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February 5, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
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Register now for the Spring 2004 QKA exams from ASPA! Now is the time to enhance your career as a retirement plan professional by earning the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) credential. Get started this spring with the 2004 versions of the introductory Pension Administrator take-home exams. You can also download the Qualified 401(k) Administrator information kit below, it contains the registration form and answers to your most frequently asked questions! For more information, call (703) 516-9300 or email at educaspa@asppa.org. Click here for the QKA- Qualified 401(k) Administrator kit: www.asppa.org/qka/
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Boehner, Johnson Blast Daschle for Holding Defined Benefit Pension Reform Hostage
Press release (2/4/04). Excerpt: "House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) today blasted Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) for refusing to move forward with a House-Senate conference on a bipartisan pension bill designed to help underfunded pension plans stay afloat and ensure that workers can count on receiving all of their pension benefits when they retire." (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce)
Opinion: Veto This Pension Funding 'Reform'
Excerpt: "The pension 'reform' bill that passed the Senate 86 to 9 in late January was pushed by a potent combination, big business and organized labor. That powerful lobbying combination now hopes to harness election-year politics to stymie a threatened White House veto." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Summary/Comparison of Bush Administration Savings Proposals (Fiscal Years 2004 vs. 2005) (PDF)
5 pages. Includes parallel summary of current law provisions. (The Benefits Group of Davis & Harman LLP via the American Benefits Council)
Opinion: Key Thoughts on RSAs and LSAs
Excerpt: "Much of the revenue loss associated with the proposals would accrue to high-income households. Such households are likely to respond mostly by shifting existing assets into the tax-preferred accounts over time, rather than by undertaking new saving." (Leonard E. Burman, William G. Gale and Peter Orszag, published by the Urban Institute)
Massachusetts Regulator Charges Franklin in Probe
Excerpt: "Franklin Resources, Inc. on Wednesday joined a growing list of money managers caught in a trading scandal when Massachusetts regulators charged the fourth-largest U.S. mutual fund firm with fraud for making special deals that hurt long-term investors." (Reuters via MSN Money)
For Some, Roth IRA Withdrawal Time Arrives
Excerpt: "[P]eople who opened Roths in 1998 and 1999 can now take money out without paying the 10 percent penalty that investors associate with IRA withdrawals before age 59 1/2. Of course, you probably shouldn't take money out, but I'll get to that later." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
The QDRO Gamble
Excerpt: "A lot of things can happen between the time a Qualified Domestic Relations Order is entered and the time it actually goes into pay status." (Paul R. Commerford on DivorceNet.com)
Overview: IRS Rules Distributions Attributable To Rollovers Are Not Subject To Timing Restrictions
Excerpt: "The IRS has issued guidance stating that, if an eligible retirement plan separately accounts for amounts attributable to rollover contributions to the plan, distributions of those amounts are not subject to the restrictions on permissible timing that apply, under the applicable requirements of the Code, to other plan distributions. Therefore, pursuant to a participant's request, the plan may distribute amounts attributable to rollover contributions at any time." (CCH News & Information Library)
Development of a Global Approach to Retirement Planning
Excerpt: "This article defines the multitude of reasons multinationals have decided to use the regional or global approach to retirement planning. It also discusses the considerations multinationals must take into account prior to opting for such an approach." (Aon Consulting)
Governmental Pension Plans on Notice of SEC Interest in 'Pay to Play' Schemes
Excerpt: "The SEC probe, launched with letters of inquiry to major consulting firms, deals with compensation to those firms in so-called 'pay-to-play' schemes. The SEC is worried that payments to consultants from money managers, mutual funds or others are influencing the consulting firms' recommendations to their pension fund clients on which money managers or mutual funds to use." (Denver Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Gross-Up to Participants' Accounts for Annuity Early Termination Charge Is Not a Plan Contribution
Excerpt: "Among the array of investment charges that plan administrators encounter when choosing 401(k) plan investments is the 'Market Value Equalizer' (MVE) that some insurance companies offer to induce plans to switch group annuity contracts.... In this private letter ruling, the IRS ruled that an MVE was not a plan contribution. In reaching its conclusion, the IRS focused on the fact that the MVE would not be a permanent addition to the participants' accounts." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))
Balances in Defined Contribution Plans and IRAs
Excerpt: "The likelihood of having a DC account or IRA increases markedly as income increases. Only 25 percent of households in the bottom 20 percent of the income distribution have any defined contribution or IRA assets." (Peter Orszag, published by the Urban Institute)
Retirement Lessons From Sweden
Excerpt: "[I]n 2000 Sweden instituted a system of personal accounts that holds many lessons for any country seeking to reform its retirement system." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Bush Expected to Endorse Amendment on Marriage
Excerpt: "President Bush condemned the Massachusetts court ruling on g*y marriage on Wednesday, and conservative groups said the White House had informed them that the president would soon endorse efforts to pass an amendment to the United States Constitution defining marriage to be between a man and a woman." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Massachusetts Gives New Push to G*y Marriage in Strong Ruling
Excerpt: "Massachusetts' highest court removed the state's last barrier to g*y marriage on Wednesday, ruling that nothing short of full-fledged marriage would comply with the court's earlier ruling in November, and that civil unions would not pass muster." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Text of DOL Advisory Opinion 2004-01A: Governmental Plan Definition
Excerpt: "[I]t appears that the Health Fund and Paraprofessional Fund were established and are maintained pursuant to collective bargaining between the School Committee and the Union. The School Committee has the authority to substantially participate in the discretionary administration of the Health Fund and Paraprofessional Fund by reason of its power to appoint three trustees to the board of trustees of each Fund." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
California Grocers Reject Binding Arbitration
Excerpt: "Supermarket chains involved in a four-month strike-lockout with Southern California grocery clerks rejected an offer from the workers' union Wednesday to have its members return to work immediately if the companies would agree to binding arbitration." (AP via Washington Post)
Last Hurrah for Stock Options
Excerpt: "For many technology workers with stock options, the market rally of the past several months represented the first time in years that shares are worth more than the paper they're printed on. Consequently, as shares remained aloft, employees cashed in options with a vengeance." (Wired Magazine)
Newly Posted Events
Consumer-Driven Health Care - Solution to Rising Health Care Costs
in District of Columbia on February 26, 2004
presented by International Society of CEBS - Capital Chapter
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Client Services Representative
for PAi
in NV, WI
401(k) Client Relationship Manager
for 401(k) Advisors
in CA
401(k) Enroller with Bi-Lingual Spanish Speaking Skills
for 401(k) Advisors
in CA
Educational Product Sales
for Financial Finesse Inc
in CA
Pensions/401(k) ERISA Compliance Specialist
for Parker White Consultants, Inc.
in NY
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