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Retirement Plans
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March 31, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
IRS Extends Remedial Amendment Period for New Plans or Amendments to Plans (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The remedial amendment period with respect to disqualifying provisions ... that are put into effect (in the case of new plans) or adopted (in the case of existing plans) after December 31, 2001, is extended to the end of the EGTRRA remedial amendment period.... The time by which good faith EGTRRA plan amendments must be adopted is not extended." (Internal Revenue Service)

PBGC Clarifies Scope of Relief Provided in Technical Update 04-2
Excerpt: "In Technical Update 04-2, the PBGC provided interest rate relief ONLY for the reporting requirements discussed in the update. Nothing in Technical Update 04-2 affects the interest rate to be used when determining the amount of premium to be paid for a plan." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

Senator Says Veto Cloud Still Hangs Over Pension Funding Bill
Excerpt: "The White House has not budged from a veto threat against a pension relief bill that includes aid for plans sponsored by more than one employer, Sen. Charles Grassley said on Tuesday." (Reuters via New York Times; one-time registration required)

Business Groups Urge Action On Pension Funding Reform
Excerpt: "The groups on Monday sent conferees a letter urging them to finish crafting a compromise measure that would allow employers in 2004 and 2005 to use a corporate bond-linked index to value pension plan liabilities." (Business Insurance)

District Attorney Hunting for 'Criminal' Acts in Houston Pension Underfunding Matter
Excerpt: "The Harris County district attorney is investigating Houston's pension crisis, focusing on what led to retirement benefit changes made in 2001 that turned out to be unaffordable for the city. 'We are doing an investigation on whether there were any criminal improprieties ... when changes were made,' District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal told the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday evening." (Houston Chronicle)

Household Demand for Variable Annuities (PDF)
40 pages; working paper. Excerpt: "Despite the significance of both equity ownership and annuitization, very little research has focused on the rapid growth during the 1990s of a class of products known as variable annuities, which in principle combine equity ownership and an option to annuitize." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Overview: IRS Proposes New Rules On Simplifying Existing Plan Distribution Options
Excerpt: "New IRS proposed regs would allow plan sponsors that have many different payment options to reduce the number of options available, thus simplifying plan administration. The proposed regs cannot be relied upon until they are adopted in final form." (RIA Pension & Benefits Week)

Overview: Proposed Regulations on Mandatory IRA Rollovers for Small Accounts
Excerpt: "Prior to EGTRRA, accounts valued at $5,000 or less could simply be 'cashed out' with a check sent to the participant. However, the new EGTRRA provision is not applicable until the Department of Labor (DOL) issues final regulations ..." (BNA Tax Management)

Practitioner's Forum: Mandatory Automatic Rollover Requirement and the DOL's Proposed Safe Harbor
Excerpt: "The following is the transcript of an informal discussion of employee benefit practitioners held in Washington, D.C. on March 9, 2004. The topic is the new mandatory automatic rollover requirement, enacted by [EGTRRA], and the ... proposed safe harbor under which a plan administrator will be deemed to have satisfied ERISA's fiduciary requirements with respect to both the selection of an individual retirement plan provider and the investment of funds ..." (BNA Tax Management)

Text of 117-Page 1998 Private Pension Plan Bulletin Prepared by DOL (PDF)
117 pages; Number 11, Winter 2001-2002. Excerpt: "This is the eleventh edition of the Private Pension Plan Bulletin. The tabulations presented in this report contain data based on 1998 Form 5500 filings. Reports for 1998 plan years were filed by plans with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for fiscal years beginning anywhere from January 1, 1998 to December 30, 1998. The IRS processed 1998 filings from August 1999 through July 2001." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Overview: IRS Issues Guidance on the Purchase and Valuation of Life Insurance Contracts
Excerpt: "While this guidance, which is immediately effective, was intended to shut down abusive transactions involving fully insured pension plans under ยง412(i), much of it will have effects beyond that context." (BNA Tax Management)

The Savings Race
Excerpt: "[U]nless they sharply increase their saving, many of today's younger workers will have to work well beyond 'normal' retirement and may spend their later years struggling to make ends meet or being more dependent on relatives than they'd like." (AARP Bulletin)

Valuing Assets in Retirement Saving Accounts from an Economic Perspective
Working paper. Excerpt: "Many studies compare household balances in tax-deferred retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans with financial assets held outside these accounts, but these different asset components are not directly comparable.... [A] dollar held inside a retirement account may be less valuable in supporting retirement income than a dollar held in a similar asset outside these accounts." (National Bureau of Economic Research)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Text of DOL Amicus Brief in 5th Circuit Standing-to-Sue Case Alleging Fiduciary Breach Under DC Plan (PDF)
33 pages; Milofsky v. American Airlines. Excerpt: "Statement of the Issues: 1. Whether participants in individual account pension plans have standing to sue plan fiduciaries under section 502(a)(2) of [ERISA] for relief to the plan when the alleged violations affected some, but not all, of the plan participants' accounts. 2. Whether participants are required to exhaust internal plan remedies before bringing suit to recover losses resulting from fiduciary breaches under section 502(a)(2) ..." (U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor General)

Text of DOL Amicus Brief in 2d Circuit ERISA 510 Case (PDF)
26 pages; Nicolaou v. Horizon Media. Excerpt: "Question Presented: Whether section 510 of ERISA ... protects from retaliation a plan participant and fiduciary who complains to management concerning possible ERISA violations." (U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor General)

Britain to Give Legal Recognition to G.ay Partnerships
Excerpt: "Britain confirmed plans on Wednesday to give legal recognition to g.ay partnerships, a move bringing it into with most other EU members.... Under Britain's Civil Partnership Bill, same-sex couples will be allowed to make a legal commitment to each other at a formal ceremony and have similar rights on pensions and property to heterose.xual partners." (Reuters via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Massachusetts Attorney General Opinion Lessens Ability of Many Same-Sex Couples to Marry
Excerpt: "Same-sex couples living in states where laws ban g.ay marriage will not be able to marry in Massachusetts, the state's attorney general said Tuesday." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Interested in Speaking to Upcoming NAGDCA Convention? Details Here
Excerpt: "The committee identified topics ... for the general sessions, concurrent sessions ... and government member breakout sessions, and would appreciate your feedback.... The speakers for the general sessions have already been determined." (National Association of Governmental Defined Contribution Plans)

Giant, Safeway Grocery Workers OK Pact
Excerpt: "The operators of the two largest supermarket chains in the Baltimore-Washington area avoided a possible strike Tuesday as employees voted to ratify a new four-year labor agreement." (AP via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Newly Posted Events

What's New with FASB Webcast
Nationwide on May 19, 2004
presented by ASPA (American Society of Pension Actuaries)

National Teleconference on 412i Plans
Nationwide on April 23, 2004
presented by The 412(i) Company

Aggressive Practices in Employee Benefits: The IRS Crackdown on Schemes too Good to be True -- 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on April 20, 2004
presented by Thompson Interactive

Pensions&Investments Defined Contribution 401(k) West Coast Conference
in California on October 24, 2004
presented by Pensions & Investments and IBF*International Business Forum

5th Annual Employers' Summit on Controlling Healthcare Costs
in Virginia on May 12, 2004
presented by IBF Conferences*International Business Forum
Newly Posted Press Releases

ICMA-RC Selects Newkirk to Develop Age-Based Financial Planning Seminars
(Newkirk)

Deputy Assistant Secretary Named For Employee Benefits Security Administration
(U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.)

Workplace Options Launches the ROI Forum - a Web-based Forum Dedicated to Work/Life and EAP Return on Investment (ROI)
(Workplace Options)

IOMA Research Provides New Framework for Attacking Skyrocketing Corporate Health Care
(IOMA (The Institute of Management and Administration))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Sr. Plan Administrator
for American National Insurance Company
in TX

401(k) Sales
for Alliance Benefit Group of New England
in MA, NH

Relationship Manager
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

Plan Tax & Reporting Supervisor
for The Vanguard Group
in PA

Defined Benefit Specialist
for The Paragon Consulting Group, Inc.
in MA, VA

Pension Compliance Administrator
for Interactive Retirement Systems, Ltd.
in MN

Senior Advisor, Business Integrator & Production Support
for NRECA
in VA

Actuarial Associate- Retirement
for Towers Perrin
in CT, DC, GA, MA, NJ, NY, PA

Director Of Investment Marketing
for MassMutual
in MA

Retirement Plan Administrators
for Metavante Corporation
in CA

Conversion Project Leader
for The Vanguard Group
in PA

DB/DC Administrator
for Gelman Pension Consulting, Inc.
in NY

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