| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
July 25, 2001 - 13,193 subscribers
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Impact of EGTRRA on Employer Plans (PDF)
18 pages. Excerpt: "EGTRRA contains a number of opportunities for employers to enhance their employee benefit plans and offer additional options to employees. Most of the EGTRRA changes affecting employee benefits are effective beginning in 2002, so employers will want to begin looking at their plans right away." (Hewitt Associates)
How to Treat Severance Pay for Purposes of Salary Deferral Contributions and Discrimination Testing (PDF)
Excerpt: "Whether a terminated employee receiving severance pay is eligible to participate in the plan will depend upon the timing of the actual severance payment(s).... If severance pay is included in an employee's final paycheck, the IRS says (informally) any deferral election should apply because the individual is still an employee. However, if severance payments are made over a period of time after the employment relationship has terminated, no deferral election should be permitted." (Jason C. Ray, Esq. of Jenkins & Gilchrist)
Bankers Association Files Objections to SEC's 'Push-Out' Interim Regulations (PDF)
Excerpt: "These rules address the exceptions from broker-dealer registration, more commonly called 'the push-out' provisions, contained in ... the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.... Our opposition to the rules is chiefly grounded upon the belief that the interim final rules do not comport with the plain meaning of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and its legislative history.... [W]e call upon the Commission to announce immediately a delay in the October 1, 2001 and January 1, 2002 effective dates." (American Bankers Association)
EGTRRA Summary, From an Actuary's Perspective
Excerpt: "The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 ... enacted June 7, 2001, includes numerous changes to rules for pensions and benefits. For any defined benefit plans currently contemplating plan amendments, the most immediate concern may be the new rules for participant notices of accrual reductions. Defined benefit plans with non-calendar limitation years have higher benefit ceilings beginning in 2001, while numerous other ceilings increase in 2002." (Society of Actuaries, Pension Section)
A Good Time to Be in the Pension Business? (PDF)
By section chair Bruce Cadenhead. Excerpt: "[A]s the landscape continues to change, we may have some reason to be cautiously optimistic about the long-term future of defined benefit plans. A number of trends are converging to enhance the prospect of defined benefit plans ... It is in our best interest to work to improve the public's understanding of the value of annuity benefits in general, and defined benefit plans in particular." (Society of Actuaries, Pension Section)
NLRB Decides Timing of Onan Corporation's Cash Balance Plan Settlement Offer Tainted Union Election
July 13, 2001. Excerpt: "The Employer clearly went beyond a mere response and used the proposed settlement to attempt to influence voters 6 days before the election.... A second election by secret ballot shall be held ... Those eligible shall vote whether they desire to be represented for collective bargaining by International Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America." (National Labor Relations Board)
Los Angeles Police Department Tries To Recruit Retirees Back To Force
Excerpt: "The Los Angeles Police Department, facing a shrinking force, is trying to lure retirees back to work by offering to pay their salary plus their regular pension for up to a year, it was reported Tuesday." (MSNBC.com)
Did the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement Affect Faculty Retirement Flows?
Working paper available for downloading for $5. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Early Retirement Not Yet the Draw Memphis Officials Had Hoped
Excerpt: "When the City Council revised the city's pension rules to allow elected and appointed officials to retire early, the change was supposed to help attract top-notch job candidates. So far it hasn't worked out that way." (The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal)
U.S., Britain Sign Tax Treaty; U.S. Citizens Avoid U.S. Income Tax on Contributions to British Plans
Excerpt: "The treaty must still be ratified by the U.S. Senate and the British Parliament. Other major changes in the treaty include ... Permission for a U.S. citizen in Britain to deduct from U.S. taxes contributions made to a British-based pension plan." (Associated Press via Yahoo! News)
New Study Profiles Retirement Plan Advisers
Excerpt: "A new study from Brightwork Partners reveals a remarkable diversity of experience and work styles among advisers specializing in group retirement products. Conducted in partnership with Search401k, an online 401(k) resource, the study is the first-ever, large-scale analysis of financial planners, benefits consultants, third-party administrators (TPA), registered investment advisors (RIA) and other financial professionals who focus on retirement plans." (Business Wire via Excite News)
National Council of Women's Organizations Creates "Women and Social Security" Website
Excerpt: "Welcome to the National Council of Women's Organizations' Women and Social Security Website. The NCWO is a nonpartisan network of over 100 women's organizations representing more than six million women. In 1998, NCWO formed a Women and Social Security Task Force to address the critical issue of Social Security reform and to help policy makers understand women's stake in this crucial issue." (National Council of Women's Organizations)
Opinion: Social Security Report Downplays Risk of People Investing Poorly
Excerpt: "Every investment choice involves risk. The trick is to make an honest assessment of the risks entailed and then make a selection. By that standard the Bush commission's report is a dismal failure. It is interested in only one kind of risk - the risk that the nation's politicians will let the Social Security system go broke." (Boston Globe)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser BCI edu.com
Excerpt: "Our goal is to understand your education and communication needs and work together to arrive at customized solutions that meet your specific objectives. With your input, we will customize and design our services and products specific to your company's needs. Our services include internet software solutions as well as traditional training with the objective to allow you to effectively educate your own employees."
Andersen News Brief Discusses New Comparability Regs, Determination Letter Application Procedures
July 16, 2001 issue. Other articles: EGTRRA plan amendments; death benefit/severance benefit trust arrangement ruled not a Sec. 419A(f)(6) welfare benefit plan; DOL extends compliance date for health plan claims procedures; Eleventh Circuit upholds Winn-Dixie COLI case; Eighth Circuit overrules IRS on employer-provided aircraft deductions. (Andersen)
Opinion: CEO Pay Soared More Than You Thought
Excerpt: "American workers in the last 33 years have seen a fivefold rise in their pay. Not bad, though nothing like the monstrous increase in CEO pay. Chief executives in the past three decades have enjoyed a 40-fold pay increase -- meaning they've lapped the field eight times over." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Plan Administrator/Consultant | for Simpkins & Associates in TX |
| Experienced Benefits Attorneys | for Rhoades Law Firm, PC in PA |
| Conversion Manager | for CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc. in MD |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| EGTRRA Seminar | in IL on August 9, 2001 presented by Buck Consultants, Inc. |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| Staples Inc. Completes Multiple Web-based Healthcare Procurement Transactions (IE-Engine Inc.) |
| Hobbs Group client utilizes e-procurement technology (IE-Engine Inc.) |
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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.
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