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January 21, 2003 - 12,861 subscribers
Today's sponsor: APSCREEN, Employee Locator
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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)
Trusty 401(k) Can Have Surprising Pitfall: Higher Income Tax on Social Security Payments
Excerpt: "What's tripping up more retirees every year is a rule that triggers taxes on Social Security payments. If retirees make enough money, their effective marginal tax rate on 401(k) withdrawals can jump as high as 50 percent. In other words, their taxes on the savings could be higher than if they hadn't sheltered it in a 401(k) at all." (The Dallas Morning News via NewsAlert.com)
Airlines' Pension Problems Growing
Excerpt: "First came the layoffs. Then the pay cuts. Finally, a slashing of health benefits. If times weren't tough enough for airline workers, now some employees at the major carriers face the prospect of a poorer retirement." (Washington Post)
American Benefits Council Urges Senators to Oppose Bill to Stop IRS from Issuing Cash Balance Regs (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) plan to offer an appropriations amendment ... that would prohibit the IRS from moving forward on important proposed regulations concerning retirement plans and age discrimination." (American Benefits Council)
Overview: Form 5500 for 2002 Plan Year Issued With Few Changes
Excerpt: "The Instructions to Schedule H (Financial Information) and Schedule I (Financial Information--Small Plan) have been modified to highlight the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and Proposed Transaction Exemption 2002-51, under which certain corrected prohibited transactions are treated as exempt." (EBIA Weekly)
No Attachments Permitted for 2002 Schedule SSA
Excerpt: "The most striking change to the 2002 Form 5500 series reports this year is the elimination of the ability to use attachments to provide Schedule SSA information. While preparers of small pension plan filings may not care, those of us whose practices include large pension plan filers are scrambling to find solutions to the data entry dilemma we face." (Form5500Help.com)
Analysis: IRS to Issue Regs on Whether Shutdown and Involuntary Separation Benefits Are Protected
Excerpt: "Do shutdown benefits funded through pension plans, and other payments contingent on unpredictable events, constitute 'early retirement benefits' or 'retirement-type subsidies' for purposes of the IRC section 411(d)(6) anticutback rule? The Treasury Department and the IRS are planning to draft proposed rules on this question, according to IRS Notice 2003-10." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
Boehner to Reintroduce Pension Investment Advice Bill
Excerpt: "Now that Republicans are in charge of Congress, they plan to reintroduce pension security legislation that they say was gummed up by Democrats. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano, and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said they plan to revive the Pension Security Act, which the House passed last year." (The Dallas Morning News via NewsAlert.com)
Opinion: Cutting Corporate Welfare Could Fund a Bush Social Security Plan
Excerpt: "Corporate welfare is a revenue source with appeal to Democrats and Republicans, who recognize -- but who so far have lacked the courage to address -- the waste and inequities that special business preferences create.... Time magazine estimated in 1998 that corporate welfare costs taxpayers $125 billion annually ..." (The Cato Institute)
Opinion: Siphoning Off Social Security
Excerpt: "If top officials at the State Department and Social Security Administration have their way, up to $345 billion-- or more-- could be siphoned from the Social Security 'trust fund' over the next couple of decades, mostly to pay benefits to Mexican citizens who worked illegally in the United States." (The Washington Times)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Opinion: Fixing Stock Options to Match Executive Performance
Excerpt: "Conventional wisdom is that a CEO can only benefit from stock options if the market price of his company's shares rises. That's right when it comes to a single stock option. It's different when the CEO receives a new option each year." (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)
The Impact of Stock Option Expensing on Compensation Programs: the CFO's Perspective
Excerpt: "Our survey of over 100 CFOs reveals agreement that stock option expensing is inevitable, but key questions remain unanswered. Hay Group recommends actions to manage the impact on compensation programs." (Hay Group; one-time registration required)
Strategies for Underwater Stock Options, in Chart Form (PDF)
1 page. Strategies listed: do nothing; accelerate future grant; make supplemental stock option grant; cancel/reissue options in 6 months; repurchase/regrant after 6 months; cancel underwater options/immediately regrant at less than 1-for-1 exchange; cancel options and grant restricted stock; full and immediate cancel/reissue; repricing. Accompanies article that's online at http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/23/38/31/index.php (Workforce.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrators
for Polycomp Administrative Services, Inc.
in CA
Benefits Manager (Service Delivery Manager)
for Towers Perrin
in VA
Pension Consultant
for Fidelity Investments
in MA
Director, Benefits
for The Executive Source is a retained Human Resources search firm.
in NJ, NY
Employee Benefits Client Manager
for Craford Benefit Consultants
in CA
Invesmart
for Retirement Plan Analyst - Implementation
in PA
Vice President - Sr. Communications Business Strategist to Public Sector Market
for CitiStreet
in MA
Pension Plan Specialist - for Mktng/Sales Firm Working with 401(k)'s, P/S, MPP and Prevailing Wage Plans
for Beneco, Inc.
in AZ
Benefits Specialist
for Retail Brand Alliance
in CT
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
SouthWest Benefits Association 28th Annual Conference
in NM
May 7, 2003
SouthWest Benefits Association
SWBA/IRS Plan Administrator Skills Workshop
in TX
February 7, 2003
SouthWest Benefits Association
SWBA/IRS Plan Administrator Skills Workshop
in OK
February 14, 2003
SouthWest Benefits Association
SWBA/IRS Plan Administrator Skills Workshop
in TX
February 21, 2003
SouthWest Benefits Association
Final Required Minimum Distribution Rules eSeminar
in ALL STATES
February 13, 2003
McKay Hochman
First Quarter Update eSeminar
in ALL STATES
February 10, 2003
McKay Hochman
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
BenefitStreet Announces New TPA Alliances
(BenefitStreet, Inc.)
David Grubman and Kelly Wolfe Receive Annual Peak of the Pyramid Awards
(Pyramid Digital Solutions)
McKay Hochman Offers e-Seminar on Final Minimum Distribution Rules
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Alexander Hamilton Institute Releases New Free Report - "HR Audit"
(Alexander Hamilton Institute)
Miller/Russell & Associates Adds Mike Malone as Director of Client Development
(Miller/Russell & Associates, Inc.)
Handy Links:
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- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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