February 7, 2003 - 12,861 subscribers Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) Complete Automation for the Pension Office For the past 20 years ASC has provided complete automation for the pension office, including state of the art 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. For a free demo disk and more information click above. (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) Bush Retirement Savings Proposal Could Hurt Financial Firms Excerpt: "Robert Greenstein, the executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research group [said] 'Businesses involved in setting up and administering pension plans will lose out.' Those companies, along with insurance companies that face the loss of their lucrative annuities business, will probably be the biggest losers." (New York Times; one-time registration required) GOP Not Backing Bush Retirement Savings Proposals Excerpt: "A key element of President Bush's ambitious tax-cutting agenda ... has virtually no chance of passing and should be replaced with a bipartisan proposal to expand existing retirement programs, House Republican leaders have told the White House.... [A]dministration officials ... are laying the blame on Paul H. O'Neill, the recently ousted Treasury secretary. They said he developed the idea in secret and froze key lawmakers ... out of the decision-making process." (Washington Post) Commentary: The Impact of Bush's Retirement Plan and Tax Proposals on ESOPs and 401(k) Plans The retirement plan proposals of President Bush would represent the most sweeping changes in retirement plans in decades. This article examines the proposals' effects on ESOPs and 401(k) plans. While the cornerstone of the proposals is to create two new savings plans to replace IRAs, 401(k)s, and other savings plans, the new Employer Retirement Savings Account would make major changes in the discrimination testing rules for defined contribution plans, including ESOPs. (National Center for Employee Ownership) Overview: DOL Finalizes Implementing Blackout Notice Requirements and Related Civil Penalties Excerpt: "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOA) created ERISA Section 101(i), which requires administrators of 401(k) and other defined contribution plans to provide notices to affected participants and beneficiaries at least 30 days in advance of covered 'blackout periods' (defined below). The SOA also amended ERISA Section 502(c)(7) to add a civil penalty for a plan administrator's failure or refusal to provide timely notice of a blackout period." (EBIA Weekly) Commentary: the War on Your Retirement Excerpt: "Changes in company policies and in government regulations are working to make whatever losses we investors have inflicted on ourselves even more painful. All in all, I think this adds up to a war on retirement. Think I'm exaggerating? Well, let me show you the trends one by one and see how you add them up." (Jim Jubak on CNBC via MSN Money) Early Retirement Coincide with Teacher Shortage in North Central Florida Excerpt: "Teachers within 5 years of retiring can request the monthly retirement benefit be redirected from the state pension system to the DROP fund during the years they are enrolled in the program. At retirement, DROP participants can expect a healthy lump of cash in addition to their monthly pension check.... [T]eachers who will retire this year through DROP are the beginning of a bubble of ... retirements. About 80,000 of Florida's 153,390 teachers are baby boomers who are older than 40." (Gainesville [Fla.] Sun) Former Boston Sheriff Loses Pension Benefits Permanently Excerpt: "The Middlesex County Retirement Board has voted to permanently suspend pension benefits to convicted Sheriff John McGonigle. The board voted 4-1 Thursday to permanently suspend the monthly checks. In December, the board had voted for a temporary suspension." (TheBostonChannel.com) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Top Five Benefit Priorities for 2003 (PDF) 16 pages. Sneek peek: controlling costs, HIPAA privacy rule compliance, employee self-service technology, using the Internet and intranets, and providing financial planning tools and information. (International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists and Deloitte & Touche LLP) Wealthy Suing Accountants Over Rejected Tax Shelters Excerpt: "Although only a few lawsuits have been filed, tax experts and lawyers handling these cases said they expected a flood of similar cases as the I.R.S. stepped up its hunt for tax cheating by hundreds and perhaps thousands of executives, business owners, athletes and entertainers with big incomes." (New York Times; one-time registration required) Tax Shelters for Executives Turning Into Millstones Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service's campaign against abusive tax shelters is driving a wedge between shelter marketers and their clients and a growing number of unhappy taxpayers are seeking damages from the accounting and law firms that have devised these strategies." (Washington Post) Ruling Could Break Departing Sprint Execs Excerpt: "The chief executive of Sprint Corp., William T. Esrey, said Wednesday night that he could lose his entire fortune if the Internal Revenue Service decides that a tax shelter that he and the company's No. 2 executive bought from the company's auditors is improper." (New York Times New Service via Las Vegas Sun) Federal Lawmakers Revisit Debate On Options Excerpt: "More than 70 House and Senate members have signed letters to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which has said it will decide by the end of March whether to take up the controversial options issue again." (Washington Post) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings 401(k) / Pension Administrator for Ingham Group in FL Senior Actuarial Analyst for Watson Wyatt Worldwide in MA Actuarial Consultant for Watson Wyatt Worldwide in MA 401(k) Compliance Manager - Vice President for CitiStreet in MA Account Specialist/ Plan Administrator for INVESCO Retirement, Inc. in GA 401K Service Specialist for Principal Financial Group in NY Senior Pension Administrator for Pension TPA/Accounting Firm in MD Newly Posted Webcasts (Post Yours!) Complying with Military Leave Obligations under USERRA on February 15, 2003 presented by Technical Answer Group and Inside Benefits Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!) WorldatWork 48th Annual Conference & Exhibition in CA May 11, 2003 WorldatWork Newly Posted Press Releases (Post Yours!) New Arrival in the Retirement Plan Community (Mand Marblestone & Danziger, P.C.) Agilent Employee Brings ERISA Class Action On Behalf Of 1,500 Participants Against Agilent Technologies and Hewlett-Packard (Alfred H. Sigman Law Offices) NCQA's HEDIS® 2004 Draft Includes 11 New Measures; Additions Focus on Key Clinical, Service Issues (National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)) Handy Links:
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