| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
July 18, 2001 - 13,354 subscribers
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.
Department of Labor Testifies in Support of Boehner Investment Advice Bill
Excerpt: "[Assistant Secretary] Ann L. Combs ... [on Tuesday July 17] testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in support of the Retirement Security Act of 2001 to give plan participants greater access to investment advice. The legislation (H.R. 2269) would give plan participants access to 'fiduciary advisers regulated by state or federal laws and provide disclosure to participants about fees, limits on the scope of advice given and any conflicts of interest.'" (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
Testimony to House Committee by Investment Company Institute on Boehner Investment Advice Bill
Excerpt: "The Investment Company Institute is pleased to submit this statement to the Subcommittee regarding H.R. 2269, 'The Retirement Security Advice Act of 2001.' The Institute strongly supports the enactment of H.R. 2269 and commends its sponsors and members of this Subcommittee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce for their interest in helping Americans plan more effectively for their retirement years." (Investment Company Institute)
Xerox May Be Liable for $300 Million in Back Payments to Retirees
Excerpt: "Xerox Corp may be ordered to pay as much as $300 million to retired workers after a federal judge ruled a company pension plan was flawed, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Wednesday.... Lawyers for the employees say their case covers at least 25,000 former Xerox workers who elected to receive their pension benefits in a single payment rather than monthly checks, the newspaper said. A Xerox spokesman ... defended Xerox's retirement calculations as proper ..." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
HTML Version of New IRS Optional Model Amendment for 2001 Required Minimum Distributions
Yesterday's link to the PDF version didn't work for some BenefitsLink readers. This HTML version will work in all web browsers, and includes hypertext links to documents cited by the IRS in the announcement. (Internal Revenue Service)
EBRI Issue Brief: State and Local Retirement Plans: Innovation and Renovation
Executive summary. State and local retirement plans differ significantly from private-sector plans, but the disparity in some areas has narrowed as the federal government increases its role in system design and operation and as state and local employers use their retirement benefits to compete for talent, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). You can purchase the full report at http://www.ebri.org/store/ebriib.htm (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Is a DROP Plan Right For Your Governmental Organization?
Excerpt: "Essentially, a DROP is a hybrid pension plan (of feature) that gives a member new retirement choices. Under a DROP, a member can modify the link between retirement and leaving employment." (Aon Consulting, published by National Association of State Retirement Administrators)
Analysis: IRS Provides Guidance On Transition Allocations Under New Comparability Plans
In Rev. Rul. 2001-30, the Internal Revenue Service provides guidance on the application of its recent final regulations governing new comparability plans to certain transition allocations under such plans. Specifically, the revenue ruling applies to 'defined benefit replacement allocations. (Spencernet)
Analysis: Expanded Reliance and Simplification of Determination Letter Procedures
Excerpt: "The IRS has announced (Announcement 2001-77) that two changes will made to the determination letter program. First, the application process will be simplified. Second, and perhaps even more significant, employers using most non-standardized prototype plans and volume submitter plans will have automatic reliance that the form of their plan satisfies the qualification requirements ... [I]t appears that the changes will save both practitioners and the IRS significant amounts of time." (SunGard Corbel)
Upbeat on Retirement
Excerpt: "Despite a volatile stock market and a slowing economy, Americans have grown more confident about their retirement finances." (ABCNews.com)
Opinion: Should You Be Trusted With Your Own Retirement Money?
Excerpt: "Cheerleaders for privatizing Social Security often say about the opposing team, 'They don't trust you to invest your own money.' Score one for melodrama but zero for relevance. It's like telling me that I cannot be trusted to pilot a Boeing 747. This is not a matter of trust. It is a matter of exhaustive training ..." (Froma Harrop in the Seattle Times)
Another Question is Answered in the Stock Options, Restricted Stock and Other Long-Term Employment Incentives Q&A Column
How do Stock Appreciation Rights work, and can they assist management in the purchase of an owner's interest? (BenefitsLink.com)
Opinion: Computer Associates Proxy Fight Has No Good Guy
Excerpt: "One of the key charges Wyly has leveled is that Wang has been monstrously overpaid, thereby depriving the Islandia, New York-based software maker's shareholders-- such as himself-- of monies that rightly should have gone to them. Wyly has hit bone here, because it is hard for me to come up with another CEO who has been paid more excessively." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
List of Federal Tax Provisions Scheduled to Expire in 2001 through 2010
Excerpt: "The Joint Committee on Taxation has released a year-by-year list of the federal tax provisions that are scheduled to expire in 2001 through 2010, along with the applicable Code or Act section and the date of expiration. (See Document JCX-56-01). The list is as follows ..." (Practitioners Publishing Company)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Regional Account Representative | for Insurance Company Providing 401(k) and Other Retirement Plans in GA |
| Info Systems/Pension Business Analyst | for CNA TRUST in CA |
| Retirement Plan Administrator | for Nationwide Retirement Plan Services in FL |
| Defined Contributions Administrator | for Dreyfus in NY |
| Benefits and Compensation Specialist | for Data Systems Analysts in NJ |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| 401kExchange to Provide Services to FSC Securities Corporation (401kExchange.com) |
| LABOR DEPARTMENT TESTIFIES ON LEGISLATION TO EXPAND ACCESS TO INVESTMENT ADVICE (United States Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) |
Subscribe to the Welfare Plans Edition, too (click)
Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.
- How to Sponsor an Issue: reach 13,354 benefits professionals!
- How to Subscribe
- Privacy Policy
- Archive of Prior Issues