| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
July 4 - 5, 2001
Today's sponsor: Guide to the Form 5500 Series: 2001 Edition for 2000 Plan Years (click)
The Guide to the Form 5500 Series: 2001 Edition for 2000 Plan Years provides plan administrators concise, complete explanations of the forms, schedules, and instructions in the Form 5500 Series, which was revamped last year. Written by respected author and lecturer Valeri L. Stevens. Just $134, but what a time-saver! Click for more details or to order online now.
Supreme Court Remands Seventh Circuit Case on Partial Terminations
Household Int'l Tax Plan v. Matz (7th Cir. 2001), vacated and remanded (U.S. June 25, 2001). Excerpt: "We will follow this decision as it goes through the courts. We hope that the final outcome provides some guidance in the partial terminations area, which is currently fraught with uncertainty and inconsistent judicial interpretations." (EBIA Weekly)
Opinion: Finally, Help With Your 401(k)
Excerpt: "With $1.7 trillion at stake, lawmakers and Wall Street are pushing aside regulators to give you real advice." (Time.com)
New Rules on Plan Amendments and Determination Letters (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS has issued new guidance for qualified retirement plans, mandating that sponsors adopt required and optional plan amendments under the recently enacted tax law before the plans apply the provisions operationally. The agency also issued separate guidance on GUST determination letter filings, requiring that sponsors apply on soon-to-be-issued forms that reflect the optional nondiscrimination and coverage information." (Milliman USA)
Accountants and other Tax Practitioners Should Comply with the FTC's New Privacy Disclosure Rules
Excerpt: "Under the FTC regulations, accountants and other tax practitioners who are 'not significantly' engaged in preparing personal tax returns (including estate and gift tax returns) are not subject to the disclosure law.... [But] it appears the new disclosure rules apply to every for-profit tax preparer and financial planner and to all or nearly all accounting firms." (Practitioners Publishing Company)
GUST Letters Not Needed by Year-end for Sponsors of Most M&P, Volume Submitter Plans
Excerpt: "GUST determination letter submission not required to protect GUST remedial amendment period for adopters of M&P plans and volume submitter plans (added July 3, 2001)." (TRI Pension Services, Inc.)
Implementing EGTRRA: Good Faith Amendments Required
Excerpt: "Implementing EGTRRA - remedial amendment period no earlier than the end of the 2005 plan year but 'good faith' compliance amendments will need to be adopted sooner; 12-month GUST amendment period under Rev. Proc. 2000-20 will not end earlier than December 31, 2002 but general GUST amendment period is not extended (added July 3, 2001)." (TRI Pension Services, Inc.)
Banking Agencies to SEC: "Push-Out" Rules Prescribed for Banks Are Unworkable (PDF)
Excerpt: "[W]e have very serious concerns about the validity and content of a number of provisions of the Interim Final Rules, as well as the process the Commission employed to issue them. The Interim Final Rules implement provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ('GLB Act') that eliminate the blanket exemptions for banks from the definitions of 'broker' and 'dealer' under the Exchange Act, and replace those exemptions with more specific activity-focused exemptions." (Federal Reserve Board, FDIC and Comptroller of the Currency)
Banking Agencies Comment to SEC on "Push-Out" Rules Affecting Banks' Employee Benefits Businesses (PDF)
49 page exhibit to June 29, 2001 letter. Excerpt: "Of greatest concern to the Banking Agencies are the provisions of the Interim Final Rules that implement the statutory exception for traditional trust and fiduciary activities of banks ... We believe many of these provisions are inconsistent with the language of the GLB Act and are based on a flawed view of the purposes of the Exception." (Federal Reserve Board, FDIC and Comptroller of the Currency)
DOL: Income Withholding Notice Issued by State Child Support Agency is a "Domestic Relations Order"
DOL Advisory Opinion 2001-06A (June 1, 2001). Excerpt: "Income withholding notices typically enforce a participant's child support obligations by requiring the plan to withhold funds from various sources of income, including benefits due to a participant under a retirement plan." (EBIA Weekly)
Women Need to Save More for Retirement
Excerpt: "Even the Social Security Administration is getting into the act, posting Web pages for women at www.ssa.gov/women. The government's goal: Get women to save, because if they don't, they are likely to end up too reliant on Social Security income when they are old - and that's likely to leave them poor." (The [Philadelphia] Inquirer)
Favorable Tax Treatment for Stock Distributions
Excerpt: "Participants in qualified plans can still receive capital gain treatment and additional deferral on employer stock distributions. This article addresses the technical rules that employees or their advisors need to be aware of in order for the employees to qualify for the special treatment accorded Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA)." (Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)
Another Question is Answered in the Stop, Look & Listen: Railroad Retirement Q&A Column
I'm filing for a Disability Annuity under Railroad Retirement. My wife is working; she earns almost $60,000 a year. Will her earnings reduce my benefits? (BenefitsLink.com)
John Hancock Converts to Cash Balance Pension Plan
Excerpt: "The Hancock plan defines 'older workers,' who get the larger of the two benefits options, as anyone over age 40 with a minimum number of years of service. The tenure requirement goes from zero, for workers over 60, to 10 years, for workers between 40 and 49." (Boston Globe)
City Councilman Resigns for 60 Days in Order to Be Eligible for Police Pension
Excerpt: "Because his job on council-- which pays $25 a month-- makes him a public employee, he could not collect the $2,500-a-month pension for which he was eligible last summer. State law requires he step down for 60 days to draw a pension, Mr. [Richard] Holzberger said." (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Midyear Review of Federal Employee Pay and Benefits Developments
Excerpt: "The biggest changes affecting federal employees' wallets in the long-term have been in the Thrift Savings Plan this summer. Two new funds debuted in May, providing opportunities to invest tax-deferred contributions in a small- and mid-sized company stock fund and in an international stock fund." (GovExec.com)
Prudential Publishes Online Guide to Demutualization for Group Contract Holders
Excerpt: "Your most important decision is deciding who owns the compensation that will be paid by Prudential under its Plan of Reorganization --the group policyholder (e.g., employer), an employee benefit plan or both. Amounts received in connection with a pension or profit sharing plan will be deemed an asset of the plan and, as a result, must be used to pay plan benefits or expenses. You may, however, have more flexibility in using compensation paid in connection with a welfare plan." (Prudential)
A Goodbye Kiss: Stock Options and Severance
Excerpt: "The whole topic of negotiating changes in a stock-option agreement as part of a severance package is one that only an accountant could love, but I'd be remiss not to say a little more about it...." (Fortune.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Pension Consultant | for Dreyfus in NY |
| Regional Benefits Manager | for St. Joseph Health System in CA |
| Account Manager | for U.S. Bank in NE |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans | in WA on September 28, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans | in WA on September 27, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans | in WA on September 27, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| Cafeteria Plans | in WA on September 26, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| 401(k) Plans | in WA on September 25, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| The Ninth Annual Workers Compensation and Disability Management Conference | in CA on October 22, 2001 presented by International Business Forum, in conjunction with the leading publication, Business Insurance |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| Capital Analysts Joins with 401kExchange! (401kExchange.com) |
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/