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April 15, 2003 - 13,053 subscribers
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"Primer on Defined Benefit Plans" audio conference April 23, 2003 * What are the key issues in administering defined benefit plans? * What are the different types of defined benefit plans and how can an organization benefit from the different types of plans? * What's all the fuss with cash balance plans? * Plus - you'll get answers to your tough questions at the end of the audio conference. Charles D. Lockwood, J.D. and LL.M. (Taxation) will bring you up-to-speed with the answers to these questions and more.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
IRS Waives Penalties for Earlier Failures to File Form 3520 or 3520-A, Extends Due Date for 2002
Excerpt: "[M]any taxpayers with interests in Canadian registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), as well as the custodians of such plans, are unfamiliar with the requirements for filing Forms 3520 and 3520-A. Under the circumstances, the IRS has determined that it will enforce neither filing requirements, nor penalties under section 6677, for Forms 3520 and 3520-A with respect to such plans for tax years before 2002, and will grant additional time to file these forms for 2002." (Internal Revenue Service)
Defined Benefit Funding Under Active Discussion
Excerpt: "Issues surrounding defined benefit plan funding and the demise of the 30-year Treasury bond are being discussed ... The Treasury Department has written a white paper suggesting the use of a yield curve based on spot-rate corporate bond yields to determine pension funding obligations starting in 2004. The General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a related study." (Watson Wyatt)
Erosion of the Funded Position of Multiemployer Pension Plans (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The percentage of multiemployer defined benefit plans that are fully funded for their vested benefits has declined significantly, according to The Segal Company's most recent annual Survey of the Funded Position of Multiemployer Plans." (The Segal Company)
Opinion: The High Cost of a Corporate Low-Ball Tactic
Excerpt: "The workers who were caught up in the latest corporate craze-- converting old-style, defined-benefit pensions to less costly 'cash-balance' plans that give older workers smaller pension checks than they were promised-- are still caught. They still hope to convince the Treasury Department to change a proposed regulation that would make it easier for companies to make this switch." (Marie Cocco in Newsday.com)
Judge Rules Miami Police Pension Fund Allowed Theft
Excerpt: "A federal judge has ruled that a Miami police pension fund board allowed an accountant to swindle other investors out of more than $770,000 to repay money he stole from the retirement account." (AP via The Miami Herald)
Overview: IRS Issues Final 204(h) Advance Notice Regulations
Excerpt: "The final regulations are very similar to the proposed regulations [that] Treasury issued almost exactly one year ago. The major changes are summarized below.... The IRS issued Rev. Rul. 2002-42, 2002-28 I.R.B. 76 last year to clarify employers must send a 204(h) notice when they merge their money purchase pension (MPP) plans with their profit-sharing plans or simply convert their MPP plans into profit-sharing plans. The final regulations include a similar clarification at Q&A 8(b)." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
Overview: FASB and EITF Tackle Stock and Pension Accounting
Excerpt: "On March 12 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) decided to open a major project on accounting for stock-based compensation. First on the agenda will be stock options and whether they should have a compensation expense." (Watson Wyatt)
Another Question is Answered in the Davis-Bacon Act Q&A Column
If Davis-Bacon wages are made as salary plus health benefits, how are these employees treated for coverage testing purposes (Internal Revenue Code section 410(b)) when testing an ERISA plan for non-Davis-Bacon employees? (BenefitsLink.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
BenefitsLink Search Engine Replaced
The saga continues! The previous search engine proved too slow and bogged down the server, after we tweaked it to provide more accurate results. I've replaced it with a new search engine that's wicked-fast. Plus we're now able to include in the searchable contents all of the Q&A columns on BenefitsLink, for the first time. Give it a whirl! (BenefitsLink.com)
Overview: Joint Tax Committee Recommends Pension, Compensation Changes
Excerpt: "In February, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) published the results of its yearlong investigation into Enron. One topic covered in the report was Enron's compensation and benefits plans." (Watson Wyatt)
Financial and Estate Planning Gaining Favor as Perks for CEOs
Excerpt: "The perks many U.S. executives are bragging about in the steam room these days aren't the lifestyle luxuries of the past, such as country-club memberships and limousines. Now they're talking about more mundane benefits such as tax and estate advice." (The Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Corporate Boards Taking Fresh Look at Virtually Every Aspect of CEO Pay
Excerpt: "Stunned by a tsunami of accounting scandals, bankruptcies and investor outrage over option abuses, many boards are taking a fresh look at almost every aspect of their leader's pay package. The result is a dramatic overhaul emerging in the form of smaller servings of options, wider use of restricted stock plus stricter stock-ownership and retention requirements." (The Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Specialist/Vendor Management Practice
for Towers Perrin
in NY
Actuarial Benefit Consultant
for Fidelity Employer Services Company
in MA
Director Health Policy
for The ERISA Industry (a Washington DC based trade association)
in DC
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
TIAA-CREF Strongly Supports Portman-Cardin Pension and Savings Reform
(TIAA-CREF)
Portman-Cardin Introduce Next Generation of Retirement Security Legislation
(American Council of Life Insurers)
401(k) is Most Common Retirement Plan in High-Tech Companies
(Culpepper and Associates, 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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