| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
March 15, 2001
Today's sponsor: The Plan Sales System (click)
The Plan Sales System is a comprehensive, 16-step system for growing a retirement plan sales practice. It provides detailed resources, contact names and numbers, checklists, charts, handouts, letters, extensive prospecting techniques, descriptions of current market opportunities, and tools for planning and monitoring sales activity.
H.R. 10, Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act (Portman-Cardin Plan)
A short summary, a detailed summary, and the full text of the Portman-Cardin legislation can now be accessed through the Employee Benefits Library. (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)
Early Gen Xers: Retirement Issues
Excerpt: "Gen Xers born between 1961 and 1971 are what I call the "Early Xers". As children, this generation was coined "latchkey kids", one of the first generation of youngsters to live in a household where both parents worked. Early Xers grew up in a culture where instant gratification shaped decision making. Video games, remote-controlled televisions, credit cards and fast food further reinforced this short-term and fast-paced mindset." (Greg Hanna's Retirement Planning site on About.com)
A Post-Death QDRO
Directors Guild Pension Benefits Plan v. Tise (9th Cir. 2000). Excerpt: "Normally, when a plan participant dies with a valid beneficiary designation in the plan's file, the plan automatically pays any death benefit to the designated beneficiary.... Here's a case, however, where a former 'significant other' obtained a qualified domestic relations order ('QDRO') after the participant's death and successfully divested the named beneficiary from 90 percent of the death benefit." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Surprise! - Friendly Minimum Required Distribution Regs
Excerpt: "You know something's up when even the popular press is giddy over something as arcane as the Code's minimum required distribution ('MRD') rules." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
DOL Clarifies Position on Payment of Plan Expenses (PDF)
March 2001 issue. Excerpt: "[T]he relevant question in determining whether an expense can be paid from the plan's assets is not whether the expense benefits the plan sponsor, but whether the expense is an administrative or settlor expense. The DOL confirmed that a plan may not pay expenses associated with settlor decisions, but may pay certain reasonable expenses of plan administration, including costs that incidentally benefit the plan sponsor." (Compliance Bulletin, in CIGNA's Pension Analyst)
ESOP Association Praises Portman-Cardin Bill
Excerpt: "The ESOP Association today praised the announcement by Congressmen Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) that they are introducing the ERISA reform legislation with more than 230 other members of the House. This legislation, known as Portman-Cardin, passed the House in 2000 with over 400 yes votes." (PR Newswire, via Yahoo! Finance)
Fact Sheet on Portman-Cardin Bill, From Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH)
Excerpt: "The Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act allows Americans to set more aside in an IRA or 401(k)-type plan, modernizes pension laws and provides regulatory relief to encourage more small businesses to offer retirement plans." (Representatives Rob Portman (R-OH))
ERIC Urges Quick Enactment of Portman-Cardin Bill
Excerpt: "The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), representing exclusively America's largest employers, cheered today's reintroduction of the 'Portman-Cardin' bill with enormous bipartisan support as the first step in making pension reform a reality this year. With many of the 76 million baby boomers approaching retirement unlikely to have the assets they need to retire, 'it is incumbent upon Congress and the Administration to enact this bill now,' said ERIC President Mark J. Ugoretz." (ERISA Industry Committee)
American Benefits Council Urges Rapid Passage of Bipartisan Retirement Savings Legislation
Excerpt: "'This set of proposals overwhelming passed the House -- twice -- in 2000 with 401 votes and won unanimous approval from the Senate Finance Committee. On both sides of the aisle, the goal this year is to cross the finish line -- enactment ...' [said James A. Klein, President of the American Benefits Council.]" (American Benefits Council press release)
Report: Slash Federal Benefits, Reap Government Savings
Excerpt: "The government could save billions of dollars by slashing federal health and retirement benefits, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office." (GovExec.com)
Withholding on Disqualifying Dispositions
Excerpt: "Here's a triumph of intellectual consistency over common sense: IRS Notice 2001-14.... , the IRS has decided that disqualifying dispositions not only give rise to ordinary income but also are subject to income tax withholding and FICA and FUTA taxes. This is a great theory until one considers that when an employee decides to sell stock, it is invariably in a transaction over which his employer has neither control nor notice ..." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Got a New Job? Better Check That Non-Compete Clause
Excerpt: "... recent court cases, driven in part by high-tech concerns, seem to be eating away at the concept of employee mobility ... Some of the legal activity appears to be no more threatening than an application of traditional non-compete clauses that are recognized by most states. But other cases indicate that the courts are closing the noose around the practice of job-hopping and, in seeking to protect legitimate trade secrets, may hinder technological progress." (Knowledge@Wharton)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| 401(k) Administrator | for Benefit Management Inc. in MA, RI |
| Account Manager | for Benefit Plan Services, Inc. in GA |
| Stock-Based Executive Compensation Attorney | for Law Firm with 20 Exec.Comp/Benefits attorneys in CA, CO, DC, WA |
| Pension Consultant | for Universal Pensions, Inc. in MN |
| Sr. Compensation and Benefits Analyst | for Comdisco, Inc. in IL |
| Broker/Dealer Compliance Officer | for Compliance Division in CA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| NAGDCA 2001 Regional Meeting | in CA on April 30, 2001 presented by National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| NAGDCA Announces Support of Reintroduction of Portman/Cardin Legislation (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators) |
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