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BenefitsLink
Retirement Plans
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November 15, 2002 - 12,842 subscribers
Today's sponsor: The Plan Sales System

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

   Marketing Expert Shows How To Grow Your 401(k) Practice

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(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay your way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Judge Rules CalPERS Must Reveal Venture Capital Data to Newspaper
Excerpt: "The nation's largest pension fund will have to provide performance data about its private investments to the Mercury News unless its investment partners can prove the information is a trade secret, a judge ruled Thursday." ([San Jose] Mercury News)

Full Text of New California Law Requiring Central Registration for 403(b) Vendors (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "Approved by Governor September 29, 2002.... This bill would require the board to establish a registration process for vendors seeking to offer retirement investment products to employees of all local school districts, community college districts, and county offices of education. The bill would require the initial registration process to be completed by July 1, 2004." (403bWise.com)

Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
Can each participating employer under a multiple employer plan select its own plan provisions for eligibility, contributions, vesting, etc.? (BenefitsLink.com)

Opinion: North Carolina in a Jam by Paying Retirees Twice as Much When Rehired as Contractors
Excerpt: "Something doesn't compute when a state that's locked in a dreadful budget crisis ends up hiring retired employees working for a contractor -- which is paid nearly twice as much to do what the same employees once did on the regular payroll." (The [Raleigh, N.C.] News & Observer)

Bill on Catch-Up TSP Contributions by Federal Employees Awaits Bush's Signature
Excerpt: "The Senate has sent legislation to President Bush allowing some older federal employees and members of the armed forces to make additional contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan." (Washington Post)

Down Market Could Be Good Time to Convert to Roth IRA
Excerpt: "Let's say you've wanted to convert to a Roth IRA for years but never did. Back then, your account was worth $100,000 and you would have paid taxes on the entire amount. But the value has fallen to $60,000 today. If you're a long-term investor and believe the investment would rebound, converting to a Roth would save you from paying taxes on $40,000." (CBS.MarketWatch.com)

Roth IRA Conversion Not Great for Everybody
Excerpt: "On Monday, we talked about a few scenarios in which most people would benefit from converting.... Now let's look at a few cases in which the Roth conversion may not be a good idea." (TheStreet.com)

The Roots of the '90s Boom and Bust: Part Four
Excerpt: "[D]uring the boom years, venture capitalists played God, and they largely decided which start-up companies lived and which ones died, which investment bankers and lawyers got the deals and which ones got rich." (Washington Post)

The Roots of the '90s Boom and Bust: Part Five
Excerpt: "Although it was the venture capital funds that gave the tech start-ups the money to begin operations as fledgling private companies, it was the investment banks that took them to the big time -- the public stock markets -- enabling many unprofitable firms to raise billions of dollars from investors." (Washington Post)

The Roots of the '90s Boom and Bust: Part Six
Excerpt: "By the mid-1990s, the pressures on securities analysts were Wall Street's open secret. Investment bankers seeking to underwrite a deal not only wanted analysts' advice beforehand, they wanted their analysts to be high-profile stars who could help fend off competing underwriters and land deals. Afterward, they wanted the analysts' reports to stay bullish enough to keep the stock moving and the new banking clients happy," (Washington Post)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Analysis: Stock Exchange Rules Would Add New Shareholder Approval Requirements for Equity Comp Plans (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Until now, both the NYSE and Nasdaq have only required shareholder approval of stock option or other arrangements in which officers or directors may acquire company stock." (Pillsbury Winthrop LLP)

Tapes Available for Purchase: American Bar Association Tax Section's October 2002 Meeting
Two sets of tapes (2 in each set) available on the Employee Benefits program ($20 per set); one set of tapes ($20) available on 'HIPAA Privacy Primer For Group Health Plans." (American Bar Association, Section of Taxation)




Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Benefits Outsourcing Program Manager
for Fidelity Investments - Marlborough, Massachusetts
in MA

Pension Compliance Specialist
for Saint-Gobain Corporation
in PA




Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

HIPAA Revisited
in OH
November 21, 2002
WEB, Worldwide Employee Benefits Network

PenServ's 2003 Diamond Degree Select
in CA, NV, NY, PA, TX
March 12, 2003
PenServ, Inc.


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