| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
February 23, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
The Country's Best 401(k) Plans Manual Questions about 401(k) plan administration or legal requirements? Need some sample forms? Look no further--EBIA is here to help! Our two-volume 401(k) Plans manual is a thorough, easy-to-use, and cost-effective solution. Written and edited by top employee benefits attorneys, our 401(k) Plans manual has over 1,700 pages packed with the information you need to answer your 401(k) plan questions. For more information, visit www.ebia.com.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Big Blue's Pension Problems
Excerpt: "'Everybody is watching this case,' said Karen Friedman, policy director at The Pension Rights Center, a consumer watchdog group in Washington, D.C. 'It's a wake-up call for Congress and the business community.'" (Newsday.com)
IBM Vows to Appeal Cash Balance Ruling
Excerpt: "IBM said on Thursday it would appeal a federal court ruling that it must compensate workers and retirees who were judged to have lost out when it abandoned its traditional pension plan, a ruling that could cost IBM billions of dollars." (Reuters via MSNBC.com)
Amicus Brief of Society for Human Resource Management in Supreme Court Anti-Cutback Case (PDF)
27 pages. Excerpt: "May a defined benefit pension plan that complies with the procedural requirements of ERISA Section 203(a)(3)(B) and Tax Code Section 411(a)(3)(B) permanently forfeit early retirement payments during time periods when a reemployed participant remains in suspendible employment?" (Central Laborers' Pension Fund v. Heinz)
Brief of Central Laborers' Pension Fund in Supreme Court Anti-Cutback Case (PDF)
45 pages. Excerpt: "ERISA Section 203(a)(3)(B) authorizes a pension plan to adopt a provision under which the 'payment of benefits' shall be 'suspended' during the period that a retiree returns to the workforce in certain capacities.... The statute does not limit this authorized suspension to only those benefits accrued (i.e., earned by the participant) subsequent to the provision's adoption." (Central Laborers' Pension Fund v. Heinz)
401(k) + 403(b) = Caution
Excerpt: "Individuals who participate in both a 401(k) plan and a 403(b) plan must take into consideration how the 402(g) limit and the 415 annual additions limit are applied. This is illustrated by a question received from one of our clients." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
White House Drops Retirement Savings Credit
Excerpt: "[O]ne of the most progressive tax changes enacted since Bush took office isn't on the agenda the White House outlined in its proposed 2005 federal budget or mentioned in the president's speeches. The Retirement Savings Credit, known commonly as the saver credit, helped an estimated 3.7 million low- to modest-income tax filers put money into a 401(k) or an Individual Retirement Account last year." (Green Bay [Wis.] Press Gazette)
Will Your Golden Years Really Be Golden?
Excerpt: "In the 20 years or so since 401(k) plans were first created, these worker-funded savings plans have become the retirement plan of choice at most workplaces.... But Americans may not be saving enough to provide for a comfortable retirement, and most say they aren't confident in their investing abilities, surveys say." (Charleston [W. Va.] Daily Mail)
Another Question is Answered in the Benefit Plans of Tax Exempt Organizations Q&A Column
If a doctor participates in a hospital's 403(b) plan, can he also participate in a qualified plan maintained by his separate medical practice? If so, what IRS limits must be considered with respect to both plans? (BenefitsLink.com)
Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide -- Retirement Plans (PDF)
4 pages; 2/17/2004 edition. (Hewitt)
The "New Retirement": Emerging Issues Affecting Financial Security
Excerpt: "Researcher Mathew Greenwald, Anna Rappaport, chairperson of the SOA's Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks, and Ken Kent, the Academy's vice president for pension issues, present key findings from new SOA surveys charting changing public attitudes on retirement risk and retirement plan preferences." (American Academy of Actuaries)
State Withholding Information Sheet (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Many states impose an income tax on the taxable portion of payments from your plan. The income tax imposed depends on the state in which you legally reside. This form lists several state income tax withholding rules that you may want to consider when you request your payment." (CIGNA's Pension Analyst)
Overview: Withholding State Income Taxes From Pension and Annuity Payments (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "Each state has different income tax withholding requirements. Generally, there are three types of state withholding requirements: Mandatory withholding; Voluntary withholding; and No withholding." (CIGNA's Pension Analyst)
Government Pension Trustees' Activism Irritates Wall Street
Excerpt: "North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore, who helped start the crusade last year with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and California Treasurer Phil Angelides, said the stream of improprieties on Wall Street pushed him into action. 'Somewhere between Enron and WorldCom I just got mad as hell,' Moore said." (Pantagraph.com)
Illinois Teachers Pension Fund Fires MFS as Manager
Excerpt: "The Illinois Teacher's Retirement System on Friday said it had fired MFS Investment Management as manager of $664 million in its pension fund. The teachers' group said the Boston-based company had been on a watch list for performance reasons and because of a complaint by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission." (Reuters via Forbes)
Stock Market Slump Haunts Taxpayers Through Pension Woes
Excerpt: "The stock market swoon that helped plunge the economy into recession and drenched state treasuries in red ink is hitting taxpayers around the country with another cost: vastly higher public pension [contributions]." (AP via Lakeland [Fla.] Ledger)
Keeping Up with the Trading Scandal
Excerpt: "This page offers links to some of [PLANSPONSOR.com's] special (and ongoing coverage) of the scandal, as well as a list of the firms that have been named, charged, or who have admitted problems with either late trading, market timing, or both. By clicking on individual fund names, you will find our latest coverage of events regarding the firm. As always, recall that allegations are not proof of wrongdoing." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Pension Consultants Need to Come Clean on Conflicts
Excerpt: "If pension consultants -- gatekeepers who match money managers with pension funds -- are receiving money from managers as compensation that's not openly disclosed, does it hurt the performance of the pension funds? If so, how much?" (John Wasik on Bloomberg.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Item 201(d) Equity Compensation Plan Information Table
Corrected link. Excerpt: "In response to an American Bar Association request for guidance, the SEC recently issued interpretive guidance and clarifications addressing equity compensation plan disclosure issues under Regulation S-K, Items 201(d) and 601(b). The SEC's interpretive guidance and clarifications included: ..." (Perkins Coie)
Grand Jury Is Investigating KPMG's Sale of Tax Shelters
Excerpt: "A federal grand jury in Manhattan is investigating the sale of tax shelters by KPMG, the big accounting firm, to corporations and wealthy individuals who used them to escape at least $1.4 billion in federal taxes." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
From Coffee to Jets, Perks for Executives Come Out in Court
Excerpt: "Recent criminal and civil court cases involving top executives have brought to the fore an open secret in corporate America: for executives with multimillion-dollar salaries, no company-paid perk is too small -- or too big -- to accept." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Odds Look Favorable for Actuary Profession
Excerpt: "The actuary profession repeatedly gets top billing as one of the nation's best jobs, according to the Jobs Rated Almanac. Of course, those rankings are a statistical tally of several factors that, theoretically, add up to a good job. It's a number-crunching formula similar to how an actual actuary might evaluate a profession." (Seattle Times)
Opinion: Global Economy Puts American Benefit Packages at Risk
Excerpt: "The very concept of the traditional high-paid American job, with its generous health and pension benefits and paid vacations, is at risk.... The biggest and most ominous new fact for American workers is the dreadful employment environment of the current economic expansion." (Bob Herbert in the New York Times)
Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide -- Human Resources and Employment Law (PDF)
2 pages; 2/17/2004 edition. (Hewitt)
Employers Required To Expense Stock Options By 2005
Excerpt: "Making official what many employers and financial analysts knew was coming, the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced that it will issue rules this year mandating the expensing of employee stock options, most likely effective in early 2005." (BenefitNews.com)
Newly Posted Events
Equity Compensation: Past, Present and Future
in California on March 18, 2004
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter
17th Annual Employee Benefits Conference
in Ohio on June 17, 2004
presented by Cincinnati Bar Association - Employee Benefits Committee
Benefits for Baby Boomers and Beyond
in Illinois on March 11, 2004
presented by The Chicago Bar Association
Newly Posted Press Releases
Study Shows Leaders De-Energized and Why
(eePulse, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Health Management Consultant
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Communications Consultant
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ
Client Service Representative
for National Automobile Dealers Association
in VA
Part-Time 401(k) Account Manager
for CitiStreet
in NJ
Associate
for M Benefit Solutions
in OR
Assistant Vice President - Finance
for MassMutual Financial Group
in MA
Account Executive - Client Relationship Management
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY, TX
Client Relationship Manager
for Benefit Concepts
in RI
Trust Conversion Project Manager
for M&I Corporation
in WI
Director of Customer Service
for DailyAccess (DAC)
in AL
Assistant Administrator - Qualified Plans
for T. Charles Corporation
in CA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 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: