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October 1, 2003 - 13,400 subscribers
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The INs and OUTs of Qualified Retirement Plans ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 23, 2003 Please join us for this one-day seminar. We take you through the world of qualified plans, beginning with an overview of the various types of retirement plans, continuing through compliance testing and concluding with several case studies to put it all into context. This course helps prepare you for various benefit certification exams such as those offered by NIPA, ASPA, ISCEBS and the American College.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Business's Killer I.O.U.-- Pensions
Excerpt: "With car sales surprisingly strong, J. T. Battenberg III, CEO of auto-parts maker Delphi Automotive, would like to expand his factories and hire some workers. But he can't.... He first has to deal with an ugly blemish on his balance sheet--a $4.1 billion shortfall in Delphi's pension fund. Three years ago the pension plan was fully funded, but it cratered along with the stock market." (Newsweek via MSNBC.com)
Some Plan Participants Get Rude Awakening When Sponsors Go Bankrupt
Excerpt: "Employer-backed pensions should be viewed with a skeptical eye, [a Buffalo N.Y.-area financial planner] said, like other retirement benefits that lie outside your control. Federal insurance for pensions is limited, and some employers are changing their plans in ways that reduce future benefits." (The Buffalo News)
Venture Capital Firms to Reporters: Stop Prying!
Excerpt: "There's full disclosure, partial disclosure, and the disclosure some venture capital firms are seeking: none. The dispute-- now playing out in a California court-- involves how much the public deserves to know about investments made in public pension funds and university endowments. For decades state pensions and university endowments have quietly augmented their portfolios with..." (Fortune.com)
University of California Pension Trustees' Appeal on VC Investments Rejected by Cal. Supreme Court
Excerpt: "The California Supreme Court rejected the University of California's final bid Tuesday to avoid releasing financial performance results of private investments it makes on behalf of its thousands of retirees. The decision is significant because it confirms an emerging standard on disclosing such information for public institutions in California -- and elsewhere in the nation." (The [San Jose] Mercury News)
Overview: Corporation's Redemption Payments for Stock Held By ESOP Were Tax Deductible
Excerpt: "Payments made by a corporation to redeem stock held by its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) were deductible as dividends because the trust established to hold and invest the ESOP assets owned the stock when the redemptions took place, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco (CA-9)." (CCH News and Information Library)
Gathering the Info Needed To Value and Distribute a Defined Benefit Retirement Asset at Divorce
Excerpt: "All pension [plans] are a form of deferred compensation that the employer obligates itself to provide to all employees as a condition of employment. Understanding this, it becomes obvious that they are joint assets earned during the marital period but not available as income to the couple until the future. It really equates to the parties having set aside a portion of their income for their retirement." (Paul R. Commerford on DivorceNet.com)
Overview: IRS Issues Additional Loan Rules, Becoming Effective January 1, 2004 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "Many defined contribution plans allow participants to take loans from their participant accounts. IRS rules governing loans, such as restrictions on the amount that can be taken as a nontaxable loan and the maximum period for repayment, have been in place for some time. The IRS has now released additional rules applying to loans made on or after January 1, 2004." (CIGNA's Pension Analyst)
Chicago Might Try Early Retirement Incentive Program
Excerpt: "The Daley administration is mapping plans for Chicago's first early retirement incentive program in five years in hopes of enticing enough city employees to voluntarily leave the payroll to avert the need for up to 800 layoffs." (Chicago Sun-Times)
Mutual Fund Scrutiny Expands
Excerpt: "The government investigation into mutual fund wrongdoing expanded to Alliance Capital Management on Tuesday, and the fallout from the scandal began to spread to retirement plans." (USA Today)
Fund Scandals Might Impact 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "Just over a week ago, Morningstar Inc., the influential Chicago-based fund-rating firm, came out with recommendations that investors avoid investments in the mutual funds in the Nations Funds, Banc One, Janus and Strong families ... The fund firms haven't been formally charged with breaking the law, and they certainly haven't been convicted of anything.... The guy overseeing the 401(k) plan can't necessarily afford to wait for legal judgments before making a move." (CBS MarketWatch via Insurance News Network)
Opinion: the Trouble with Retirement
Excerpt: "One major problem with tax-deferred investment programs is that the money is channeled into government-approved investments. This money balloons these subsidized markets upward until such time as a significant percentage of people want to retire. Then they start selling. How large a percentage is 'significant'? I don't know, but I think 10% will be enough." (Gary North on LewRockwell.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
U.S. Postal Service to Use Pension Overfunding to Set Up Retiree Healthcare Reserves
Excerpt: "The Postal Service intends to use $10 billion in retirement fund overpayments to set up a health benefit account for its more than 800,000 employees, the Postal Service's chief financial officer said Tuesday. Richard Strasser said the money would lay the foundation for a health benefit retirement program estimated to cost more than $40 billion." (AP via Newsday.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pensions/401(k) ERISA Compliance Specialist
for Graham Forbes, Inc.
in NY
Retirement Plan Administrator
for InWest Pension Management, Inc.
in TX
Client Services Consultant
for American United Life Insurance Company (AUL)
in TN
Client Service Representative
for National Automobile Dealers Assn
in VA
Plan Information Specialist
for National Automobile Dealers Assn
in VA
Benefits Administrator
for Mellon Financial
in GA
Conversions Specialist
for BenefitStreet, Inc.
in CA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
The INs and OUTs of Retirement Plans
in GA
October 23, 2003
SOAR - Seminar Opportunities Achieving Results
HIPAA: What Every Employer Should Know
in FL
November 5, 2003
Orlando Chapter of the International Society of CEBS
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
CBS MarketWatch to Launch Retirement Weekly, a New Online Publication for Baby Boomers
(CBS MarketWatch)
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