| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
June 26, 2001
Today's sponsor: InvestLink Technologies, Inc. (click)
InvestLink offers the most sophisticated Defined Contribution recordkeeping/administration software on the market. Before considering converting to old technology it's to your benefit to speak with us. We offer the lowest start-up cost and system conversion is done by us for free. Ask about our unique partnership approach-we help you grow your business. Contact Pete Kirtland at 212-981-6170 or pkirtland@invlink.com for a Web demo of our product.
Opinion: ERISA Should Allow Fund Administrators to Offer Advice
Excerpt: "Employers refuse to get specific for fear they'll be sued for leading employees astray. The investment companies administering plans can't get specific because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 prohibits them from recommending investments they manage themselves, which is all you'll find in a typical 401(k) plan." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Insurance Trade Association Endorses Boehner Investment Advice Bill
Excerpt: "'The Retirement Security Advice Act of 2001' would allow life insurers and other financial services companies that already are providing retirement plans and educational materials to plan sponsors and participants to also provide them with investment advice. Presently, conflict of interest rules in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act bar such activity." (American Council of Life Insurers)
Opinion: Boehner Retirement Legislation-- a Consumer Disservice?
Excerpt: "Details about pension rules and regulations are more than a little Greek to most people, but a new piece of legislation introduced into the halls of Congress last week -- entitled the Retirement Security Advice Act (RSAA) -- could have serious ramifications for retirees hidden between the lines." (Larry Seben in Yahoo! News)
Opinion: Paving the Way for Privatizing Social Security
Excerpt: "There has always been a segment of the GOP suspicious and even scornful of Social Security. But the privatization movement, now embraced by virtually all elected Republicans and some Democrats, has provided a new and highly effective platform to critique and possibly retool the Depression-era retirement program." (Washington Post)
Another Question is Answered in the 401(k) Plans Q&A Column
Two questions -- (1) If the plan year and limitation year for a defined contribution plan are both 4/1/00 to 3/31/01, is the maximum annual addition limitation for the plan $30,000 (the maximum on the date the plan year begins) or $35,000 (the maximum on the date the plan year ends)? (2) If the plan year is 4/1/00 to 3/31/0 and the limitation year is the calendar year (January 1 to December 31), which maximum limitation applies? (BenefitsLink.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Stop, Look & Listen: Railroad Retirement Q&A Column
Are the medical insurance and prescription benefits available to retired rail workers different based on the particular railroad or year of retirement? (BenefitsLink.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
M company, as its sole business, provides management services to eight different entities, each of which has somewhat different ownership, but all of which are owned in significant measure by family members. The ownership arrangements are extremely complex; the chart showing how the entities are related takes 20 pages! Is this an management function style affiliated service group under IRC 414(m)(5)? M wants to have a plan but does not want to consider employees in the other businesses. (BenefitsLink.com)
DOL Acts To Aid Employers With Form 5500
Excerpt: "The Department of Labor (DOL) has taken steps to help employers in completing and filing the 2000 Form 5500 Series. Employers are required to file the form, unless they obtain an extension, seven months after the end of their plan year.... The DOL' s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) on April 26 announced the approved vendors from which employers and plan administrators may obtain software that will allow them to use the ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST)." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Opinion: Lennar Looks Like a Winner to This Homeowner
Excerpt: "Lennar Corp. offers something that is hard to find in a single enterprise: high shareholder returns, modest chief executive pay and excellent customer service. Stuart Miller, CEO of the Miami-based homebuilder, has held his job since April 1997. Between his start date and last Friday, Lennar delivered an average total return of 40.9 percent a year." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
How Can You Tell If a DOL Investigation Has Been Completed?
Excerpt: "The following question and answer are from the DOL Q&A Session at the 2000 ASPA Annual Conference: We have had clients who have had a DOL Audit where the field audit has been completed and we have not heard anything for a year. When can we assume the audit is complete and no action is to be taken?" (Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher)
Some Employees Are Torn When Firms Reprice Options
Excerpt: "Your pay is based heavily on employee stock options. So you are keeping your fingers crossed, hoping your stock sinks like a rock. Huh? That is the unlikely predicament currently facing some employees at companies [which] recently have adopted a new form of options 'repricing' strategy sweeping through the technology and telecommunications sectors. They have set plans to issue new employee stock options -- but not until six months and one day after employees give up their old ones." (CareerJournal.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Marketing Consultant (Conversion & Case Management) | for WESPAC Plan Services, Inc. in CA |
| 401k Product Director | for Transamerica in CA |
| Sales Consulting Manager (Retirement Plan Services) | for RSM McGladrey, Inc. in ALL STATES |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001-"Fitting the Pieces Together" Legislative Symposium | in IL on July 26, 2001 presented by NTSAA |
| Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001- | in LA on July 27, 2001 presented by NTSAA |
| Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001- | in CA on August 9, 2001 presented by NTSAA |
| Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001- | in PA on July 20, 2001 presented by NTSAA |
| SECURITIES LENDING SUMMIT | in DC on September 9, 2001 presented by Opal Financial Group |
| EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONAL INVESTING SUMMIT | in Europe on October 7, 2001 presented by Opal Financial Group |
| CDO SUMMIT | in FL on November 11, 2001 presented by Opal Financial Group |
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