| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
October 3, 2001 - 12,199 subscribers
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Analysis: Separation From Service Relief Under Rev. Proc. 2000-27 (PDF)
Excerpt: "This article examines IRS Revenue Ruling 2000-27 and the relief it offers to some 401(k) plan sponsors involved in mergers, acquisitions, or similar business transactions." (Milliman USA)
A "Smart" Way To Increase 401(k) Deferral Rates
Excerpt: "What if you could get your employees to pledge a portion of their future pay raises as 401(k) deferrals? While such a plan may sound unlikely, it is in fact being used and successfully, by a few companies around the country. The gist of the program, called Save More Tomorrow, or SMarT, is to invite employees to join a 401(k) plan or increase their contributions so that a share of an upcoming pay raise ... goes into the plan until a maximum contribution level is reached." (IOMA's Report on Managing 401(k) Plans)
401(k) Plans' Hidden Secret: Revenue Sharing Deals by Providers Raise Concerns
Excerpt: "The assets of millions of 401(k) participants and thousands of sponsors ... are adversely affected by a form of revenue sharing instituted by service providers to reduce the above-line costs of plan administration. Most of these participants are unaware of how much they are paying for administrative services or of the revenue sharing arrangement that routinely exists between service providers and the mutual funds in which the participants invest." (IOMA's DC Plan Investing)
Polaroid Pension Fund Underfunded, Employees Told
Excerpt: "In another sign of its weakening financial condition, Polaroid Corp. of Cambridge this week told employees that the company's pension plan is underfunded, possibly threatening benefits to company retirees and current employees.... [T]he company said the plan had more than $900 million in assets on Oct. 1. But that's approximately only enough to pay 90 percent of all of the benefits accrued by employees under the pension plan." (Boston Globe)
The Future of Social Security Pensions in Europe
Working paper, available for downloading for $5. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
When Will the Germans Get Trapped in their Pension System?
Working paper, available for downloading for $5. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
The "Non-Leveraged" Leveraged ESOP
Excerpt: "[W]e should consider the question: 'Is there something about a sale to an ESOP that really makes it worth going to a lot of extra trouble for?' The answer is: a) it doesn't really require all that much extra trouble; and b) yes, there is something about a sale to an ESOP that justifies some extra effort." (Foundation for Enterprise Development)
ESOP Fiduciary Liability Issues: Lessons Learned
Excerpt: "You are a co-founder of a company. Over the last several years, employees have become owners in the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for which you are the plan trustee. How careful have you been to ensure that your self-interests have not interfered with your role as a fiduciary?" (Foundation for Enterprise Development)
TIAA-CREF Raises Minimum Investment from $250 to $1,500 for Some Accounts
Press release. Excerpt: "The TIAA-CREF organization announced today that effective November 1, 2001 the new initial minimum investment for regular mutual fund accounts will be $1,500 per fund, up from the current minimum of $250. Subsequent purchases will increase to $50, up from the current $25 additional contribution requirement." (PR Newswire via Excite News)
How Fund Investors Can Calm Nerves
Excerpt: "After a truly terrible third quarter, jittery mutual fund investors want to know what they should do. One strategy, in a word: Nothing." (Associated Press via Excite News)
Supreme Court Declines Review of Several Court of Appeals Employee Benefit Decisions
Excerpt: "On the first day of its new session, the Supreme Court denied review of a number of employee benefit-related cases. Among others, the high court denied review of cases involving fiduciary breach claims, ERISA preemption issues, and standard of review questions." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Bailout Grounds Pay for Some Airline Executives
Excerpt: "Compensation for airline executives is going to be grounded for some time, as a result of their industry's recently enacted federal bailout. The financial-aid package requires executives at major U.S. airlines who earned more than $300,000 in total compensation last year to forgo pay raises for two years, retroactively effective to Sept. 11." (CareerJournal.com)
Clark/Bardes Consulting Announces Results of Eighth Annual Executive Benefits Survey
Press release. Excerpt: "Results indicate increases across the board in Fortune 1000 companies that utilize nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs)." (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
October 2001 Issue: Legislative Activity on the Benefits Front (PDF)
Includes list of upcoming key dates and a brief 'regulatory roundup." (Milliman USA)
Stock Options Around the World
Excerpt: "Towers Perrin consultants have recently examined the worldwide growth in stock option plans as a compensation practice among large companies headquartered in 22 countries. The published study reports that stock option compensation practices are growing rapidly and that they are much more widely used than: performance plans, restricted stock plans, or other long-term incentive programs, in most countries." (Foundation for Enterprise Development)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Executive Benefits | for National Leader in Executive Compensation in TX |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Introduction to Retirement Plans Seminar | in KY on November 13, 2001 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc. |
| 401(k) Plans | in MN on November 6, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| 401(k) Plans | in CA on November 13, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| 401(k) Plans | in TX on November 27, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| 401(k) Plans | in CA on December 4, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| Cafeteria Plans | in MN on November 7, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| Cafeteria Plans | in CA on November 14, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| Cafeteria Plans | in TX on November 28, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| Cafeteria Plans | in CA on December 5, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans | in MN on November 8, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans | in CA on November 15, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans | in TX on November 29, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans | in CA on December 6, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans | in MN on November 8, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans | in CA on November 15, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans | in TX on November 29, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans | in CA on December 6, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans | in MN on November 9, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans | in CA on November 16, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans | in TX on November 30, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans | in CA on December 7, 2001 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA) |
| Focus on Retirement Plans | in DC on October 18, 2001 presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS |
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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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