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August 18, 2003 - 13,314 subscribers
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"Coordination of Leave Strategies" * 2:00 p.m. ET Do you have difficulty appropriately responding to leave requests? You are not alone! Many employers find recalling all the requirements of the seemingly overlapping leave laws to be both taxing and complicated. Luckily, we can help! Register for this exclusive audio conference and in just 90 minutes, and without leaving your desk, you can learn strategies to identify and avoid potential problems in handling employee leave requests.
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Pension Funding Gloom Lifting as Equity Values Rise
Excerpt: "Thanks to a drastic turnaround in interest rates and improved stock-market returns, the prognosis for the health of corporate pension plans isn't quite as gloomy as many investors feared just weeks ago." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Important to Keep Contributing to 401(k) Even In Tough Times
Excerpt: "[I]f the economy is bad and a company has to suspend its match, it's fair to assume that employees may be having a tough time paying bills and could quit contributing to their retirement plans, so they have more money for current expenses." (Bankrate.com)
Class Actions Trimming Employers' Interest in Offering Company Stock Through Qualified Plans
Excerpt: "Class-action law firms are attacking a key underpinning of employee retirement accounts: company stock. Invoking the specter of Enron, the firms allege that employers push company stock on retirement savers, and hide material problems." (Knight Ridder Newspapers via The Seattle Times)
What Tribal Governments Need to Know about the Proposed 401(k) and 401(m) Regulations (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The regulations confirm that tribal governments, unlike state and local governments, may sponsor 401(k) plans. In addition, the regulations centralize other IRS guidance and contain important information regarding items such as testing, funding, and safe harbors." (Gardner Carton Douglas LLP)
IRS Chief Counsel Legal Memorandum Explains Why 403(b) Deferrals Under State's Plan Subject to FICA (PDF)
24 pages; numbered 200333003 (March 12, 2003). Excerpt: "Issue: Whether contributions made pursuant to a section 403(b) plan under the circumstances described below are made by reason of 'salary reduction agreements' and therefore are wages for Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax purposes under section 3121(a)(5)(D)." (Internal Revenue Service)
Pension Plan Turnover Study: Phase 1 Report
Excerpt: "The Society of Actuaries is currently engaged in a project to develop a new pension plan turnover table. The construction of this new table is being done in two phases: Phase 1 – Development of Turnover Database and Phase 2 – Construction of the Turnover Table. We're pleased to report that Phase 1 has been completed [and can be viewed online] and Phase 2 continues to progress nicely." (Society of Actuaries)
Distributions: How to Avoid Cracking the Retirement Nest Egg
Excerpt: "Self-restraint alone doesn't ensure that retirees will be able to live off their investments. Other important steps ... include keeping a healthy part of one's portfolio in income-producing investments, and to avoid holding a high percentage of wealth in an employer's stock." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
ESOP Enables Workers to Take Over Rubber Products Company Near Fort Worth
Excerpt: "Petro Rubber's employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) will buy the class A stock owned by Jim Robertson, the former fighter pilot whose ownership and management rescued Petro Rubber from near-bankruptcy a decade ago. The sale will put 100 percent of the company's stock in the ESOP." (The [Fort Worth, Tex. Star-Telegram)
Florida's Deferred Retirement Option Program Might Hurt Police Recruiting
Excerpt: "The DROP plan, instituted in Florida in 1998, allows employees who reach retirement age to continue working for five additional years while their retirement benefits accumulate and earn interest. The money is compounded monthly at an effective annual rate of 6.5 percent. DROP participants continue to receive their regular salary until the five-year period ends. DROP's first-round punch is leaving holes in law enforcement rosters across the country." (KeysNews.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in AL
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in AZ
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST (Part-Time)
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in DC
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in ID, WA
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in MO
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST (Part-Time)
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in TX
RETIREMENT PLAN SPECIALIST
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in WI
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Fresno, CA TPA Firm
in CA
Division VP of Sales (Retirement Services)
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Rethinking Retiree Health
on August 21, 2003
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
An Overview of the Legal Application for Pension Actuaries
in AZ
November 5, 2003
Conference of Consulting Actuaries
An Overview of Health and Welfare Laws and Regulations
in AZ
November 5, 2003
Conference of Consulting Actuaries
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Change Management, 457 Regulations and Federally Proposed Pension Plans Session Attract Record Number of Pre-Registrants to NAGDCA 2003 Annual Conference, September 20 - 24
(National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc. (NAGDCA))
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