| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
August 27, 2001 - 12,749 subscribers
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(Help us to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Workers Sue Over 401k Losses
Excerpt: "The stock market downturn is drawing attention to the company stock stuffed into 401(k) plans -- prompting some workers to sue employers over steep losses. Nearly one-third of 401(k) assets were invested in company stock as of July 31, according to the Hewitt 401(k) index, based on data from 1.5 million plan participants. Such large concentrations can expose investors to big losses." (USA Today)
Profit Sharing/401k Council Encourages Individuals to Save Their Tax Rebates
Excerpt: "Here's an estimate in today's dollars of how much your rebate could buy the year you reach age 65. To calculate this figure, it's assumed the future investment performance tracks the stock market's historic average (roughly 10%), then it takes out inflation (roughly 3%) leaving 7% real growth each year...." (Profit Sharing/401k Council of America; free registration required)
How Flat to Negative Returns Will Affect American Pensions
Excerpt: "Corporate plans now face a number of alarming threats. Lower interest rates which, in the short term, appear as a good thing have, as it happens, jacked up plan liabilities. That was fine when the strength of equities was outstripping liability growth, but that has now ended. In fact, most pension funds have fallen into a trap of their own making, because they have built into their future calculations an assumption based on recent earnings in the equity market." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Analysis: Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (PDF)
28 pages. Includes especially useful section entitled 'Planning Issues: What Employers Should Do Now." (Watson Wyatt)
Text of American Benefits Council Letter to IRS on Upcoming "Catch-Up" Regulations (PDF)
14 pages. Excerpt: "We strongly believe that employers should have the flexibility to determine which contributions for the year are catch-up contributions. This could be done through a plan provision that creates a system for identifying catch-up contributions and/or through a plan provision giving employees authority to designate which of their contributions are catch-up contributions." (American Benefits Council)
Is There Enough for a Nest?
Excerpt: "The road to retirement begins with two tough questions. The first is 'How much money will I need to retire?' The second: 'How will I ever manage to save that much money?' The best time to try to answer these questions, I believe, is when you're in your forties or early fifties." (Washington Post)
UK Pension Funds Required to Disclose Extent of "Social Investments" But Slow to Do So
Excerpt: "It was a little over a year ago that the U.K.'s Pension Act of 1995 was amended to require trustees of occupational pension funds to disclose to the extent to which social, environmental or ethical considerations are considered in the fund's investments. A recent survey by Friends of the Earth U.K. (FOE) found, however, most pension funds are not actively implementing and monitoring socially responsible investing policies." (SocialFunds.com)
Advisory Opinion 2001-08A Finds Water District Is "Agency or Instrumentality of Local Government"
Excerpt: "The SWS [water district] and SSSD [sewer district] were created pursuant to state statutes, are governed by the SWS Board and SSSD Commission which are comprised of publicly elected officials, exercise governmental powers, and the property and revenues of the SWS and SSSD are exempt from federal and state taxes. The SWS Board and SSSD Commission established the Plans by resolution and control the operation and administration of the Plans." (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
New from EBRI: Compensation Costs in Private Industry March 1987 to March 2001
The August 2001 issue of Facts from EBRI, a monthly publication providing timely statistics on a variety of employee benefit issues. (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Marketing Consultant (Conversion & Case Management) | for WESPAC Plan Services, Inc. in CA |
| 401(k) Administrator, Daily Valuation Plans | for CNA TRUST in CA |
| Implementation Project Manager | for INVESCO Retirement, Inc. in GA |
| Senior Pension Consultant | for McKay Hochman Co., Inc in NJ |
| Account Manager | for Zenith Administrators in MD |
Newly Posted Webcasts (Post Yours!)
| Contraceptive Coverage | on September 10, 2001 presented by United States Senate |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| IDM...Get Ready! | in OH on September 20, 2001 presented by DMEC Ohio Chapter |
| Integrated Disability Management...The Latest Research, Findings, Strategies and Solutions | in OH on October 18, 2001 presented by DMEC Ohio Chapter |
| 401(k) Sales Summit | in AZ on February 28, 2002 presented by ASPA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| LifeMark Securities Corp. Joins with 401kExchange! (401kExchange.com) |
| ExpertPlan Selects esävio and SunGard for Managed Services and Hosting (ExpertPlan) |
| DailyAccess.Com launches new branding and marketing initiative (DailyAccess.Com) |
| Santorum Introduces 419A(f)(6) Reform legislation (PennMont Benefit Services, Inc.) |
Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel (Post Yours!)
| Amy L. Cavanaugh, CPC, QPA, QKA (McKay Hochman) |
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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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