| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
October 24, 2001 - 12,271 subscribers
Today's sponsor: ASPA
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(Help BenefitsLink 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)
Analysis: Catch-up Guidance Provided in Form of Proposed Regulations
Excerpt: "Good news for recordkeepers on top heavy testing.For top heavy testing, catch-up contributions are disregarded only for the current plan year in applying IRC §416 for that plan year. Thus, the catch-up contributions of key employees are disregarded to determine what the top heavy minimum is under IRC §416(c). However, catch-up contributions made for prior plan years are taken into account in computing the top heavy ratio for a subsequent plan year." (TRI Pension Services, Inc.)
Summary of Proposed Regulations on Catch-Up Contributions Published by American Benefits Council
Excerpt: "A participant who is projected to attain age 50 before the end of a calendar year is deemed to be age 50 as of January 1 of that year whether or not such person actually survives to age 50 and without regard to whether the employee terminates employment during the year." (American Benefits Council)
Private Pension Reform: An Issue In Waiting
Excerpt: "Many people treat private pensions as if they are something totally separate from other public retirement policy.... But federal retirement policy itself is due for a serious shake-up, and the fallout cannot help but affect private pension arrangements as well." (Tax Analysts)
American Academy of Actuaries Comments on Need for Technical Corrections to EGTRRA (PDF)
Excerpt: "Thank you for taking time to meet recently with representatives from the American Academy of Actuaries' Pension Committee. We are writing to follow up on our conversation regarding some areas that we believe should be addressed in an upcoming technical corrections bill." (American Academy of Actuaries)
State and Local Government Public Employee Retirement Systems
Excerpt: "The State and Local Government Public Employee Retirement System survey provides revenues, expenditures, financial assets, and membership information for public employee retirement systems. Data is shown for individual retirement systems as well as at the national, state, and local level. State and Local government employee retirement systems are an important component of the Nation's government sector." (U.S. Census Bureau)
Number of SIMPLE IRA Plans Rose 11% In First Half of 2001
According to a survey recently conducted by the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the number of individual retirement account-based SIMPLE plans rose 11% between December 2000 and June 30, 2001; while the number of participants in SIMPLE IRA plans increased 15% during that same period. The study was an ad hoc survey of its members that the ICI conducted in its ongoing efforts to track developments in the SIMPLE IRA market. (Spencernet)
Overview: Understanding Fiduciary Obligations, Importance of Investment Policy Statement (PDF)
Excerpt: "The responsibilities for a fiduciary acting in an investment management capacity include ... 1. Establish a written Investment Policy Statement (IPS) outlining how decisions are to be made and monitored; 2. Ensure diversification of assets in accordance with risk and reward objectives; 3. Monitor plan investment options to ensure that established objectives are met; 4. Utilize prudent experts to make investment decisions; 5. Control and account for all investment expenses ..." (Invesmart)
Nurture Your 401(k) Portfolio Using Asset Allocation
Excerpt: "Which strategy is more likely to help you reach your retirement goals: finding the next hot fund about to rally and investing everything in it, or splitting your money among carefully selected funds, some of which don't even appear to be winners? If you answered the latter, you probably have a good idea of what asset allocation is about. If you answered 'finding the hot fund,' you need to pay especially close attention to this article." (mPower Cafe)
Debating Social Security's Future
Excerpt: "Advocates for change may find the directness of the interim report of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security terrifically appealing. But it also has become a lightning rod for criticism from those who prefer to maintain the most popular social program in American history pretty much as it is, despite the troubled long-term financial outlook." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
ERIC Asks Congress To Provide Plan Sponsors Broader Relief In Wake of Terrorist Attacks
In a recent letter to Congress, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) asserted that benefit plan sponsors and workers need broader relief from administrative and other legal obligations to respond adequately to disruptions caused by the September 11 terrorist attacks. ERIC sent the letter to leading congressional taxwriters, as well as officials of the Treasury Department, the Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. (Spencernet)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Marketing Consultant (Conversion & Case Management) | for WESPAC Plan Services, Inc. in |
| Team Manager, ERISA | for CitiStreet in NJ |
| Pension Plan Consultant (JO#265) | for A Third Party Administration Company In Arkansas in AR |
| Pension Plan Administrator/Analyst | for Abacus Benefit Consultants Inc. in RI |
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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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