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BenefitsLink
Retirement Plans
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June 2, 2003 - 13,197 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

Suppose you had questions about... 401(k) investments? Fiduciary issues?

Get the answers in the Participant Directed Investment Answer Book
by Fred Reish and Bruce Ashton of Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher.
You'll find an in-depth look at issues unique to participant directed
plans, including: 404(c) compliance, 401(k) fiduciary responsibility
for plan sponsors, investment issues arising out of Enron, revenue
sharing and fiduciary issues for investment providers, brokers, TPAs
and others.

To purchase, click above or call (800) 638-8437.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Participant Investment Education for the 21st Century
Excerpt: "The purpose of this paper is to help plan fiduciaries and providers get a handle on the issues surrounding investment education and advice. First, the reasons 401(k) plans became popular will be reviewed. The failure of so-called 'investment education' will be discussed next. Then, the current state of participant knowledge will be explored. Finally, solutions for helping participants achieve financial security ... will be presented." (Richard D. Glass and Stan Marshall, reprinted by Investment Horizons)

More Employers Scaling Back 401(k) Matches
Excerpt: "Charles Schwab Corp., Prudential Securities and Cessna Aircraft are among recent additions to a list of employers that have suspended 401(k) matches in an effort to save money in faltering economic times. Other companies making similar announcements within the last year include Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Ford Motor Co., Bethlehem Steel, Wyndham International, Radiant Systems and CMS Energy Corp." (BenefitNews.com)

Extra $5 Per Year Makes Difference Between Being Covered by City Pension and Being Excluded
Excerpt: "When Stoneham Town Meeting moderator Michael Rotondi asked and received approval for a $5 hike in his yearly moderator's salary last month, he was seeking more than just a minuscule pay raise. By boosting his annual pay to $205, starting July 1, Rotondi makes himself eligible to enroll in the town's retirement system." (The Boston Globe)

Americans Encouraged to Think about Retirement Savings Strategy
Excerpt: "Are you saving enough for a decent retirement? If you are like most Americans, the answer is no." (St. Paul Pioneer-Press via NewsAlert.com)

Prudential to Remedy Annuity Problems
Excerpt: "Prudential Securities said Friday it will notify and offer remedies to customers who may have been affected by what it called 'irregularities' in sales of annuities, as securities regulators investigate whether Prudential brokers and managers forged customers' signatures to increase those sales." (AP via Las Vegas Sun)

The Politics of Public Pension Reform (PDF)
44 pages. Excerpt: "This paper attempts both to make sense of cross- national patterns of pension policymaking-- overlapping but distinctive agendas and variability in the amount of policy change but a high overall level of policy continuity in most countries-- and to understand distinctive U.S. patterns in terms of the general forces shaping pension policymaking." (Working Paper published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Whose Money Is It Anyhow?: Governance and Social Investment in Collective Investment Funds (PDF)
40 pages. Excerpt: "This paper examines how several OECD countries have addressed the 'public/private divide' in collective investment 'buffer' funds, drawing on the experience of Canada, New Zealand and Sweden, as well as the Swedish experience with a 'default fund' (for those who do not make an active fund choice) in the individual account defined contribution tier of its public system." (Working Paper published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

The Evolution of Social Security Disabled Widow(er)s' Benefits (PDF)
28 pages. Excerpt: "To provide a basis for assessing the feasibility and appropriateness of further reforms of this benefit, this paper 1) analyzes the evolution of disabled widow(er)s benefits, 2) profiles current and potential disabled widow(er) beneficiaries and 3) assesses six proposals to liberalize eligibility and benefits for disabled widow(er)s benefits." (Working Paper published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Overview: Tax-Exempt Organizations and Deferred Compensation Arrangements (PDF)
At pp. 1-3 of 6-page document. Excerpt: "This article will help you gain insight into the special challenges tax-exempt entities face when designing their retirement programs." (Trucker Huss)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Are CEOs Hiding Behind Long-Term Awards?
Excerpt: "Like their counterparts in the Standard & Poor's 500, the 50 highest-paid [Dallas-Fort Worth area] chief executives saw the value of their stock-option grants fall about 20 percent as stock prices plunged. A few CEOs even stopped receiving options.... But the number of CEOs receiving restricted stock grants nearly doubled. And one category of executive compensation-- so-called long-term incentives-- grew so much that it now nearly equals the average executive's salary and bonus ..." (The Dallas Morning News; one-time registration required)

Executive Compensation: Recent Trends, Changes, and Highlights
Excerpt: "The compensation plan information represents a random sampling of Proxy Statements filed with the SEC from the period Feb. 1, 2003 to March 15, 2003." (Sibson Consulting via Workforce.com)

Who Should Get Options? What Research, Not Theory, Tells Us
In the face of the now seeming certainty that stock options will have to be expensed, many companies and their advisors are thinking of cutting back the number of people eligible for options. Arguments for this approach are based mostly on theories of behavior and assumptions about outcomes. Fortunately, we have actual data on many of these issues--and the data shows that the theories are wrong. (National Center for Employee Ownership)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

ERISA Attorney
for Vaccaro & Prisco
in NY

External Wholesaler
for MassMutual Financial Group
in TX

Enrolled Actuary
for LIEBG
in NY

Conversion Manager
for CNA Trust
in CA

401(k) / DC Compliance Analyst
for CNA Trust
in CA

Senior Employee Benefit Trust Administrator
for The Bank of New York
in CA

Third Party Administrator
for Fred S. Shapiro & Associates, Inc.
in MD
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)

401(k) Fiduciary Issues and Opportunities for Financial Consultants
on June 18, 2003
presented by ASPA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

Qualified Plan Seminar
in FL
June 25, 2003
Global Benefit Advisors/GrayHarris
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)

Labor Department Proposes Class Exemption For Trust REITS
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)


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