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April 17, 2003 - 13,053 subscribers
Today's sponsor: PSCA SIGNATURE AWARDS 2003
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Is your plan communication/education receiving the recognition it deserves? A PSCA Signature Award honoring excellence in plan design and communication will give your plan the attention it deserves. Signature Award 2003 Award winners will receive: * Recognition from Industry Experts. * An article highlighting your plan's success in the Signature Awards publication. * Industry spotlight as winners are announced and displayed at PSCA's National Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona September 9-12, 2003. * Professional respect from employees, colleagues and industry. * Media recognition from national, local and regional newspapers. Click above for a 2003 entry form, measuring results worksheet and category explanations.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Full Text of Portman-Cardin Bill, in Hypertext Format
H.R. 1776, entitled The Pension Preservation and Savings Expansion Act of 2003. (Library of Congress)
Sometimes, It's Better To Drop 401(k) In Favor of Roth IRA
Excerpt: "The automatic saving feature of 401(k) plans makes them very attractive. Unfortunately, some plans are so poorly constructed they aren't worth shooting. Your ... plan is a good example. The combination of high fees and low employer match is deadly." (Scott Burns in the Dallas Morning News; one-time registration required)
Pension Deficits Could Cost Companies Billions
Excerpt: "Three years of plunging stock prices and rising benefit liabilities have thrown many of the largest pension plans in corporate America deeply into deficit -- a situation that will siphon away billions of dollars in cash and reported earnings in the next few years unless the market rebounds sharply." (Washington Post)
Many Corporate Pension Funds Make Oversized Earnings Assumptions
Excerpt: "The first comprehensive examination of the pension funds of the nation's biggest corporations shows that nearly half made assumptions about their investment returns for 2002 that would be deemed too aggressive by federal regulators, starting this year." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Pension Wars: the Fallout After IBM's Cash Balance Conversion
Excerpt: "It's not often you see protestors outside a Treasury-Internal Revenue Service hearing on proposed tax code regulations. But ever since disgruntled IBM employees brought the issue to public attention, the movement by major corporations to convert traditional defined-benefit plans to so-called cash-balance pension plans has been a lightning rod for workers'-- and particularly baby boomers'-- growing anxiety over their retirement incomes." (Forbes.com)
Opinion: Our Outrageous Tax System
Excerpt: "Family saving shouldn't require an advanced math degree. Shouldn't saving for education, retirement and other items be as simple as putting money in the bank? Instead, Congress has manufactured hundreds of special savings rules, such as for 401(k)s, Keoghs, deductible IRAs, nondeductible IRAs, education IRAs, Roth IRAs, traditional pension plans, annuities, SIMPLEs, SEPs, MSAs, and others. The IRS guide to IRAs alone is 105 pages long." (Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Post Retirement Needs and Risks
Excerpt: "Welcome to the Post Retirement Needs and Risks Web Page. This page provides information useful to actuaries and other professionals with an interest in modeling and conducting research regarding individual financial risks and needs after retirement. The Retirement Systems Research Committee and Professional Education and Development Committee [of the Society of Actuaries] sponsor the page." (Society of Actuaries)
'Protected Pension' for Execs of American Airlines
Excerpt: "A special trust set up by American Airlines' top executives will allow them to collect retirement benefits regardless of whether the airline goes bankrupt, according to documents filed by the company." (CNBC via MSNBC.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit/Defined Contribution Account Manager
for National Retirement Services, Inc.
in NC
Pension Administration Assistant
for Corporate Plans & Services, Inc.
in NC
Chief Operating Officer for Qualified Plan Administration Company
for The Senex Group in Woodland Hills, California
in CA
Plan Administrators/Conversion/Implementation Specialists
for Arwood & Associates
in AZ
Retirement Plan Consultant
for Invesmart
in PA
Implementation Consultant - Defined Contribution
for AIG VALIC
in TX
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Planning for an Emergency Evacuation for People With Disabilities
in ALL STATES
April 30, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
DOL's Proposed FLSA Exemption Regulations Changes
in ALL STATES
May 1, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
Introduction to Cross Testing eSeminar
in ALL STATES
June 4, 2003
McKay Hochman
Participant Loans - Working with the Final Regulations
in ALL STATES
June 18, 2003
McKay Hochman
Second Quarter 2003 Update
in ALL STATES
May 16, 2003
McKay Hochman
Introduction to Retirement Plans
in ALL STATES
June 9, 2003
McKay Hochman
Current Issues With 401(k) Plans
in ALL STATES
May 30, 2003
McKay Hochman
403(b) Plans eSeminar
in ALL STATES
June 24, 2003
McKay Hochman
Health and Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers Conference
in IL
June 3, 2003
University Conference Services and the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The 9th Annual Mid-Sized Pension Management Conference
in MA
April 29, 2003
University Conference Services and Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Investment Management for Institutional Investors
in MA
May 13, 2003
University Conference Services and Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Pan-American Life Adds 401(k) Plan Sponsor Tool to Website
(Pan-American Life)
Watson Wyatt Unveils New Defined Contribution Approach for Solving Health Care Cost Crisis
(Watson Wyatt & Company)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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