| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
January 19, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation
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ASC - QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR THE PENSION INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS ASC provides complete automation for the pension office, including: DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, sophisticated Compliance Testing, DV Direct Daily Valuation, Advanced Information Manager Database (AIM), and Single-Step Processing. All ASC Technical Support Members were experienced Pension Administrators or Actuaries before joining ASC -- and most have been with ASC for over 10 years.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Old Economy Jolt: Wider Pension Woes
Excerpt: "The Nasdaq has been roaring over the past year and just yesterday IBM and Sun Microsystems cheered the market with their results. But there was also some troublesome news from the old economy as the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the agency that insures the private retirement plans of more than 44 million U.S. workers, said its deficit hit $11.2 billion in fiscal 2003." (Forbes.com; one-time registration required)
Opinion: PBGC Deficit Not a 'Crisis' But Problem Can't Be Ignored
Excerpt: "The worst thing lawmakers could do, would be to enact legislation that makes the termination of seriously underfunded plans a self-fulfilling prophesy. Accordingly, any effort to impose unduly burdensome new funding rules on plans could unintentionally backfire and make it impossible for those sponsoring companies to continue their plans ..." (American Benefits Council)
Troubled Pensions Seek In-Kind Contribution Solutions
Excerpt: "[P]lan sponsors facing large mandatory pension contributions shouldn't make plans to put stock, real estate or other non-cash assets into their plans unless they have run out of all other options, says Ivan Strasfeld, EBSA director of exemptions." (BenefitNews.com)
Text of American Benefits Council Model Letter to Participants Asking Help on Proposed SEC Rule
Excerpt: "This email is being sent to you because you are a participant in the [insert name of your plan]. We are concerned that a rule being proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will significantly affect your ability to trade mutual funds on a daily basis. If you share this concern after reading this email, please send an email message to the SEC and your U.S. representative and senators by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page and following the instructions." (American Benefits Council)
Opinion: Investors Still Left In Dark As Fund Firms Keep Mum
Excerpt: "The Alpha Group is a loose alliance of 15 leading financial advisers and three top financial services industry practitioners whose primary agenda is to elevate the best practices of financial planning to new heights.... Last month, the Alpha Group sent the nation's major fund companies a questionnaire ... Responses were due by Jan. 7. None arrived." (Charles A. Jaffe in the Philadelphia Inquirer)
ERIC Briefing Paper on Proposed Amendments to the SEC's Mutual Fund Forward-Pricing Rule
Excerpt: "ERIC has issued a briefing paper that discussed the SEC's proposed amendments to its rule governing the pricing of mutual fund shares. The paper was developed by John Vine, partner with the law firm Covington and Burling, and it summarizes the background for the proposed amendments, the current and proposed pricing rules, and the impact of the proposed amendments on ยง 401(k) and other retirement plans that allow participants to direct the investment of the funds in their accounts." (ERISA Industry Committee)
Opinion: You Can Stop Brokers Skimming Your Retirement Funds
Excerpt: "I discovered that a broker friend of my boss had sold him a plan larded up with needless, broker-friendly fees. Since the president of the firm was also getting skimmed, he improved the plan fairly quickly to include better, less costly funds." (John Wasik on Bloomberg.com)
Opinion: Administration's Pension Reform Proposals Would Increase Pension Wealth Inequality
Excerpt: "[T]he administration's own makeover of tax cuts for the rich [is] dubbed retirement savings accounts (RSAs) and lifetime savings accounts (LSAs), meant to foster retirement income security in an 'ownership society.'" (Center for American Progress)
Reliance on Sponsor's Bad Tax Advice Does Not Expand Medical Exception to Early Distribution Penalty
Excerpt: "This case caught our attention because it illustrates what can happen when a plan sponsor gives bad tax advice.... 'Although plan sponsors are required to provide basic information to participants about the consequences of retirement plan distributions, we continue to recommend that plan sponsors avoid giving individualized tax advice." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
New Edition of the Stock Options Book
The NCEO presents excerpts from, and a downloadable table of contents for, the new (6th) edition of The Stock Options Book, written by attorney Alisa J. Baker. Used as a text by the Certified Equity Professional Institute, this book is a classic in the field. The new edition includes updates on recent developments and an index. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Benefit Implications of the Massachusetts Court Ruling Allowing Same-Sex Marriage (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Some sponsors of private sector plans may take the position that same-gender marriages will not be recognized for any benefits and plans governed only by federal law (e.g., qualified retirement plans, self-insured health benefit programs and benefit continuation under COBRA) because of DOMA." (The Segal Company)
Text of Fall 2003 Issue of Newsletter for National Association of State Retirement Administrators (PDF)
28 pages; includes summaries of presentations at recent national conference. (National Association of State Retirement Administrators)
Four Top Fire Union Reps Get Tax-Free Pensions, Raising Questions in NYC
Excerpt: "Four top fire union officials who left or were voted out of office after Sept. 11, 2001, and who had spent most of the previous eight years doing administrative work have retired on tax-free disability pensions, city records show." (Newsday)
Justices Consider Business Owner's ERISA Rights
Excerpt: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 heard oral arguments on whether a sole shareholder in a professional corporation is an 'employee' with rights as a 'participant' in an ERISA plan. If so, the plan assets are off limits in bankruptcy. The case is Yates v. Hendon, U.S. Supreme Court Docket No. 02-458." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Newly Posted Events
Enhancing Integrative Disability Management Programs
in Nevada on March 25, 2004
presented by World Research Group
Introduction to ESOPs
in California on March 23, 2004
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Managing Retirement Assets Symposium
in Nevada on March 31, 2004
presented by LOMA
Newly Posted Press Releases
U.S. Labor Department Files Friend of the Court Brief in WorldCom Class Action Lawsuit
(U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Jr. Administrator
for Capital Investment Advisory
in FL
Compliance Specialist
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Pension Plan Administrator - Defined Contribution
for American Express Tax & Business Services
in AZ
Retirement Plans Analyst/Coordinator
for Pacific Life
in CA
Attorney
for Stoel Rives
in WA
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