May 14, 2003 - 13,156 subscribers Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc. (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) "Consumer-Directed Health Care Plans" audio conference 5/20/03 * 2:00 p.m. ET Are the promised cost savings of consumer directed health plans real or an illusion? What does the future hold for these kinds of plans? How will developments in Congress and the marketplace affect them? What are the design features of successful consumer-directed health plans? Who is currently enrolling in these plans? Attorney and benefits consultant Terry Humo, Esq., will address these questions and more on Tuesday, May 20 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Partisan Split Could Endanger Pension Reforms Excerpt: "Congress is again considering steps to secure 401(k) plans. But the partisan differences that killed similar legislation last year could do so again, despite growing pressure to address the issue." (The Baltimore Sun) Democratic Representative George Miller Says Pension Security Act Mainly Helps Investment Vendors Excerpt: "A Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday accused the Republican majority of seeking mainly to help investment companies with its pension overhaul plan. The House of Representatives on Wednesday is expected to pass a bill giving workers more control over their pension assets, which sponsors say would have made a big difference to employees at now-bankrupt Enron Corp." (Reuters via Lycos News) Opinion: Provision in Portman-Cardin Bill Would Undermine Almost 20 Years of Spousal Pension Rights (PDF) 3 pages. Excerpt: "In the name of simplifying defined benefit plan administration, one provision of the bill would permit private pension plans to use 'paperless technologies' to obtain a spouse's consent to give up her or his rights to a survivor pension. This provision would eviscerate important spousal protections that have been an integral part of women's retirement security for almost twenty years." (National Women's Law Center) Opinion: Why the Pension Preservation and Savings Expansion Act of 2003 Fails To Live Up To Its Name (PDF) 7 pages. Excerpt: "The Pension Preservation and Savings Expansion Act of 2003 makes a number of costly changes to the current employer-sponsored pension system and individual retirement saving arrangements that would provide significant benefits to those who least need help in preparing for retirement, while doing little to meet the retirement income security needs of most workers and retirees." (Joint Economic Committee Democrats) Wilshire Associates Makes Available Full Text of 2003 Corporate Funding Survey of Pensions Excerpt: "Please complete the following form to receive a complimentary copy of the report." (Wilshire Associates; registration required) Pension Woes Worrying CFOs, Survey Finds Excerpt: "More than half of the CFOs and treasurers at the 174 mid-sized to large companies in the survey said they will need to fund a pension liability this year. Only 8 percent are considering terminating their plans because of liabilities, however." (CFO.com) Some Creative Divorce Property Settlement Strategies for Retirement Plan Benefits Excerpt: "If the participant absolutely refuses to share any of his pension income with a DRO while he is alive, then, after getting all the other marital assets you can for your client, if there is still money owed based on the present value of the pension, do an amortized buyout of the balance." (Paul R. Commerford, published by DivorceNet.com) Overview: IRS Updates Guidance on Withholding and Reporting Rules for Section 457 Plans Excerpt: "The updated rules generally apply to deferrals and distributions from eligible section 457 plans made after December 31, 2001-- the effective date of several relevant statutory changes made by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act ('EGTRRA'). But section 457 plan sponsors can continue relying on existing reporting and withholding requirements through the end of this year." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services) Distributions from Section 457 Plans Eligible for New York Pension Exclusion Excerpt: "[EGTRRA's] change in the characterization of distributions from government section 457 plans from wages to pension or annuity income permits the exclusion of all or a portion of a distribution from a government section 457 plan from New York taxation." (The CPA Journal) Analysis: New Rules for Black-out Periods Under Sarbanes-Oxley Act Includes link to 14-page document. Excerpt: "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act contains new requirements that apply to so-called 'black-out periods' in participant-directed retirement plans. Black-out periods occur when the ability of plan participants to take certain actions is temporarily suspended. Sarbanes-Oxley requires that participants receive advance written notice of certain black-out periods, and restricts the ability of insiders to trade in employer securities during certain black-out periods." (Groom Law Group) Audio Report: Municipal Pension Funds Hit Hard by Stock Market Losses Excerpt: "Government pension funds lost more than $120 billion in the stock market during the last fiscal year. State and local governments are now facing massive new payments to shore up the plans, which cover some 15 million Americans. Some municipalities may have to raise taxes to cover costs. Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio reports.' (May 13, 2003) (National Public Radio) Scratching Beneath the Surface of Mutual Fund Costs Excerpt: "Mutual funds and variable annuities can be relatively expensive products for today's conservative investors to own, unless advisors carefully scrutinize all cost components and recommend cost-effective choices. In addition, cost analysis in these products can be difficult, because important components of expense are buried." (freeERISA.com) Opinion: The 6-Step Pension Fund Clean-Up Excerpt: "What do you call a pension trustee who waits too long to respond to known problems? How about, 'negligent?' The indecision pensions frequently display in dealing with difficult problems, as well as their reluctance to openly admit errors, results in a failure to recover many losses. This is bad for participants in pensions, to whom the money belongs, but it's also bad for the country." (The Benchmark Companies) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Executive Pensions Mysterious to Many Excerpt: "We know the salaries of the top executives. We know how much their annual bonuses are. We know how many stock options they have. But we don't know everything that goes into their compensation. Not even close. We don't know all about their pensions. They're huge and getting bigger all the time." (AP via the [Minneapolis] Star Tribune) Technology Firms Finding Little Support In Bid to Slow Stock Option Expensing Excerpt: "Despite two months of intensified lobbying, the technology industry has made little progress in changing minds and slowing the momentum to make companies count their stock options as a business expense." (The [San Jose, Calif.] Mercury News via NewsAlert.com) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Pension Administrator for Means & Associates, LLC in CA Manager, Compliance for Means & Associates, LLC in CA Pension Plan Administrators/Consultants/Actuaries for Pinnacle Plan Design, P.C. in AZ ERISA Specialist for ExpertPlan, Inc. in NJ 401(k) Profit Sharing Administrator for Hicks Pension Services in HI Senior Actuarial Analyst for Invesmart, Inc. in KY Retirement Plan Administrator for Benefit Consultants Group in NJ Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!) Fiduciary Liability Insurance in MA May 28, 2003 Peabody & Arnold; North American Professional Liability Insurance Agency Newly Posted Press Releases (Post Yours!) Trump Casinos Selects GWLS to Offer Potential Life Saving and Child Protection Program to Employees (Global Work/Life Solutions, LLC) SunGard Corbel Makes the Grade for CE Credit with Updated Multimedia Pension Learning (SunGard Corbel) Handy Links:
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