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September 10, 2003 - 13,400 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.
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“Employer Healthcare Choices” Audio Conference Wednesday, September 17, 2003 * 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET Learn how to make informed decisions about the latest healthcare options available today and what choices may be available tomorrow! This interactive audio conference will feature an expert analysis of the results from the latest Kaiser Family Foundation Annual Employer Survey®, followed by a discussion of the latest consumer-directed healthcare plan options. Register today to learn how to make the best healthcare choice for your company.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
House Votes to Block IRS Regs Contrary to District Court Ruling in IBM Cash Balance Case
Excerpt: "The House voted yesterday to bar the Treasury Department from writing regulations that would counter a court ruling that cash-balance pension plans violate age-discrimination laws.... Two other federal courts have ruled that cash-balance plans are not discriminatory, and the Treasury Department has proposed regulations specifically saying that they are not." (Washington Post)
No Breach of Fiduciary Duty to Invest ESOP Assets In Declining Employer Stock
Excerpt: "ESOP participants could not sustain their breach of fiduciary duty claim based on the plan's investment in the declining stock of the participants' employer because the decline in stock price was not proof that the plan's investment was unreasonable, according to a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island (DC RI)." (CCH News & Information Library)
Joint Committee Explains Provisions of Ways and Means Chairman's Version of Charitable Giving Bill (PDF)
60 pages. Excerpt: "The proposal provides an exclusion from gross income for otherwise taxable IRA distributions from a traditional or a Roth IRA in the case of qualified charitable distributions.... A qualified charitable distribution is defined as any distribution from an IRA that is made directly by the IRA trustee either to (1) an organization to which deductible contributions can be made (a 'direct distribution') or (2) a 'split-interest entity.'" (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation)
UAL Seeks Extension in Bankruptcy Court While It Seeks Relief in Congress on Pension Funding
Excerpt: "UAL says its pension problem is scaring away potential investors. It has said it hopes to complete reorganization in early 2004. UAL now wants until April to file a reorganization plan, preventing other parties from filing competing plans during that time." (USA Today)
Texas State Officials Retire, Return To Work
Excerpt: "A loophole in a new state law is allowing state officials to retire early, collect a retirement bonus, begin receiving a state pension and return to the same position 30 days later at a slightly lower salary." ([Fort Worth] Star-Telegram)
Another Question is Answered in the Davis-Bacon Act Q&A Column
In a profit-sharing plan with discretionary employer contributions and Davis-Bacon contributions only, is it permissible for the Davis-Bacon employees to be excluded from the discretionary employer contribution allocation? If so, how does such a plan meet 401(a)(4) in the event the discretionary employer contributions are substantial relative to the meager D-B contributions? (BenefitsLink.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
Two companies are owned by two separate trusts. Each trust has the same beneficiaries with virtually identical beneficial interests. One of the companies has gone out of business after a period of operating at a negative net worth. If the value of the business is a negative number, is it accurate to say that the beneficiaries have no actuarial interest in the failed entity and as a result a brother-sister controlled group does not exist? (BenefitsLink.com)
Overview: IRS Extends Deadline To Amend DC Plans To Comply With RMD Rules
Excerpt: "The time by which defined contribution plans must be amended to comply with the RMD regs is extended to the later of the last day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2003, or the end of the GUST remedial amendment period. This does not extend the December 31, 2003 deadline for sponsors of pre-approved plans to amend their defined contribution plans, or for master and prototype plans to furnish copies of the amendments to adopting employers." (RIA Tax News)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Courts Stress Importance of SPDs
Excerpt: "Both cases hinge on the employers' efforts to provide information to employees concerning their benefits plans: Both plans allowed inconsistencies to exist between their SPDs and plan documents that created confusion and made it unclear what employees would receive. And both had a common reliance on the primacy of plan documents over an SPD. In the end, that reliance (or lack thereof) proved to be pivotal." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Businesses Strained By Reservist Extension
Audio report. Excerpt: "The Army orders some 20,000 military reservists to extend their tours of duty in Iraq to a full year -- months longer than expected. The change requires a juggling act from employers back home, who are filling reservists' civilian jobs while they're away. NPR's Michele Norris talks with retired Lt. Col. Courtney Wheeler, an ombudsman for the Employer Support Group for the Guard and Reserve." (National Public Radio)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Part-time Seminar Leader/Presenter
for Havensure LLC
in AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI
Conversion Manager
for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
in CA
Client Relationship Manager
for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
in AZ, CA, OH
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Medicare Changes and the Impact on Retiree Medical Benefits
in CT
October 7, 2003
The Stamford Chapter of the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network
Servicing the Small Employer Market
in DC
October 27, 2003
Institute for International Research
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
New Research Illuminates Prevalence and Effects of Consumer-Driven Health Plans
(AcademyHealth)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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