| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
November 30, 2001 - 12,583 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation
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For the past 20 years ASC has provided complete automation for the pension office, including DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, as well as sophisticated compliance testing and DV Direct, a revolutionary solution for daily valuation functions. ASC stays current with all regulation changes - ASC has already completed its preliminary Release with the EGTRRA rules and plans a final release the first week in January. For a free demo disk and more information about ASC click here: http://www.asc-net.com/contact.html
(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)
Equity Firm Chief to Run PBGC
Excerpt: "Steven A. Kandarian is quitting his Wellesley [Mass.] investment firm for a post in Washington, running the federal insurer that takes over pension plans of bankrupt companies.... He takes over the pension agency at a challenging time, with the economy in a recession and some major companies having already declared bankruptcy, including Polaroid Corp. and Bradlees Stores Inc. The group insures 38,000 traditional pension plans, which are funded by employers." (The Boston Globe)
Johnson/Portman Letter to Treasury Secretary O'Neill on 30-year Bond Rate Pension Problem (PDF)
Excerpt: "We seek a recommendation from the Departments of Treasury and Labor for an actuarially acceptable alternative to be used as a short-term replacement to the 30-year bond rate. The proposed rate could be used by plan sponsors to more accurately determine benefit liabilities and the variable rate premiums they must pay to the PBGC." (Published by American Benefits Council)
Executive Order Makes It Easier for CIA Retirees To Return To Work
Excerpt: "Under normal circumstances, re-employed CIA employees are required by law to have their retirement annuities suspended or reduced if they return to government service. The executive order gives the director of the CIA authority to waive such reductions for employees who return on a temporary basis ..." (GovExec.com)
John Hancock Introduces Full-Service 412(i) Defined Benefit Plan For Small Business Owners
Press release. Excerpt: "John Hancock's 412(i) program will provide customized qualified retirement plans to help small business owners reduce business taxes and fund retirement and life insurance needs. The easy-to-administer plan, funded exclusively with Hancock life insurance and annuity products, offers the highest allowed contributions and tax-deduction of any qualified retirement plans available for business owners who are over age 45." (PR Newswire via Excite News)
Employees at Enron See 401(k)s Tank
Excerpt: "The free-fall continued yesterday, with Enron stock sliding another 25 cents to a humiliating 36 cents a share after reaching more than $80 earlier this year. Analysts warned that bankruptcy was the only way out. Many of Enron's 20,000 employees have already seen their retirement savings devastated because their 401(k) plans were invested heavily in Enron stock." (Associated Press via The Philadelphia Daily News)
Panel Agrees on Options for Social Security
Excerpt: "Taken together, the three proposals represent an acknowledgment that, by themselves, the individual retirement accounts favored by the White House and many conservatives probably would not prevent the program from collapsing under financial pressures in coming decades." (Washington Post)
Bush Panel Outlines 3 Plans for Social Security Overhaul
Excerpt: "The three proposals would all allow but not require workers to invest part of their Social Security payroll taxes in stocks and bonds. In return, workers would give up some of their scheduled benefits.... Opponents said the plans proved that moving to private accounts did nothing by itself to ensure the system's long-term health and would extract too big a price from future retirees by slashing a guaranteed benefit ..." (New York Times; free registration required)
Opinion: Survivor Security, Thanks to Uncle Sam
Excerpt: "One of the funds giving financial help to the families of the Sept. 11 victims has quietly gone about its business, performing smoothly and with low administrative costs, according to clear rules. This fund has plenty of practice; it is Social Security." (New York Times; free registration required)
Opinion: Enron Shares Enriched Ken Lay Before Flaming Out
Excerpt: "Enron Corp. shareholders never blinked as Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lay piled up pay -- salary, bonuses, stock grants and options -- that would meet almost any definition of excessive." (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)
Long-Term Care Insurance: the Forgotten Planning Tool
(Look for 'PDF Version' button on the target page.) Excerpt: "This article evaluates the importance of long-term care insurance (LTCI) as a financial planning tool. It also suggests that financial professionals should include LTCI in their discussion when advising clients and that LTCI should be viewed as an indispensable part in preserving the total portfolio value." (TIAA-CREF Institute)
Study Finds Potential For Growth In Group Long Term Care Market
Growth in the group long term care market has great potential, according to a study of employer-sponsored long term care insurance plans recently conducted by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA). The study, Who Buys Long Term Care Insurance in 2000? surveyed 1,108 enrolled employees, 315 nonenrolled employees, and 500 employed individuals age 30 and older from the general population. (Spencernet)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Retirement Plan Administrator | for Bank of Louisville in KY |
| Director of Pension Plan Administration/Actuarial | for SDG Consulting in MA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| ExpertPlan Hires Industry Veteran to Lead Sales Team (ExpertPlan) |
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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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