| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |  |
December 3, 2001 - 12,718 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)
Ford Expected to Eliminate Matching Contributions to 401(k) Plan, Increase Health Co-Payments
Excerpt: "The company now adds 60 cents in Ford stock for every dollar employees contribute to 401(k) funds, up to 10 percent of their annual salary." (Associated Press via Excite News)
Tax Credit Gives Incentive To Save for Retirement
Excerpt: "Thanks to a new provision in the tax law, many workers may soon find they can't afford not to save. Beginning in 2002 and through 2006, workers of lower and moderate incomes may get a credit of up to 50 percent on the amount they contribute to an individual retirement account or to a 401(k), 403(b), Section 457, SIMPLE or SEP retirement plan. Unlike a tax deduction, which only lowers your taxable income, a credit gives you a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your tax bill." (The [Akron, Oh.] Beacon Journal)
Building Your Nest Egg
Excerpt: "Chances are you plan to retire around age 65 when most people can expect to live another 25 years. It takes a big nest egg to cover that many years, and the decline in the stock market and the recent tidal wave of layoffs may have you wondering if yours is big enough. The single most important thing that you can do to guarantee a comfortable life in retirement is to start saving right away, according to experts." (Chicago Daily Herald via Yahoo!)
Opinion: Annuity Myths and Reality
Excerpt: "Myth: 'The various fees charged by annuities make them prohibitively expensive.' Reality: When applied to annuities in general, there is a great deal of truth to this statement. Many annuities have high expenses that include sales loads, mortality fees, surrender charges, and costs for unnecessary 'bells and whistles.' At TIAA-CREF, however, our annuity expenses are among the lowest in the industry." (TIAA-CREF)
Opinion: Beware Those One-Note 401(k)s-- Employer Stock in 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "Of all the scenes from the Enron train wreck, none is more disturbing than that of the workers dazed by the realization that their retirement plans have been destroyed by the plunge of their company's once- highflying stock. The only sins these men and women committed were being loyal to their company and wanting their own tiny version of the riches that Enron executives habitually pocketed during their years at the company." (New York Times; free registration required)
Energy Giant's Disaster Devastates 401(k) Accounts
Excerpt: "Many of the 11,000 participants in Enron's 401(k) plan are watching tens of thousands of retirement dollars -- in some cases, hundreds of thousands -- vaporize. The financial bloodbath is a warning to millions of U.S. workers who have loaded up on company stock in their 401(k) plans and to employers who have failed to stem the flow. Many Enron workers now are making plans to postpone retirement, lower their standard of living in retirement or both." (USA Today via IFEBP)
Opinion: the Retirement Calculator from Hell, Part III
Excerpt: "The essence of investing is the deferral of current income for future consumption. For most people, this means retirement. And in this vein, one important advance has received relatively little attention-- the switch from deterministic to probabilistic methods of liability planning.... But even this method, advanced as it is, can still mislead." (William Bernstein on EfficientFrontier.com)
Opinion: the Questions Raised by the Plans Endorsed by President Bush's Social Security Commission (PDF)
Excerpt: "At this point, the details of the plans remain somewhat unclear, and it is therefore impossible to produce a specific analysis of their effects. Nonetheless, the basic outlines of the plans raise three important issues that the commission should address in its final report ..." (The Century Foundation, The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
2002 Annual Reporting & Disclosure Calendar for Benefit Plans
Useful drop-down menus, providing links to summaries of legal reporting and disclosure requirements. (The Segal Company)
Now, Is Even the Boss Taking a Hit?
Excerpt: "Now that performance-based pay for executives seems to be the new trend, the debate over whether the pay cuts are real or just smoke and mirrors is in full swing." (New York Times via Yahoo!)
Kodak Plans Stock Option Exchange
Excerpt: "Photography leader Eastman Kodak Co. (EK.N) on Friday said it would offer employees the right to exchange stock options for new ones with lower strike prices following the long slide in the company's stock price." (Reuters via FindLaw.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Executive Benefits Managing Consultants | for Aggressive Growth Compensation and Benefits Consulting Firm in ALL STATES |
| Pension Plan Accountant, or Actuary | for Retirement Plan Administration Firm Handling All Aspects of Administration in PA |
| 1st Class Benefits Consulting Opportunity | for Actuarial, Benefits and Compensation Consulting Firm in ALL STATES |
| Pension Plan Administrator | for Palmer Pension Services, Inc. in GA |
| Pension Administrator | for Thomas, Doll & Company, CPAs in CA |
| BENEFITS ANALYST | for Safeway Inc. in CA |
| Plan Administrator/Consultant | for Simpkins & Associates in TX |
| Pension/401(k) Administrator | for Cache Pension Services, Inc. in AK, NV |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| 21st Introduction to International Employee Benefits | in on February 25, 2002 presented by IBIS, International Benefits Information Service |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| BenefitStreet Releases v 3.0 for TPAs (BenefitStreet, Inc.) |
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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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