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November 6, 2003 - 13,440 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.
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IRS Official Reveals Penalty-Free Ways to Fix Your Pension Plan Problems An Interactive Audio Conference, November 13, 2003, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET During this audio conference, you'll learn about the recent changes to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), the benefits of complying, as well as the penalties associated with non-compliance from an IRS official who will also answer your specific questions.
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Primer on the New Proposed 401(k) Regulations and Final Catch-Up Contribution Regulations (PDF)
33 pages; 10/23/03. Very nice overview in outline format. (ShawPittman LLP)
Overview: Bush Administration Will Revive Retirement Savings Proposals Next Year
Excerpt: "The Bush Administration has indicated that it plans to make retirement savings proposals introduced in February 2003 a core component of its 2004 budget initiative. The proposals, which promise to radically modify the current employment-based retirement structure, have been promoted as a means of simplifying a retirement system that allegedly discourages individuals from saving and employers from sponsoring retirement plans." (CCH News & Information Library)
IRS Updates and Simplifies Correction Programs (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Plan sponsors and their legal counsel should decide whether to review plan administration to determine if it meets IRS requirements. If errors have occurred, plan sponsors should discuss the EPCRS options described in this CIGNA's Pension Analyst and related documents with their legal counsel to determine if any are appropriate for their situation." (CIGNA's Pension Analyst)
Fiduciary Duties and Recent Mutual Fund Developments (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "[DOL officials] have indicated that a plan fiduciary should investigate the impact of these practices on the plan, should a fund in which the plan invests be named. This investigation should reflect a well reasoned decision-making process, rather than an immediate reaction (or no reaction at all). Whether the procedural prudence standards have been met in any particular case necessarily will vary based on individual facts and circumstances." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)
Retirement Plans Weigh Scandal Risks
Excerpt: "Those overseeing retirement plans have a legal obligation to act in the best interest of participants. But it is unclear whether that duty requires them to drop mutual funds that allowed market timing, the practice at the center of the current scandals." (Denver Post)
Pension Plans Faced With Dilemma in Dropping Funds Caught Up in Scandal
Excerpt: "[P]ension plan administrators ... face pressure to fire money management firms that have been implicated but not proved guilty of an offense. What's more, dumping one manager for another may be hazardous because it isn't clear how many fund companies may be charged with wrongdoing before the probe runs its course." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
A Comparison of Portfolio Management Expenses of Mutual Funds and Defined Benefit Pension Plans (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "[C]are must be exercised to ensure that a similar method is used to measure the investment management expenses of mutual funds and pension plans. Failure to standardize expense measures can lead to erroneous conclusions, as in the case of a recent study by John P. Freeman and Stewart L. Brown that concluded that mutual funds pay substantially more than pension plans for portfolio management services." (Investment Company Institute)
Retirement Income Planning, Part 1: What People Want
Excerpt: "What we're talking about is a comprehensive financial planning model for ordinary people. And yes, we are well aware that this has been tried in the past for other purposes, and it has tended not to work. But this is different ... Retirees are different. A comprehensive approach works for them, even though it usually does not work for younger people." (Still River Retirement Planning Software, Inc.)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
CEOs Are Ridiculed for Huge Salaries: Why Aren't Athletes and Entertainers?
Excerpt: "Oprah Winfrey. Michael Jordan. Richard Grasso. What do these three have in common? All have been paid astounding amounts of money, yet only one has been openly criticized and ridiculed because of it." (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)
DOL Amicus Brief in Back Pay ERISA Case in 10th Circuit
Excerpt: "This case involves an action under Title I of [ERISA] and presents an important and recurring question: whether Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3), authorizes back pay as 'appropriate equitable relief' to remedy a violation of Section 510, 29 U.S.C. § 1140.... In June 1994, Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit ... alleging Defendant had violated ERISA Section 510, by 'clos[ing] its Tulsa facilities for the purpose of depriving Plaintiffs of benefits covered by ERISA[.]'" (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Health and Welfare Payroll Analyst (Ref. #PD-15542-BL: Rosemead, Ca)
for Southern California Edison
in CA
Health and Welfare Benefits Analyst (Ref. #PD-15543-BL: Rosemead, Ca)
for Southern California Edison
in CA
Manager, International Compensation & Benefits
for Praxair, Inc.
in CT
Account Executive - Client Relationship Management
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in IL
401(k) Administrator
for MK Recruiting
in NJ
Retirement Trust Professionals/Relationship Managers/OPS
for Reliance Trust Company
in GA
Benefits Analyst
for McKesson Corporation
in CA
Client Service Representative
for LaRhette Manin Benefits Service Group
in MA
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Health Insurance Expansions, 2004: Examining the Options
on November 3, 2003
presented by KaiserNetwork.org
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Benefits/Wage and Hour Compliance Update
in MA
November 20, 2003
Worldwide Employee Benefits Network
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Madison Retirement Resources Names Lori Allison as Client Services Manager
(Madison Retirement Resources)
Space Systems/Loral Leverages Power of the Web with Ceridian HR Solutions
(Ceridian)
401k Education, Inc. Announces a Series of White Papers Focusing On the Business Challenges Facing the Mutual Fund Industry
(401k Education, Inc)
IRS Seeks Nominations for TE/GE Advisory Committee
(Internal Revenue Service)
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