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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Retirement Plans Edition
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June 12, 2001
Today's sponsor: Benefits Essentials (click)


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Analysis: IRS Guidance on Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits in Compensation Definition
About IRS Notice 2001-37. Excerpt: "Employers with retirement plans that also sponsor qualified transportation fringe benefit plans should make sure that this amendment is on their 'to do' list, and that the appropriate effective date is reflected in the amendment." (EBIA Weekly)

How to Structure Automatic Enrollment and What to Expect
Sample article from June 2001 issue. Excerpt: "Here's the rundown on design steps to consider and what to expect ..." (IOMA's Report on Managing 401(k) Plans)

DC Plan Industry to Resume Growth in 2nd Half of 2001 After Last Year's Plunge
Sample article from June 2001 issue. Excerpt: "Total DC plan assets will increase this year and reach a record high $1.97 trillion--up 11.5% from last year based on the latest research from Cerulli Associates. Growth will continue at a 'less spectacular but still healthy pace' over the next five years." (IOMA's DC Plan Investing)

One-Time Retirement Incentive Enforceable Under State Law Since It Is Not an ERISA Plan
O'Connor v. Commonwealth Gas Co. (1st Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "Whether or not severance and similar plans qualify as ERISA welfare benefits plans depends on the nature and extent of plan administration by the sponsoring employer. Only where the sponsor assumes an ongoing administrative responsibility to determine eligibility and calculate benefits will such plans come under ERISA's terms." (EBIA Weekly)

IRS Addresses Changes In Definitions of Compensation To Include Transportation Benefits
In Notice 2001-37, the Internal Revenue Service provides guidance relating to amendments made by the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 to IRC Secs. 403(b)(3), 414(s)(2), and 415(c)(3). Those sections of the Tax Code provide definitions of compensation that apply to qualified retirement plans and Sec. 403(b) tax-sheltered annuities. (SpencerNet)

IRS May Not Levy On Retirement Plan Benefits Until They Are Payable
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel has issued a memorandum to district counsel advising that IRS cannot levy on a retirement plan benefit until payments are due under the plan (ILM 200102021)." (Cypen & Cypen, P.A.)

Massachusetts Bill Would Curb State Pension Investment Connected To Burma
Excerpt: "Several bills to make the $30 billion state pension fund more socially accountable - by requiring divestiture of investments in firms doing business in Burma and imposing proxy voting policies - will be the subject of a State House hearing today." (Boston Globe)

IRS Provides Guidance On 1994, 1996 Changes To IRC Sec. 415
In Announcement 2001-63, the Internal Revenue Service provides guidance regarding changes to IRC Sec. 415 that were made by the Retirement Protection Act of 1994 and the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996. Specifically, the announcement provides new alternatives under Sec. 415 for defined benefit master and prototype and volume submitter plans. (SpencerNet)

What Women Want: Retirement Equity
Excerpt: "Thirteen pages of the tax cut signed into law last week fall under the heading 'Enhancing Fairness for Women.' Like so many odds and ends of any large piece of legislation, this was originally a smaller standalone bill. But the section really doesn't do much to advance its stated goal: helping women shore up retirement savings." (Forbes via Yahoo! Finance)

Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
Husband and Wife are both doctors. Each owns 100% of an unincorporated medical practice. The two practices are totally separate. Husband maintains a 401(k) plan covering all 5 of his employees. Wife has 10 employees but she does not sponsor a retirement plan. Are both employers required to be aggregated for testing purposes? (BenefitsLink.com)

Web Site Provides Official Information from Bush's Social Security Study Commission
Excerpt: "The Commission has been asked to make recommendations to modernize and restore fiscal soundness to Social Security, using six guiding principles: Modernization must not change Social Security benefits for retirees or near-retirees; ... Modernization must include individually controlled, voluntary personal retirement accounts, which will augment Social Security." (President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security)

(Following items also appear in Welfare Plans Edition)


Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Crowe, Chizek and Company LLP
Excerpt: "Crowe, Chizek and Company LLP (www.crowechizek.com) provides innovative business solutions for assurance, consulting, e-business, financial and human capital, outsourcing, tax and technology. Founded in 1942, Crowe Chizek is a top 10 U.S. accounting and consulting firm offering client-focused services through 1,400 professionals in 12 offices."

Opinion: Yahoo's Semel Knows Something About Risk-Taking
Excerpt: "Yahoo! Inc.'s new chief executive, Terry Semel, is a walking example of that most endangered species: the risk-taking CEO. These days, most CEOs who come in from the outside to turn around a company with a sagging stock price insist on receiving wads of totally free shares and large guaranteed bonuses. Their pay future is assured, while the shareholders' future is iffy. Not so Semel." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)

Employee Benefit Provisions of the New Tax Law (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "In this memorandum, we identify the employee benefit provisions likely to be of greatest interest to most private-sector employers." (Covington & Burling for the ERISA Industry Committee)

Opinion: the Tax Cut-- Now You See It, Now You Don't
Excerpt: "Not since the invention of the federal income tax in 1913 has there been a tax bill that promised to do so much with so little. Sure, $1.35 trillion sounds like a bucketful. But to make all these promised cuts fit into that trillion-dollar-plus box, Congress created a shooting gallery of tax breaks that appear and disappear, just like those hokey pop-up ducks in an arcade." (Business Week)




Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
Plan Administrator for Pacific Retirement Plans, Inc.
in CA
401(k) Administrator for Polycomp Administrative Services, Inc. in Woodland Hills
in CA
Defined Benefit Project Manager - Lk-000717-010 for Hewitt Associates LLC
in IL
Plan Administrator for AKT Retirement Plan Services, LLC
in OR
Strategic Planning Consultant for Transamerica - The Winning Organization
in CA



Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
2001 Pension Law E-Seminar in ALL STATES on June 25, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
2001 Pension Law E-Seminar in ALL STATES on June 27, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
2001 Pension Law E-Seminar in ALL STATES on July 2, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
2001 Pension Law E-Seminar in ALL STATES on July 9, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
2001 Pension Law E-Seminar in ALL STATES on July 18, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
Intro to Retirement Plans E-Seminar in ALL STATES on July 12, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
Intro to Retirement Plans E-Seminar in ALL STATES on September 11, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
New Minimum Distribution Rules E-Seminar in ALL STATES on June 28, 2001
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.



Newly Posted Press Releases
LifeMap Communications Announces Launch of LifeMap ESSconnect(TM) (LifeMap Communications, Inc.)

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