------------- Gateway Shareholders Vote Against Expensing Options http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=2752368 Excerpt: "The proposal, made by the Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Businesses and Participating Employees, was defeated by a vote of 77 percent to 23 percent at Gateway's annual meeting in Sioux City, Iowa." (Reuters) ========================================================== Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Defined Benefit New Business Consultant for New York Life Investment Management, LLC in MA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H34546 Internal Sales Consultant for New York Life Investment Management, LLC in MA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H34728 Administration Department Supervisor for Retirement Plan Administration and ERISA Specialists in IL http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35313 Senior Compliance Specialist for The Segal Company in MA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35315 Plan Processing Specialist for Bisys in PA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35316 Plan Administrator for Associates in Excellence in CA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35317 Senior Plan Specialist for Bisys in PA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35318 Compliance Administrator for Bisys in PA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35320 Qualified Retirement Plan Sales Person for Tycor Benefit Administrators, Inc. in DE, MD, NJ, PA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35321 Benefits Analyst for Weyerhaeuser in MD http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35325 Retirement Plan Manager for Weyerhaeuser in WA http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H35327 Post yours! http://benefitslink.com/jobs/post_help_wanted.html ========================================================== Newly Posted Webcasts Health Care Access and Affordability -- Its Impact on the Economy May 14, 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_webcast.cgi?database_id=35331 Post yours! http://benefitslink.com/webcasts/post_webcast.html ========================================================== Newly Posted Conferences Consumer Driven Health Care -- An Early Report Card in MO June 10, 2003 The Kansas City Chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists http://benefitslink.com/cgi/show_a_notice.cgi?database_id=35319 Post yours! http://benefitslink.com/conferences/post_conference.html ========================================================== Newly Posted Press Releases 412i Boot Camp in Seattle during July Sold Out (The 412 Company) http://benefitslink.com/cgi/pr.cgi?database_id=35326 IRS Clarifies Tax Treatment of Various Medical Expenses (Internal Revenue Service) http://benefitslink.com/cgi/pr.cgi?database_id=35332 Post yours! http://benefitslink.com/pressreleases/post_pressrelease.html ========================================================== Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter, Too Sign-up form is at: http://benefitslink.com/newsletter ========================================================== Copyright 2003 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission. Anyone can receive this newsletter; just use this Web page: http://benefitslink.com/newsletter/ If you do not wish to receive this newsletter any longer, just use this Web page: http://benefitslink.com/newsletter/ Your company can sponsor an issue; for details, please see: http://benefitslink.com/newslettersponsor.html We're proud of our Privacy Policy: http://benefitslink.com/privacypolicy.html To view earlier issues: http://benefitslink.com/newsletters/ Published by: BenefitsLink.com, Inc. http://benefitslink.com/about.html 1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H Winter Park FL 32789 (407) 644-4146 Fax: (407) 644-2151 Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D. davebaker@benefitslink.com