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December 18, 2003 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Securities Industry Association

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

Register now for the SIA 2004 Savings & Retirement Symposium, January 22-23, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

This SIA event brings together key brokerage executives and managers
with a focus on retirement products.  This event is designed for
professionals with an interest in product development, marketing, and
operations.  Sessions include new rollover technology for marketing
enhancements, measuring retirement readiness, managed accounts, and
an update on how to address concerns over market-timing and late-trading.
Participant-driven roundtable discussions on new trends in the
marketplace and health savings accounts will also be covered.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Text of CalPERS Lawsuit Against NYSE (PDF)
49-page pleading; interesting copyright notice from plaintiff's counsel at the bottom of page 1! (California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS))

How Do Cash Balance Plans Affect the Pension Landscape? (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "[T]his brief provides an overview of cash balance plans: how they work, why firms might want to offer them, and what their impact will be on employees and employers." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Text of GAO Report on Frozen Defined Benefit Plans
10 pages. Excerpt: "Because it is uncertain to what extent DB plan freezes pose risks to participants' retirement income security and PBGC's single-employer insurance program, we believe that additional steps are needed to collect information on such plans and evaluate their potential consequences." (U.S. General Accounting Office)

Opinion: Reforming Social Security-- a Balanced Plan
Excerpt: "Our plan restores balance to Social Security without drawing on general revenues, preserves the program's basic structure, and strengthens its social insurance functions. Its combination of revenue and benefit changes reflects the type of balanced approach that was successfully adopted in the 1983 reforms of Social Security." (The Brookings Institution)

Text of Second Circuit Case Upholding Dismissal of ERISA Claims Over Missed Early-Out Window (PDF)
17 pages; Bodine v. Employers Casualty Company, No. 03-20190 (2d Cir. 12/12/03). (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit via FindLaw.com)

45% Pension Increase On Tap Next Month for Former Illinois Governor
12/18/03. Excerpt: "Former Gov. George Ryan will get a 45 percent bump in his state pension next month because of an unusual quirk in the Illinois retirement plan for legislators and governors. Ryan's pension will soar from $128,087 to $185,727, significantly more than the $150,691 salary he made as governor." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Opinion: CalPERS' Strange Alliance
Excerpt: "On Monday, the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement System voted not to fire AllianceBernstein, one of the firms implicated in the mutual fund scandal, but to put it on a watch list pending the outcome of various investigations." (Kathleen Pender on SFGate.com)

CalPERS Calls On Grocers To Settle With Unions
Excerpt: "In letters to the chairmen and CEOs of Safeway Inc., Albertson's Inc. and Kroger Co., CalPERS Investment Committee Chair Rob Feckner called on the three companies to negotiate in good faith with the UFCW to provide a health benefit package that enhances the productivity of their employees as well as the long-term value for shareholders." (Sacramento Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Overview: DOL Proposes Electronic Filing for ERISA Investment Advisers
Excerpt: "The proposed rule, which investment advisers can rely on beginning immediately, would clarify that state-registered investment advisers must file through the IARD in order to satisfy their DOL filing requirement. Once the proposed regulations are issued in final form, the Labor Secretary no longer will accept copies of state forms for purposes of this requirement." (Deloitte's Human Capital Advisory Services)

Chart of Internal Revenue Code Sections Affected by Short Plan Years
Excerpt: "When an employer changes a plan year, a short plan year-- generally defined as a plan year of less than 12 months-- is used. Questions often arise about which limits and/or compensation amounts must be prorated in a short plan year ... There are also compensation and/or limitation issues that arise when a participant enters a plan after the first day of the first full plan year (and, thus, is not in the plan for the 365 days of the first year of participation)." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

PBGC Involuntarily Terminates Kaiser Pension Plan
Excerpt: "Departing salaried employees of Kaiser Aluminum pulled money out of their pension fund so quickly last year that they virtually wiped out the assets, according to the government, which canceled the pension plan yesterday, saying it had to protect what was left for past and future Kaiser retirees." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Additional Firings by Putnam May Fuel More Redemptions
Excerpt: "Putnam Investments' decision to fire another handful of employees for improper trading could trigger more redemptions at a time the nation's fifth-largest mutual fund company is already battling fraud charges, financial planners and analysts said on Wednesday." (Reuters via Lycos News)

Updated: Retirement Savings and Household Wealth: a Summary of Recent Data (PDF)
28 pages; updated 12/11/03. Excerpt: "The report summarizes findings from a CRS analysis of the Federal Reserve Board's 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances and a Census Bureau survey conducted in 2000." (Congressional Research Service)

Study: Women More Likely To Lack Retirement Resources
Excerpt: "[F]or older, low-income women the expected shortfall is going to place some interesting demands on public, charitable and family resources, says [Temple University professor Jack L. VanDerhei]. The problem becomes even more serious if one considers what happens to women, who already have longer life expectancies than men, should their health decline late in life." (CBS Marketwatch)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

FAQs Regarding New NYSE Rules on Stockholder Approval for Equity Compensation Plans
Excerpt: "The New York Stock Exchange's new rules on stockholder approval for equity compensation plans (303A(8)) became effective on June 30, 2003. Since then, the Exchange has received numerous inquiries from listed companies and their representatives regarding the interpretation and application of the new rules. To assist our listed companies, the Exchange has prepared the attached responses to the most frequently asked questions ('FAQ') ..." (New York Stock Exchange)

Will Stock Options Expensing Cost the U.S. Jobs?
Excerpt: "[F]orget about the arcane accounting technicalities that have dominated the debate so far. In the face of growing concern about sluggish job growth and outsourcing to Asia, tech executives have settled on a far more potent strategy: They're playing the jobs card. Make us expense options, they warn, and the already worrisome leaching of tech positions abroad will only accelerate ..." (Business Week)


Newly Posted Events

Employee Privacy and Employer Oversight: Striking the Balance -- A 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on January 22, 2004
presented by Thompson Publishing Group

Southeast Benefits Conference (SEBC) Annual Fly-In
in Georgia on April 28, 2004
presented by Southern Employee Benefits Conference

Southern Employee Benefits Conference (SEBC) Annual Educational Conference
in Virginia on September 29, 2004
presented by Southern Employee Benefits Conference

Scope of ERISA Preemption of State HMO Liability Statutes
Nationwide on January 15, 2004
presented by American Health Lawyers Association
Newly Posted Press Releases

Swerdlin & Company Is An A+ Employer!
(Swerdlin & Company)

Hassle-Free Cafeteria Plan Administration Is Now Available
(Swerdlin & Company)

Online Communication Benefits Olympus
(Benefit Software Inc.)

“One Step” Program to Simplify Retirement Decisions for 401(k) Participants
(The Vanguard Group)

The ESOP Association and University of Pennsylvania Announce Employee Ownership Leadership Program
(ESOP Association)

Cash Balance Pension Plans: The Best of Both Worlds?
(Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

ERISA Pension Analyst / Paralegal / Plan Administrator
for Retirement Plan Administration and ERISA Specialists
in IL

Account Manager-Client Service
for BenefitStreet
in CA

Retirement Services Implementation Specialist
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ

Sales & Service Specialist
for Principal Financial Group
in AZ

Institutional Trust Consultant
for BB&T (Branch Banking & Trust Co.)
in GA


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