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February 11, 2003 - 13,101 subscribers
Today's sponsor: ASPA
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ASPA. Actuaries, Consultants, Administrators, and other benefits professionals. Do you actively sell, market, support or influence the sale of 401(k) plans? Then plan to attend ASPA's 401(k) Sales Summit, February 27 - March 1, 2003, in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is a unique opportunity to learn how to sell more effectively, maximize your personal impact, and gather practical advice from the best in the business. You can also learn more about ASPA's QKA training program -- the industry's only certification program devoted exclusively to 401(k) plans. Click above or visit http://www.asppa.org for more information.
(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)
Keep-Working Retirement Plan Popular with Missouri State Employees
Excerpt: "A state retirement plan that rewards people for working past their potential retirement dates proved popular in its first year.... The program is called the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP." (KOLR10.com)
Indiana Politicians Eye Pension Fund to Help Balance State Budget
Excerpt: "House Democrats are eyeing the use of several hundred million dollars in pension assets to help the state ride out the recession without another tax increase. The Public Employees' Retirement Fund and the Teachers' Retirement Fund would be asked to invest some of their money in the state's debt, just as they do in stocks, eliminating the need for teacher layoffs or deeper budget cuts." (The Indianapolis Star)
State Employees Group in N.C. to Appeal to State Supreme Court Over Use of Pension Funds
Excerpt: "A state workers group seeking to restore pension money taken by Gov. Mike Easley is taking its lawsuit to the state Supreme Court, appealing a ruling that it had no legal standing to sue. The State Employees Association of North Carolina filed the appeal last week. Fifteen other associations have also filed friend of the court briefs on its behalf." (WRAL.com)
Comparison Table of Proposed and Existing Retirement Savings Plans
Click on link towards bottom of the page, to see the pop-up table in HTML format. (ICMA Retirement Corporation)
Opinion: Bush Proposal to Eliminate 401(k) Plans Doesn't Make Good Sense
Excerpt: "The fact is that small employers who want to offer cheap, uncomplicated plans already have that option with the current no-brainer 401(k) plan for small companies that requires virtually no government reporting. These aptly named SIMPLE plans are aggressively promoted by financial institutions, but most small employers can't be bothered.... The simplest of plans still require automatic payroll deductions and a general hassle factor." (Steve Butler in the Contra Costa [Calif.] Times)
Opinion: Tax Reform That Ain't
Excerpt: "On the first blush, the proposal sounds a bit like the 'Universal Pensions' idea put forth last year by the Progressive Policy Institute's Paul Weinstein. Like Weinstein's proposal, it would reduce the complex and confusing number of retirement savings accounts while consolidating the rules for a variety of employer-based retirement plans. But unlike 'Universal Pensions,' the Administration's proposal focuses on opening up an unlimited tax bonanza to high earners." (New Democrats Online)
Opinion: In Case of Bush Retirement Plan Proposals, Simple Also Means Unfair
Excerpt: "To make savings plans less complicated, the Bush administration cut out lots of words. Including, it turns out, a few rules that have been in place since 1984 to ensure tax-deferred contribution plans do not favor high-paid employees." (NJ.com)
PSCA: President's Proposals Will Reduce the Appeal of Employer Plans
Excerpt: "PSCA believes that any proposal affecting retirement savings should address four questions. Will overall retirement savings increase? How will the at-risk population of lower paid workers be affected? Will leakage of retirement savings increase? Will non-savers be induced to save? While we are confident the administration believes their proposals will result in affirmative responses to these questions, we must disagree." (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)
Commentary: LSAs, RSAs, ERSAs and the 403(b) Marketplace
Excerpt: "Part of the Congressional opposition [to the Bush Administration proposal to revamp the structure of tax-advantaged retirement savings] appears to be simple pique that this plan was developed without the input even of the Republican leadership, and that the generalities of the plan have been announced but not the details. But there are substantive concerns as well. Among the more significant criticisms to date: ..." (Chuck Yanikoski on 403bWise.com)
Overview: Final Rule Regarding Notice of Blackout Periods Now in Effect (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Here's what you need to know: ..." (Hodgson Russ Employee Benefits Practice Group)
Commentary: Retirement Planning is Now Risky Business
Excerpt: "We're moving from a defined benefit to a defined contribution world. Don't let the boring human resources jargon fool you. This is a shift that is going to have a big impact on your life, even if you don't know what the words mean." (Charles Stein in The Boston Globe)
Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
We have a client organization ("CO") terminating their relationship with a Professional Employer Organization ("PEO"). The company wishes to establish a new plan. But they wish to treat the new plan as a successor plan (resulting in a forced transfer of participant assets). Is this the proper treatment for the plan assets? (BenefitsLink.com)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Stan Beutler, J.D.
Excerpt: "Retirement Plan Document Drafting from $275: * Volume Submitter * Prototype * Custom. Formerly with William M. Mercer, Inc., Stan Beutler, J.D. is a pension attorney with over 17 years experience. He specializes in drafting: cross-tested, 401(k), profit sharing, multiple-employer, 403(b), 457(b), defined benefit, money purchase, and ESOP plans. Visit www.stanbeutlerjd.com for fee schedule and additional information, or email stan@stanbeutlerjd.com, or call (505)220-7755."
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Proposed Class Exemption for Release of Claims and Extensions of Credit in Litigation
Excerpt: "The proposed class exemption would apply to transactions engaged in by a plan in connection with the settlement of litigation. This exemption is being proposed in response to concerns raised by the pension community regarding the impact of ERISA's prohibited transaction provisions on the settlement of litigation by employee benefit plans with parties in interest." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Opinion: Esrey Left Sprint Too Late and for Wrong Reason
Excerpt: "Too late because, in my view, Esrey should have been canned sometime ago due to his abysmal performance. For the wrong reason, because the board apparently moved on Esrey, not for his performance, but for deciding to participate in a tax shelter of questionable legality to shield his option profits from early taxation." (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)
Opinion: Who Put the Tabasco in the IRS' Grits?
Excerpt: "Who put the Tabasco in the IRS's grits [by auditing the tax shelter implemented at Sprint for two of its executives]? When last heard from, the IRS was being slowly starved to death by successive Republican Congresses ... [Former Treasury Secretary Paul] O'Neill was most likely the Tabasco sauce in this case. Of course, he has since been fired by President Bush and replaced with a perfect example of an overpaid corporate executive." (Molly Ivins in the Naples [Fla.] Daily News)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Human Resources/Retirement Service Specialists
for Constantin Control Associates
in NJ, NY
External Wholesaler
for MassMutual Financial Group
in TX
Account Manager
for Ceridian
in FL
Pension Administrator/Analyst
for Abacus Benefit Consultants Inc.
in RI
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
PSCA Midwest Regional Conference
in IL
March 6, 2003
Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America
Intro to Profit Sharing/ 401(k) Plans
in IL
March 5, 2003
Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in WA
March 20, 2003
Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA)
HIPAA Portability & Privacy
in WA
March 21, 2003
Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in WA
March 20, 2003
Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA)
Cafeteria Plans
in WA
March 19, 2003
Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA)
401(k) Plans
in WA
March 18, 2003
Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA)
The 17th Annual Stable Value Investments Symposium
in CA
April 27, 2003
Institute for International Research
U.S. Defined Contribution Plans Overview Course
in PA
April 7, 2003
Society of Professional Administrators and Recordkeepers (SPARK)
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Texas Pension Consultants Makes Strategic Staff Addition
(Texas Pension Consultants)
MBS CEO Ed Cain Named Human Resources 'Outsourcing Superstar'
(MBS)
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