| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Retirement Plans Edition |   |
December 14, 2001 - 12,750 subscribers
Today's sponsor: The Plan Sales System
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The Plan Sales System is a comprehensive, 16-step system for growing a retirement plan sales practice. It provides detailed resources, contact names and numbers, checklists, charts, handouts,letters, extensive prospecting techniques, descriptions of current market opportunities, and tools for planning and monitoring sales activity.
(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)
Making Retirement Income Last a Lifetime
Excerpt: "The goal of this article is to explore the sustainability of investment portfolio withdrawals using two distinct methodologies--historical analysis and Monte Carlo simulations--to address the risk of extreme longevity. The article also examines whether annuitizing a portion of client assets makes it more likely that retirees can enjoy higher incomes over longer retirements. The results ... may lead financial advisors to reconsider recommendations regarding ... portfolios in retirement." (TIAA-CREF Institute)
Retirement Saving is Easier in 2002, Thanks to Uncle Sam
Excerpt: "This year's big tax-law changes include a host of provisions designed to encourage Americans to save money for their golden years -- and reap significant tax benefits in the process ... Some of the people who stand to benefit the most are highlighted below." (CareerJournal.com)
Experts Say New Pension Bill Unlikely To Solve Stock Issues
Excerpt: "Similar to the 1997 Boxer bill, the Pension Protection Act of 2001 seeks to limit the exposure of participants to the downfalls of company stock. But, will it work? Industry insiders say it most likely won't." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
IRS Improves EP Determination Letter Process
Excerpt: "EP has fashioned a number of new tools to address an expected 250,000 to 300,000 determination applications during the next two years.... Faced with GUST and the fourth wave of applications in the past 25 years, the IRS resolved to do it faster, cheaper, and better this time." (Paul T. Shultz and James P. Flannery, courtesy of Tax Analysts)
Opinion: 401(k) Likely to Be a 'Defined Chaos' Retirement Plan
Excerpt: "The past 12 months or so brought a revelation to many 401(k) participants: Stocks can actually lose money. This knowledge throws into sharp relief the serious flaws in the burgeoning defined-contribution retirement system." ( William Bernstein, originally published by Barron's)
Keep Investing In Lean Times, Experts Say
Excerpt: "One study by Pioneer Investment Management fund that investors who remained in the market during the past 10 years would have earned 17.4 percent in average annual returns, while those who missed the 20 biggest rallies would have had their average annual return cut by more than 47 percent." (Reuters Health via Excite News)
How to Avoid Investing in the Next Enron: Beware Pension Padding
Excerpt: "Companies can do all sorts of things to plump up their bottom lines with pension-related gains. The two most common are flowing gains from an overfunded pension plan though the income statement ... and assuming overly optimistic future returns on a pension plan." (Morningstar.com)
Full Text of December 11 Draft Report of Social Security Commission (PDF)
140 pages, entitled 'Strengthening Social Security and Creating Personal Wealth for All Americans." (President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security)
Opinion: Social Security Crisis? It's a Big Lie
Excerpt: "President Bush's Social Security Commission agrees with what some of us have been saying all along: There is no urgent need to 'fix' Social Security." (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Employee Ownership Update for December 13, 2001
Corey Rosen discusses a new analysis of employer stock holdings in 401(k) plans; hearings and proposed legislation in Washington D.C. following the Enron bankruptcy; the ongoing growth of global stock plans among multinationals; a study indicating that most large companies are not restructuring their stock plans despite the economic downturn; and a court decision that unvested options were subject to bankruptcy claims. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
John owns 60% of JLK partnership. JLK partnership owns 40% of XYZ partnership. Under the Section 318 attribution rules, that means John owns 24% of XYZ. Does that mean that JLK is deemed to own John's 60% of JLK, pursuant to IRC section 318(a)(3)(A)? This is important because XYZ would be a A-Org to JLK if XYZ is deemed to be a partner in JLK. (BenefitsLink.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| Retirement Service Specialists | for Constantin Control Associates in NJ, NY |
| Paralegal | for Howard Simon & Associates, Inc. in |
| Defined Contribution Plan Administrator | for Petersen Hastings Investment Management, Inc. in WA |
| 401(k) / DC Administrator | for Sentinel Benefits Group in MA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Introduction to ESOPs | in FL on March 26, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in FL on March 27, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in CA on April 9, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in OR on April 9, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in WA on April 10, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in CO on May 8, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in VA on May 8, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in PA on May 9, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in CA on May 21, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in WI on May 22, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in MI on May 23, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| Introduction to ESOPs | in CA on May 23, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
| 2002 Great Lakes Area IRS/ASPA Benefits Conference | in IL on May 2, 2004 presented by ASPA/IRS |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| Labor Department Sues Nevada Associations and Principals for Misusing Over $6 Million in Health Assets (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) |
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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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