| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
March 6, 2003 - 13,085 subscribers
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Stars & Stripes 2003 The Stars & Stripes 2003 National Public Employees Retirement Summit is a comprehensive event for public board, staff, and investment officers that will cover every thing from rebalancing/asset allocation scenarios to the latest in retirement plans for state and municipal public funds officials, teacher retirement plan officials and fire and police pension plan board members and trustees. It will take place July 13-15, 2003 at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club in Orlando. To register call 800-280-8440 or visit www.frallc.com
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Fidelity Cuts Expected Long-Term Pension Earnings to 7%
Excerpt: "Fidelity Investments has lowered to 7 percent its expectation for annual returns on its employee pension plan, revealing a deeply conservative outlook by the nation's largest retirement-fund manager." (The Boston Globe)
ESOP Ranks Might Lose Their Star
Excerpt: "By this time next month, ownership and control of bankrupt United Airlines could shift away from employees. Yesterday the company took a big step toward eliminating the company's employee stock ownership plan, which gave unionized employees 55% ownership of the company in 1994." (Forbes)
Senate Panel Votes to Allow Postal Service to Use Excess Pension Assets to Stave Off Postage Hikes
Excerpt: "The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee approved by voice vote legislation (S. 380) that the bill's sponsors say will prevent postal rate hikes until at least 2006. Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the Office of Personnel Management had discovered that higher-than-expected yields on investments meant the Postal Service was paying more into the retirement account than necessary." (GovExec.com)
Plan to Close Social Security Benefit Loophole Angers Texas Teachers
Excerpt: "Last summer the General Accounting Office reported that almost 4,800 Texas teachers-- more than 1 in 4 new retirees-- exploited the loophole in the previous year, boosting their annual pensions by up to $4,800. The GAO considers the practice abusive, as does Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security and author of the bill to close the loophole." (The Dallas Morning News via NewsAlert.com)
Social Security Fraud Bill In Congress Stalls Over Texas Teacher Retirement Issue
Excerpt: "The anti-fraud provisions were not controversial. Texas Democrats objected to language inserted this year requiring state and local government workers to pay Social Security payroll taxes for the last five years of their employment in order to be exempt from an offset from their government pensions." (AP via the San Francisco Chronicle)
ASPA Comments on Administration Proposal to Eliminate 'Double Taxation' of Corporate Earnings
Excerpt: "[I]f a small business owner were able to save an equivalent amount outside of a qualified pension plan in a tax-favored alternative without such added cost, such an alternative would significantly reduce the incentive of the small business owner to incur the responsibilities of contributing to a retirement plan for the small business' workers." (American Society of Pension Actuaries)
Important Information Affecting Employers That Use Staffing and Payroll Organizations
3 pages. Excerpt: "Businesses that utilize an employee leasing organization or other staffing firm to supply workers on a contractual basis may be faced with some important decisions in 2003, if the staffing firm also provides a single employer retirement plan for worksite employees. Pursuant to ... Revenue Procedure 2002-21, there is a one-time window this year to either convert such a plan to a multiple employer plan or to terminate it." (Proskauer Rose)
Fight Forming Over Airline's Intent to Use Stock to Fund DB Pension Plan
Excerpt: "Unions at Northwest Airlines could nix the carrier's plan to use stock in its Pinnacle Airlines subsidiary to make hundreds of millions of dollars in pension fund contributions." (The [St. Paul, Minn.] Pioneer Press)
Phased Retirement-- An Idea Whose Time Has Come? (PDF)
At page 5 of 10. Excerpt: "Even though ... workers might not be ready (or financially able) to stop working before age 65, they still may want some of retirement's benefits, especially more time and flexibility for pursuing other interests. Employers that want to keep these workers around a little longer will need to find ways to accommodate their wishes." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
Recession Forces 2.3 Million Households to Delay Retirement
Excerpt: "The survey polled Americans with annual incomes of at least $75,000 who actively manage their investments." (Business Wire via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Eighth Circuit Upholds Award of Unpaid Contributions To Union Pension and Welfare Funds
The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld an award of $143,843 to a number of union pension and welfare funds for unpaid contributions owed by two 'alter-ego' companies. The case is Operating Engineers Local No. 101 Pension Fund, et al. v. K.C. Excavating & Grading, Inc. and G&C Excavating (No. 02-1988). (SpencerNet)
Design and Implementation Issues for Eligible Deferred Comp Plans After EGTRRA and the Proposed Regs
Excerpt: "Section 457(b) ... permits governmental and tax-exempt employers to offer an additional tax-advantaged employee benefit plan to their employees. [EGTRRA] and recently proposed regulations under Code section 457 provide significant additional guidance for employers who maintain or are considering adopting 457(b) plans. This article highlights some key issues facing plan sponsors in light of this new guidance." (Groom Law Group)
Silicon Valley Companies Lobbying Furiously Against Requirement to Expense Stock Options
Excerpt: "But there's widespread doubt that the hobbled tech industry still has the clout to counter the mounting pressure for companies to count options as an expense. Because stock options are now linked in the public's mind with executive excess and corporate scandal, it's unclear that the tech industry can repeat the success it had in fighting back a similar effort in 1995." (The [San Jose, Calif.] Mercury News)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for Suburban /PA Montgomery County Pension Firm
in PA
Pension Sales Design Specialist
for American National Insurance Company
in TX
Pension Conversion Specialist
for Long Island Employee Benefits Group Ltd
in NY
Client Services Consultant
for American United Life Insurance Company - Retirement Services Division
in MA
ERISA Pension Analyst / Paralegal / Plan Administrator
for Retirement Plan Administration and ERISA Specialists
in IL
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
PenServ's 13th Annual Academy 2003
in CA, NV, TX
April 22, 2003
PenServ, Inc.
Reconciling Federal and State COBRA Laws
in ALL STATES
March 25, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
AICPA National Conference on Employee Benefit Plans
in TX
May 5, 2003
AICPA - American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
SunGard Corbel Introduces New Catch-up Contributions Pamphlet
(SunGard Corbel)
New conneKt(tm) alert system: the next generation of retirement plan information management
(DailyAccess.Com, Inc.)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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