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September 4, 2001 - 12,749 subscribers
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IRS Notice 2001-56 Provides Guidance on Effective Date of Certain EGTRRA Provisions (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Section 611(c) of EGTRRA increases the compensation limit of § 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and related sections. Section 613 of EGTRRA modifies the rules in §416 of the Code regarding determination of top-heavy status. Section 636(a) of EGTRRA directs the Secretary to revise the regulations relating to hardship distributions under §401(k)(2)(B)(i)(IV) of the Code." (Internal Revenue Service)
IRS Issues Sample Amendments to Comply With EGTRRA Good Faith Amendment Requirement
Excerpt: "Notice 2001-57 prescribes sample amendments that plan sponsors may use to fulfill their requirements to adopt good faith amendments under EGTRRA.... Notice 2001-42 requires that, in order to be entitled to the EGTRRA remedial amendment period (which will end no earlier than the last day of the 2005 plan year), a plan must adopt good faith amendments that adopt the EGTRRA provisions." (TRI Pension Services, Inc.)
Notice 2001-57 Provides Sample Plan Amendments for EGTRRA (PDF)
32 pages. Excerpt: "This notice provides sample plan amendments for the changes to the plan qualification requirements ... that were made by [EGTRRA]. These sample amendments will help plan sponsors and sponsors and adopters of pre-approved plans comply with the requirement to adopt good faith EGTRRA plan amendments on a timely basis. In some cases, plan sponsors may be able to adopt the sample amendments verbatim. In other cases, plan sponsors may have to modify the sample amendments ..." (Internal Revenue Service)
IRS Clarifies Effective Dates Under EGTRRA for Compensation Dollar Limit Increase, Top Heavy Changes
Excerpt: "Notice 2001-56 clarifies the effective dates of three EGTRRA provisions: the increase in the compensation limit under IRC §401(a)(17), the amendments to the top heavy rules under IRC §416, and the reduction of the mandatory suspension period for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans." (TRI Pension Services, Inc.)
401(k) Has Given Americans the Freedom to Decide Financial Future
Excerpt: "'401(k)s have definitely grown tremendously in the last 20 years. No one will argue with that. But there's some controversy over whether they've been successful,' said Brigitte C. Madrian, associate professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, who has studied 401(k) participant behavior." (Boston Globe)
More Work, Savings Can Avert Worldwide Aging Crisis
Excerpt: "Without taking corrective action, the sheer scale of demographic shift that has pushed life expectancy to its highest level in human history could slash half a percentage point off annual growth in the European Union and Japan and 0.2 percent off growth in the United States each year for the next 50 years." (Reuters via Excite News)
Social Security Paid $31 Million to Deceased Beneficiaries Last Year
Excerpt: "Social Security paid $31 million through the end of last year to dead people who were listed as deceased in the agency's own electronic files, auditors say. One woman who died in November 1993 was still receiving benefit checks in May 2000, and auditors said more than $100,000 in benefits had been paid after her death. Authorities stopped the payments last November and now are trying to determine who cashed her checks." (Associated Press via Yahoo! News)
Boomers' Early Retirement Hopes Fall With Assets
Excerpt: "Baby boomers bet big on Wall Street in the 1990s, and the significant gains tallied in their portfolios allowed many to fantasize about retiring long before their 60s. But the economic slowdown and steep decline on Wall Street are forcing many boomers -- especially those age 50 and older -- to face the prospect of working longer than they expected." (Associated Press via The [Akron, Ohio] Beacon Journal)
Generation Xers Are Retirement-Savings Challenged
Excerpt: "People tagged Generation X -- those now 21 to 34 years old -- are more likely to be spending for today than thinking ahead to tomorrow's retirement, a recent survey reports.... Twenty-one percent of the respondents said the best way to create long-term financial stability with their money was to put it into a savings account, which typically have extremely low yields ... 32 percent favored putting their money into CDs or money market funds." (San Jose Mercury News)
Opinion: Social Security in the (Think) Tank
Excerpt: "But on Social Security, Cato and the White House think and act as one. For the White House, Cato is an indispensable source of expertise--with two decades of pro-privatization research and lobbying under its belt, it knows more about the issue than just about anyone else in Washington. For Cato, this is the moment the think tank has been awaiting for years: the chance to privatize the largest government program in the world." (The New Republic)
Compensating the International Executive: Using Stock Options and Other Equity Interests
Excerpt: "The first installment of this article focuses primarily on nonqualified stock options that are granted to employees who reside temporarily in the U.S. and then exercise their options after returning to their country of permanent residence." (World Trade Executive Global Tax Advisory)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Employee Benefits Tax Manager | for PricewaterhouseCoopers in CA, MA, PA |
| Retirement Plan Administrator | for Charter One Bank in OH |
| INVESTMENT OFFICER | for MBM Advisors Inc. in TX |
| Executive Compensation Consultant | for National Leader in Executive Compensation in CA |
| Sr. DB Manager | for Prestigious, Privately Held, Full-Service Consulting Firm in CA |
| 401(k) Plan Administrator | for Stephen H. Rosen & Associates, Inc. in NJ |
| Pension Account Executive | for Diversified Investment Advisors in IL |
Newly Posted Webcasts (Post Yours!)
| Hearing: Genetics | on September 13, 2001 presented by KaiserNetwork.org |
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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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