Dave Baker

Marvelous, oriecat!

Here's a neat Firefox trick-- if you would like more than one "home" page to show up when you click the home icon-- each page will appear in its own tab-- just type the URL of each page into the usual home page field (Tools -> Options -> General) separated by the "pipe" character (it appears on my keyboard as the shift-backslash key, and looks like this: | ). For example, to open the BenefitsLink search page and the BenefitsLink buzz page as your two home pages (each on a separate tab), you'd type this into the home page field (ignore the word CODE): http://benefitslink.com/search|http://benefitslink.com/buzz/short.html

Thanks, everybody! And the company's other three employees -- Holly, Mary and Jeanette -- wave hello, too! Here are some shots from the Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://benefitslink.com and more fun stuff here: http://benefitslink.com/whatsnew/archive/ Those were the days. The "What's New" page changed once a month; the first was August 1995. Then in September of 1996 we moved to a weekly update. At some point it became daily, both on the web and via email newsletters.

Yikes, we have a catfight on the retirement plans board! The squawling has reached your humble BenefitsLink publisher all the way up in his ivory tower. Will everyone please take a deep breath? Might be smart not to post anything further for a day. I would've expected this on the VEBAs message board, but not here. Thanks for your participation on the message boards, everybody ... we have the sharpest bunch of actuaries/lawyers/administrators/marine life/mammals on the net.

Let's find him and send him a nice gift! One of the best people the IRS ever had, for the employee plans community.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t.../technologyNews "Volunteers will be asked to download a program to their computers that runs when the machine is idle and reaches out to request data to contribute to research projects. "Organizers say the Grid can help unlock genetic codes that underlie diseases like AIDS and HIV, Alzheimer's or cancer, improve forecasting of natural disasters and aid studies to protect the world's food and water supply. " Details can be found at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ Join "Team BenefitsLink"! See http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/vie...ue=benefitslink

Microsoft has released a program that scrubs various "hidden" information from Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents (XP or 2003 versions): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en "With this add-in you can permanently remove hidden and collaboration data, such as change tracking and comments, from Word 2003/XP, Excel 2003/XP, and PowerPoint 2003/XP files." "You should run the Remove Hidden Data add-in on files when you are ready to publish them. This is because some of the data that the tool removes is used by Office for collaboration features, such as Track Changes, Comments, and Send for Review."

Appleby, you think the BISYS materials are detailed enough for experienced administration consultants? I have not seen them. Are they basically online texts? Similar to the Panel Answer Books? How long have you been using the BISYS materials?

A couple of COBRA software products are listed at: http://benefitslink.com/software.shtml

The firm that sponsors the plan -- is it a partnership or a corporation (called a professional association in some states)? The new physician's former practice ... was it a corporation? If not, what sort of entity? I think it's important that the two entities be merged as a matter of state law (with the various formalities/documents), which unfortunately requires a takeover of both assets and liabilities by the existing firm. Otherwise the IRS would wonder why this particular individual's service with some previous employer (even if named in an amendment to the plan document) is worthy of being counted but not the service of a non-highly compensated nurse (for example) who previously was employed by an unrelated hospital (which doesn't get the benefit of a special plan amendment). Will any other individuals who worked at the physician's former practice also be coming over? If any such individuals actually come over and receive service credits too, that's awfully helpful in avoiding a potentially disqualifying discrimination argument from the IRS.

Make sure you sign up for our free daily email newsletter: http://benefitslink.com/newsletter/ It's not a replacement for the various big-publisher services, but you'll get links to fresh articles that have all sorts of interesting perspectives and that provide a look at the work product of most of the industry's bigger players as well as many astonishingly good smaller ones (law firms, consulting firms, administration firms, actuarial firms and others).

November 21, 2003 by Dave Baker Yesterday's BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter contained links to two message theads started by Janet Krueger on a Yahoo! discussion group, which itemize her reasons for disliking cash balance plans and her view of what it would take in order to design a "good" cash balance plan. (The newsletter is archived online at http://benefitslink.com/2003/2003_11_20_retirement.html ) A reader wrote to ask about Ms. Krueger; the links in the newsletter failed to explain who she is. Krueger is a former employee of IBM; she and several IBM employees reportedly started a web site several years ago at http://cashpensions.com (see http://www.uswestretiree.org/a47.htm and http://www.pensions-r-us.org/member_groups/ibm_employees.htm ).

The Florida courts ... well, I won't go there. The Florida Bar might take my Bar card away, which I might need if I return to the practice of law in Florida. OK -- tie decision. Tie goes to the runner? In a case of dueling experts, why not presume the individual is still "in there" and wants to continue to live? Oops, the appellate judges tipped their hand! Call the lady a vegetable and it gets a lot easier, for sure. Thanks for that insight, your honors, but in the long run, we're ALL dead! I'd like to forestall that eventuality by continuing to eat, however. Let's presume Terri would like food and water, too. Nobody's taking anybody else's "lives" away, except the "guardian" who's decided that's what Terri wants. The fellow who's living with his girlfriend and their child. Another one on the way. The fellow from whom Terri said she wanted a divorce, shortly before the "potassium imbalance" that induced her "heart attack" at age 26. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) Her husband can get a divorce and "continue" with his life if he chooses to leave Terri ... her folks are desperately wanting to continue to use their lives to help their daughter enjoy hers, such as it is.

Some recent news -- late Monday evening -- from an AP article on the Tallahassee [Fl.] Democrat Web site: House votes to let governor intervene in Schiavo case JACKIE HALLIFAX Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida House voted Monday to give Gov. Jeb Bush the power to issue a "stay" in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order. The House voted 68-23 for the bill. The Senate planned to take it up Tuesday. * * * Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, originally said he didn't want to intervene. He later agreed to, but said he wanted to limit the scope of the bill as much as possible. --------------------------------------------------- Another newspaper covered the Jim King angle yesterday, before the newly reported agreement on his part to go along with a special bill on the Senate side. http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35161 From that article: "Volunteers with the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation have learned Senate President Jim King is opposed to the bill and has said he would not present it to the upper house for a vote. "According to his website, King is a member of the Florida Hospice Board of Directors and the Florida Task Force on Government-Financed Health Care, and is a recipient of the Hospice Hall of Fame Award. "Last year he wrote an amendment to the Advanced Directives Law expanding the definition of "proxy." "'The way it reads now, a total and complete stranger that doesn't even know the patient can come into the institution and say it's in the patient's best interest to die – that was his contribution to the law,'" said Pat Anderson, attorney for Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler." --------------------------------------------------- A hospice is a wonderful place for folks who want to live their final days as comfortably as possible. My cousin was ably and lovingly assisted by hospice employees when she died of cancer recently. But doesn't someone like King risk at least the appearance of impropriety by simultaneously being on a task force on government-financed health care as well as the board of directors of a hospice trade association? As in, "let's encourage the really sick, old ones on 'life support' to go to a hospice rather than run up hospital or rehab expenses"?

When we choose life, we all benefit. An affirmation of the value of human life has value to society. Though such a value is hard to pin down in dollars, it needs to be part of the balancing, too, if there is balancing to be done.

More news: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/16/national/16FEED.html "The case has attracted members of religious groups and advocates for the disabled who say that Mrs. Schiavo's death could set a chilling precedent. "'This case threatens all people who are deemed incompetent whether it's due to dementia, Alzheimer's, brain injury or mental retardation," said Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, an organization in Forest Park, Ill., that opposes the right-to-die movement. "What disabled people are seeing is the courts will not protect us, and the health care system will not honor our rights.'"

This seems to set an awful precedent for any disabled person who can no longer feed himself or herself -- any such person arguably has become dependent on "artificial life support" and is a candidate for a guardianship-assisted "right to die": http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Pag...L20031015b.html http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/15/national/15FEED.html

http://home.nc.rr.com/tuco/looney/acme/acme.html "ACME is a worldwide leader of many manufactured goods. From its humble beginnings providing corks and flypaper to bug collectors ("Buddy's Bug Hunt/1935") to its heyday in the American Southwest supplying a certain coyote, from Ultimatum Dispatchers to Batman outfits, ACME has set the standard for excellence. "For the first time ever, information and pictures of all ACME products, specialty divisions, and services featured in Warner Bros. cartoons (made by the original studio from 1935 to 1964) are gathered here, in one convenient catalog."

What's the exact language of the plan document? Who is the plan administrator who's responsible for applying and interpreting the terms of the plan document?

I'll put a link to this topic at the end of that Q&A!

Wouldn't the sponsor have a lawsuit on its hands from the participants if the accrued benefits were reduced?

(Posted by Dave Baker for Thomas Mulloy, who's having trouble with the message board.) I went back 3 years on the sep/sarsep/simple board with no luck, so I'll ask the experts. Situation: Partnership operates a SARSEP. HCE and NHCE deferred during 2003. Partnership changes to Sub S Corporation 10/1/03. Business name will change as will the employer ID number. Client wants to start safe harbor 401k 10/1/03. Two questions: 1) Can the s.h. harbor 401k be established 10/1/03 (for a 3 month short plan year)? 2) They don't want an open enrollment (i.e., anyone employed 10/1/03 enters the 401k plan). Any problem counting prior service with the partnership and using it satisfy a 1 year service (and 750 hours worked) eligibility requirement? Thanks.

Had this sent to me by email: "After every flight, pilots complete a gripe sheet which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The form is a piece of paper that the pilot completes, and then the mechanics read and correct the problem. They then respond by writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems, as submitted by Qantas Pilots, and the solution recorded by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident. P = The problem logged by the pilot S = The solution and action taken by the engineers ---------- P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. S: Almost replaced left inside main tire. P: Test flight OK, except autoland very rough. S: Autoland not installed on this aircraft. P: Something loose in cockpit. S: Something tightened in cockpit. P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on backorder. P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 FPM descent. S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground. P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed. P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level. P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That's what they're there for. P: IFF inoperative. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode. P: Suspected crack in windshield. S: Suspect you're right. P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search. P: Aircraft handles funny. S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious. P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with words. P: Mouse in cockpit. S: Cat installed."

Shazam -- the Form 5558's instructions say: It doesn't say the plan sponsor is hosed if the federal income tax return already has been filed after the normal due date but before the extended due date ... I suppose the attachment of the copy of the IRS extension of time to file the federal income tax return will be enough to get the 5500 onto the next person's desk without flagging it as a late return.

The cobbler's children have no shoes. I forgot to file for an extension of time to file the 5500 for my calendar year S corp company's calendar year profit-sharing plan. Now it's August 1. I guess I'd better hunker down and do the 5500 today or as soon as I can-- there's no way to get an extension now, is there? My accountant obtained an extension of time for the company to file its corporate income tax return (until September 15), but yours truly signed and mailed the thing into the IRS just last week.