If the headlines in this newsletter aren't clickable for you,
please use the online, clickable version at:
https://benefitslink.com/2003/2003_09_29_retirement.html
(click or copy-and-paste the above address into your web browser)


BenefitsLink
Retirement Plans
Newsletter
To BenefitsLink home page Fill your job openings fast by advertising on BenefitsLink

September 29, 2003 - 13,400 subscribers
Today's sponsor: ASPA

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

ASPA Restructures Education Program

As a result of exam candidate feedback and more than two years of
research, analysis, and planning, ASPA has restructured its education
program. Effective January 2004, study material will be presented in
smaller segments, in a more logical, easier-to-understand way. While
the program is changing, ASPA assures professionals that the same high
educational standards for which ASPA is known will not change. This fall
exam cycle (November 1-December 15) is your last chance to take exams
under the current structure. Register before September 30 and take
advantage of the early registration discount.

Click on the banner above or visit
http://www.asppa.org/edu/restructure.htm for more information.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
401(k) Values Held Steady In 2002
Excerpt: "The good news: Investors with 401(k) accounts lost much less than you would expect last year, given the plunge in stock prices. The bad news: Many did relatively well for the wrong reasons." (Knight Ridder via The [San Jose] Mercury News)

Policy Paper: Reforming the Governance of Defined Benefit Pension Plans
Excerpt: "[On the target Web page] please find [a link to] the policy statement that ERIC delivered to Administration officials on Monday September 22nd in response to their request for ERIC's recommendations for reforms that would be appropriate for the funding and other related rules governing defined benefit plans. The Administration requested ERIC's views in a July 24th meeting along with other business groups." (ERISA Industry Committee)

Vulnerable Pension Funds Seek Rescue
Excerpt: "A combination of dismal stock performance and an outdated pension system has left corporate pension funds more than $350 billion short of what they owe participants, according to accountants, government officials and other experts." (DelawareOnline.com)

ESOPs, Broad-Based Stock Options, and the Stock Market
If a company has an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), does it affect the market price? How about a broad-based stock option plan vs. an executive stock option plan? This article reviews the research to date. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Technical Update 03-21: PBGC Deadline Relief in Response to Hurricane Isabel
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is waiving certain penalties and extending certain deadlines in response to the major disaster declared by the President of the United States on account of Hurricane Isabel beginning September 18, 2003, in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

Overview: Recovered Annuity Surrender Charge Is a Restorative Payment, Not a Plan Contribution
Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200337017 (June 20, 2003). Excerpt: "This ruling stands in contrast to a ruling issued earlier this year in which the IRS determined that under the principles of Revenue Ruling 2002-45, a proposed payment by a plan sponsor to a plan to offset annuity surrender charges did not constitute a restorative payment and should be treated as a plan contribution." (EBIA)

Pension Plans Get Hard Look from Plan Sponsors
Excerpt: "One area that stands out for some potential cost-cutting is the venerable corporate pension plan. In fact, there has been a dramatic shift away from defined-benefit pension plans, according to the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp." (The Sacramento Bee)

Investment Advice and Fiduciary Liability
Excerpt: "In a study conducted by The Profit Sharing/401k Council of America, they found that 22 percent of respondents provide investment advice. Of those that don't, liability concerns were the primarily concern. So, what are the risks?" (401kHelpCenter.com)

Overview: Investment Education or Investment Advice-- Which Are You Providing?
Excerpt: "How do you know if you are giving investment education or investment advice? In Interpretive Bulletin 96-1, The Department of Labor has given some of the best guidance on determining the difference between the two. Here is a summary of the most important points." (401kHelpCenter.com)

Can Unexpected Retirement Explain the Retirement-Consumption Puzzle? (PDF)
44 pages; working paper. Excerpt: "[E]conomists have relied upon the rational expectations version of the Life-Cycle/Permanent Income hypothesis (LCPIH) to judge whether households are adequately saving for retirement.... force. Contrary to this hypothesis, however, empirical investigations have concluded that household consumption falls at the time of retirement, even for those retirements that are expected." (Melvin Stephens Jr. and Steven J. Haider, published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Overview: IRS Issues Final Regulations on Taxation of Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "In the preamble to the final regulations, the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury repeatedly rejected comments urging the adoption of more flexible rules or other changes to the proposed rules. The significant differences between the proposed and the final rules are described below." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)

John Hancock to be Acquired by Manulife
Excerpt: "John Hancock Financial Services Inc. agreed today to be acquired by Manulife Financial Corp. in a stock swap worth about $10.4 billion, confirming a deal involving one of the oldest names in the U.S. financial services industry." (Washington Post)

Many Retirees Having to Head Back to Work
Excerpt: "Pensions, when available, are shrinking beside the swelling costs of making it through old age. Social Security doesn't add that much, and Medicare doesn't pay for drugs-- the fastest-growing health care cost. Savings, which could once be counted on to produce supplemental interest income, yield a fraction of the dollars they once provided. Mounting costs of living and educating children are causing significant numbers of Americans not to save for retirement at all." (The Baltimore Sun)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

401(k) Account Manager
for CNA
in CA

Defined Benefit Implementation Specialists
for Constantin Control Associates
in IL, NJ, NY

401k Sr Plan Specialist
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

401k Client Service Representative
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

Account Manager for Pension Services
for Advisors Pension Services, Inc.
in OH

Employee Benefits Account Manager
for Craford Benefit Consultants
in CA

ERISA Research Lawyer
for Kraw & Kraw
in CA

Pension Plan Administrator 40-50K
for Praxis Search LLC
in NJ
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

Troubleshooting Problems in Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
in ALL STATES
October 22, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.


Handy Links:

Copyright 2003 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.

Published by:

BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151

Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.

Housekeeping: