| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
May 1, 2001
Today's sponsor: Employee Benefits Webcast (click)
Webcast coming up May 30! FMLA: The Family and Medical Leave Act -- "It's Not Getting Any Easier." Instructor: Christine E. Howard, Esq. and Jennifer B. Sandberg, Esq., Fisher & Phillips LLP. Presented by Human Resource Consultants. Click to register and purchase this webcast through BenefitsLink!
Opinion: Self-Directed Brokerage Windows in 401k Plans Empower Participants, Protect Sponsors
Excerpt: "Sponsors of 401(k) plans are turning to self-directed brokerage windows to meet the demands of sophisticated investors for more choices and greater control. What many plan sponsors do not realize is that a self-directed brokerage option also can help them meet their fiduciary requirements under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)." (401kWire.com)
403b 'Wise Guy' Fights for Better Investment Choices in San Bernardino County, Calif.
Excerpt: "In the course of [my conversation with the individual in charge of the 403(b) at my county of employment], this individual succinctly summed up the entire 403(b) mess as it relates to school districts. The words? 'I don't care about vendor quality.' I'll repeat that for effect: 'I don't care about vendor quality.' So disturbing. So sad. So true. He continued...'My sole interest is ensuring that this county is in IRS compliance.'" (403bwise.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
Husband owns 100% of a business, as his separate property. Wife and Wife's parents are employees of the business. I believe Wife is an HCE because she is deemed to own her husband's stock, but I'm not sure about the parents. Because they don't contribute much to the 401(k), it would help the ADP test if they were HCEs. Any suggestions? (BenefitsLink.com)
The SEC's Proposal for Regulating Pay-To-Play
Excerpt: "In August 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is responsible for regulating money managers, proposed to prohibit money managers from engaging in pay-to-play. As often happens with universally popular causes, politicians and industry representatives unanimously condemned pay-to-play and applauded the rule's purpose -- and then proceeded to question every dotted 'i' and crossed 't' until the rule was crushed under the weight of the unattainable perfection they demanded." (TheStreet.com via Yahoo! Finance)
GOP Struggling With Tax Cuts
Excerpt: "To further complicate matters, the House this week is poised to pass a 10-year, $52 billion bill to raise contribution limits to individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans and enact dozens of other pension law changes. A similar bill is pending in the Senate, and Grassley said it could be added to the main tax package." (Associated Press, via Excite News)
Living on the Hedge
Excerpt: "Hedge funds are how the other half invests. If you've got a few hundred thousand just sitting around not doing anything, read this." (Contingencies Magazine)
Graef Crystal: Who Wants to Be a Billionaire? Cendant's CEO
Excerpt: "Cendant Corp.'s chief executive, Henry Silverman, seems bent on becoming a billionaire whether or not his shareholders prosper. Silverman almost made it at the end of 1997, when he was shown to be holding fully exercisable options on 46.3 million shares -- and had a paper profit of $833 million. Almost as a complement to owning so many options, he was also shown to be holding not a single actual share of his company's stock." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
Stock Options and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
This article explains the AMT issues that may arise for employees who exercise incentive stock options (ISOs). (The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Qualified Retirement Plans Manager | for Arthur Andersen, Human Capital Consulting in IL |
| Retirement Plan Administrator | for Keiter, Slabaugh, Penny & Holme, LLC in VA |
| Senior Benefits Consultant | for CB Richard Ellis in CA |
| Defined Benefit Manager | for JELD-WEN in OR |
| Pension Education Specialist | for Diversified Investment Advisors in AR, OR |
| 401K Product Manager | for 401Konnect.com, Inc. in CA |
| 401(k)/Pension Administrator | for Great Lakes Pension Administrators, Inc. in MI |
| Manager-Issues Resolution Unit | for ICMA Retirement Corporation in DC |
| 401(k) Administrator, Daily Valuation Plans | for CNA TRUST in CA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| The New Required Minimum Distribution Rules | in FL on May 8, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Council of Central Florida |
Subscribe to the Welfare Plans Edition, too (click)
Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
You may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole.
Click here to learn how your company can sponsor a future issue!
BenefitsLink is a registered trademark of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., published by Dave Baker with much help from Mary Hall and lots of friends.
We're proud of our privacy policy.
To subscribe (free): visit https://benefitslink.com/newsletter - or the person desiring to subscribe can send an email to BLretirement@add.mb00.net
We have an online archive of prior issues at
https://benefitslink.com/newsletters/