If this message looks garbled to you or if the headlines in this message don't connect you to Web pages when you click on them, please request the "plain text" version of this newsletter ("Retirement Plans Edition") by emailing your request to publisher Dave Baker at davebaker@benefitslink.com
The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Retirement Plans Edition


Today's sponsor is EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com
(click on banner for more information)

Please support our advertisers
(Would your company like to sponsor an issue?)


August 3, 2000

APPWP Says July 27 Wall Street Journal Pension Article Misleads and Distorts
Excerpt: "An article by Ellen Schultz entitled 'Companies Find Host of Ways To Pare Retirement Payouts'-- published in the July 27, 2000 edition of the Wall Street Journal-- is highly misleading. It mischaracterizes employers' conduct and distorts the factors and reasons that influence employers' decisions to make changes to their defined benefit pension plans." (Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans)

9th Cir.: California Community Property Law Did Not Preclude IRS From Levying Pension Benefits
Excerpt: "The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that California community property law did not preclude the Internal Revenue Service from placing a levy upon an individual's pension benefits to satisfy his tax debt. The ruling came in McIntyre v. U.S." (Spencernet)

Can an ESOP Safely "Disinvest" the Employer Stock Accounts of Terminated Employees?
A particularly interesting and popular message thread on BenefitsBoards.net-- join us! There is no charge to view or post messages. (BenefitsBoards.net)

New Investment Guideline Requirements For Governmental Plans in Florida
Excerpt: "The creation of Section 112.661, Florida Statutes, is a major change in investment policy requirements for a public pension board. ... The investment policy must address seventeen specific elements: ..." (Cypen & Cypen, P.A.)

When Is A Right of First Refusal An "Option" for Purposes of the Controlled Group Rules?
A particularly interesting and popular current message thread on BenefitsBoards.net -- join us! There is no charge to view or post messages. (BenefitsBoards.net)

Fortune Magazine's Retirement Guide 2000
Excerpt: "Retirement, on your terms. Yes, that's the goal. The task, however, is getting there in one piece. So for this year's guide, we've given your retirement fantasies a reality check. First, we've crafted seven nuts-and-bolts savings and investment plans to help a few real readers reach their retirement dreams. Then we picked a bevy of great stocks and mutual funds to keep any portfolio sprinting into the next decade." (Fortune)

Governor http://www.webenefits.org/cgi-bin/'s Individual Account Proposal: Implications for Retirement Benefits
Audio and video clips of June 6, 2000 conference. Participants were Robert Ball, former Social Security Commissioner; Richard C. Leone, President, The Century Foundation; Henry Aaron, Brookings Institution; Alan Blinder, Princeton University; and Alicia Munnell, Boston College's Center for Retirement Research.

(Following also appears in Welfare Plans Edition)

Base Salaries for 505 U.S. CEOs
Excerpt: "The following table lists base salaries for chief executives of the 500 largest U.S. companies by market value as of May 31, 2000 ..." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)

Base Pay Distinguishes Risk-Taking CEOs
Excerpt: "A salary is the one component of pay that you'd think every chief executive would have. Bonuses and stock options may vary, but a cushy monthly paycheck seems as natural for the American CEO as an officious secretary and a country-club membership. Natural maybe, but no longer a given. Just as some CEOs are ditching their corner office for a democratic cubicle, others are abandoning the idea of a base salary." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)

Gimme, Gimme! Dealing With Some Workers' Entitlement Mentality
Excerpt: "Many employees have come to regard benefits as a right. With costs soaring, employers are taking a hard look at how they can combat this entitlement mentality." (Benefits Canada)

Florida Retirement System Adds 401(k)-Type Retirement Plan
Excerpt: "On June 1, 2000 the Governor signed into law House Bill 2393, creating Chapter 2000-169. The new law directs the Trustees of the State Board of Administration to establish as of May 1, 2002 an optional defined contribution retirement program for members of the Florida Retirement System ... The benefits in such optional program are to be provided through employee-directed investments, in accordance with IRC §401(a)." (Cypen & Cypen, P.A.)


Subscribe to the Welfare Plans Edition, too (click)
Copyright 2000 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.

Feel free to forward this email to friends, colleagues or clients, if no fee is paid to you and the email is forwarded in its entirety. Thanks!

BenefitsLink is a trademark of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., published by Dave Baker with much help from Mary Hall and lots of friends.

To subscribe (free): visit https://benefitslink.com/newsletter - or the person desiring to subscribe can send an email to listmanager@postmastergeneral.com, with this as the subject of the email: subscribe BLretirement

We have an online archive of prior issues at
http://www.postmastergeneral.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl?list=BLretirement
BenefitsLink logo
DEPARTMENTS
BENEFITS SPEAKERS
Looking for a speaker for your benefits group? Want to throw your hat into the ring? Free.
_____________

BENEFITS CANDIDATES
Need personnel? It's like fishing in a barrel here.
_____________

BENEFITS JOBS
Need a benefits job? Sort the openings by their distance away from you.
_____________

BENEFITSBOARDS.NET
Exchange questions and tips with colleagues. Co-sponsored by us and several employee benefits organizations.
_____________

PROGRESSIONS
Promotions and new personnel in the employee benefits community.
_____________

Q&A COLUMNS
Experts field questions online, submitted by readers via email.
_____________

CONFERENCES
View by location, by sponsoring organization, or by date.
_____________

SOFTWARE
Largest listing of benefits software on the net: descriptions, downloads.
_____________

ADVERTISE
Ads are our sole source of support. No subscription fees!
_____________

CONTACT US
Questions?
Comments?
Suggestions?


Copyright 2000 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All rights reserved. BenefitsLink is a trademark of BenefitsLink.com, Inc.