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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Retirement Plans Edition
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November 23, 2001 - 12,541 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Glasser LegalWorks

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

   You are invited to attend the nation's leading seminar on how recent cases affect claims, plan design and operations.

   Highlights of this year's program include:
   -Health Care Plan Litigation
   -Fiduciary Litigation
   -Preemption after Egelhoff
   -Aftermath of Pegram
   -Managed Care Litigation

   More details are available now in an online brochure:
   http://www.legalwks.com/conferences/erisa_lit/home.htm

(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)

IRS Publishes Spanish Language Notice of Explanation of Saver's Tax Credit Available in 2002
Excerpt: "Previously, in Announcement 2001-106, 2001-44 I.R.B. 416, the Internal Revenue Service published a series of questions and answers concerning the saver's credit. That announcement also provided a notice to employees in English." (Internal Revenue Service)

Analysis: IRS Issues Guidance on EGTRRA's Section 415 Changes (PDF)
Excerpt: "The dollar limit on the annual benefit payable from a private-sector defined benefit plan was raised from $140,000 per year to $160,000 per year at age 62 in 2002 (indexed in $5,000 increments thereafter). Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 2001-51 provides guidance from both the IRS and the Treasury Department on the increased section 415 limits. This Bulletin summarizes the major points for defined benefit plans." (The Segal Company)

Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
European Parent Corp. owns 83.33% of EuroCorpA, which in turn owns 100% of EuroCorpB, which in turn owns 100% of USACorp1. On the other side of this 'family tree,' European Parent Corp. also owns 100% of EuroCorpY, which in turn owns 98% of EuroCorpZ, which in turn owns 100% of USACorp2. USACorp1 and USACorp2 are the only US subsidiaries. Must USACorp2's employees be covered (or at least tested) in USACorp1's plan as part of a controlled group? (BenefitsLink.com)

Employees' Retirement Plan Is Victim as Enron Stock Tumbles
Excerpt: "The rapid decline of the Enron Corporation has devastated its employees' retirement plan, which was heavy with company stock, and has infuriated workers, who were prohibited from changing their investments as the stock plunged." (New York Times; free registration required)

Enron's Pending Class Action Comes as No Surprise
Excerpt: "It seemed inevitable that Enron Corp. would be fanning the flames of a class action suit over its embattled 401(k) plan after last month's events." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Two More Plaintiffs' Firms Sue Enron Over Stock Drop
Press release. Excerpt: "The lawsuit alleges that, under the law interpreting ERISA, Enron and the individual trustees of the Plan breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence in a variety of ways, including the failure to adequately disclose to the Plan participants and beneficiaries the risks of employer stock as a Plan investment, the failure to adequately monitor employer stock as a Plan investment, and the failure to address their own conflicts of interest ..." (Business Wire via Excite News)

Federal Thrift Savings Plan Catch-Up Bill Introduced
Excerpt: "Federal employees aged 50 and older would be able to contribute an extra $1,000 to their Thrift Savings Plan accounts next year if Congress passes a bill introduced in the House this week.... Congress gave private sector workers the ability to make such catch-up contributions to their 401k plans as part of the tax relief bill this summer." (GovExec.com)




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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.