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March 9, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: SunGard Corbel Inc.
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The 5500 Filing Guide – Significantly Reduce Your Research Time! Unsure what the Department of Labor is requiring on your 5500 and where to find the answers? The 5500 Filing Guide is designed to help you understand annual Form 5500 rules for pension and welfare benefit plans-- covering what the government is asking and why. Available as an electronic reference tool built right into Relies® Government Forms 5500, or in a hardcopy, printed format. File your 5500 correctly and confidently!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
The Billion Dollar Club-- Underfunded Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
Excerpt: "Ten of the nation's largest multiemployer pension plans are underfunded by a billion dollars or more. Government records disclose the following fund deficits." (Raw & Raw)
Full Text: 2002 Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems (PDF)
39 pages; 12/03. NCR's web site is WWW (Wisconsin Legislative Council, published by National Council on Teacher Retirement)
Chart: 30-Year Treasury Rate v. ERIC Composite Corporate Rate
Excerpt: "H.R. 3108 (The Pension Funding Equity Act), currently before Congress, includes a composite corporate bond rate to replace the defunct 30 year Treasury rate for purposes of calculating pension liabilities.... The following chart compares the current rate of the 30-year Treasury rate with a composite corporate rate consisting of the aforementioned bonds." (ERISA Industry Committee)
Text of Minor Corrections to Proposed PT Class Exemption for Rollover of Mandatory Distributions (PDF)
Excerpt: "1. On page 9849, in the second column in the 23 rd line, delete '29 CFR 2550.401 W-2' and insert therein '29 CFR 2550.404 W-2.' 2. On page 9851, in the third column in the 23 rd line under section IV (e), delete 'equality' and insert therein 'liquidity.'" (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Air Canada Nonunion Workers Given Option to Stay In Defined Benefit Plan
Excerpt: "Air Canada's current nonunion employees will have the option to remain enrolled in its defined benefit pension plan under a revised proposal offered by Trinity Time Investments, the airline's new equity investor.... Employees who convert to the defined contribution plan would receive a bonus of 10% of salary, concurrent to an initial public offering of a restructured Air Canada ..." (Business Insurance)
Ethics-Based Mutual Funds Become Vogue in Aftermath of Corporate Scandals (PDF)
Excerpt: "[M]ore and more ordinary investors are looking for sanitized incubators for the nest eggs. That's why socially responsible investing is going through a boom cycle. More money is pouring into mutual funds and managed accounts that apply ethical screens to their investment choices." (Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via Miami Herald)
The Price of Mutual Fund Abuses
Excerpt: "More than likely, the Enron debacle probably had no significant effect on your own investment portfolio. However, with one out of every three of us holding shares in mutual funds, current problems in the mutual fund industry are certain to impact most investors." (San Antonio Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Living Arrangements and Supplemental Security Income Receipt Among the Aged (PDF)
36 pages; working paper by Melissa M. Favreault and Douglas A. Wolf. Executive summary at http://www.bc.edu/centers/crr/papers/summary/wp_2004-03.pdf (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Interactions Between Social Security Reform and Supplemental Security Income Program for the Aged (PDF)
45 pages; working paper by Paul S. Davies and Melissa M. Favreault, February 2004. Executive summary at http://www.bc.edu/centers/crr/papers/summary/wp_2004-02.pdf (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Women Sharpen Views on Social Security
Excerpt: "With women having the most to win or lose from changes in Social Security, legal experts and other activists are sharpening their arguments about a major issue in the presidential campaign." (WomensENews.com)
Opinion: Social Security SOS
Excerpt: "Social Security, considered to be the nation's bulwark for ensuring secure retirements, is in urgent need of repair.... The economic report of the president promotes the case for Social Security reform by devoting an entire chapter to assessing the system's financial status and exploring the feasibility of a personal accounts option." (The Cato Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of DOL Request for Comments on Proposed Design Improvements to EFAST System (PDF)
Excerpt: "The approaching end of the current EFAST's scheduled life cycle creates an opportunity to reconceptualize and reengineer the system with an eye toward using Web-based technology to improve the process of collecting and disseminating information about employee benefit plans and their operations. This opportunity was not available when the existing system was built." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Tax Expenditures and Employee Benefits: An Update from the FY 2005 Budget (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The federal government supports the provision of employee benefits through preferential tax treatment in the Internal Revenue Code." (Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Domestic Partner Benefits: Facts and Background (PDF)
5 pages; updated March 2004. (Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Senators Ready for Efforts to Curb Tax Cuts
Excerpt: "Top Senate Republicans are gearing up to head off Democratic efforts to curb President Bush's tax cuts while fighting back proposed reductions in his defense spending plans.... Democrats were preparing one amendment aimed at highlighting their election-year argument that the government should stop its traditional practice of using Social Security trust fund cash for other functions." (AP via Washington Post)
Newly Posted Events
Fundamentals of Qualified Plans Seminar
Nationwide on May 6, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel
Newly Posted Press Releases
SunGard Corbel Releases New Communication Pamphlets
(SunGard Corbel)
412i Company to start Free Video Conferences with Advisors
(The 412(i) Company)
VPA Makes The Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Fastest Growing Private Companies” List
(VPA, INC.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401(k) Administrator
for ML Kerns & Associates, Inc., a division of American Benefit Resources, Inc.
in TX
Team Manager - Client Services
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Specialist
for Towers Perrin
in PA
Consultant- Personalized Communication Services
for Towers Perrin
in PA
Benefits Counsel
for Sony Corporation of America
in NY
Administrator w/ 1 - 3 Years Experience
for Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc.
in CA
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