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April 1, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

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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)
Senate Democrats Underwhelmed by Offer on Pension Funding Bill
Excerpt: "[A] spokesman for Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the offer being circulated on Wednesday night was similar to one the Democrats rejected last Friday because it punished pension plans sponsored by more than one employer." (Reuters via New York Times; one-time registration required)

Embezzler Can Keep 401(k), Court Rules
Excerpt: "A woman who embezzled $1 million from a Portland company doesn't have to turn over all of her pension funds to the business as part of court-ordered restitution, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday." ([Corvallis, Ore.] Gazette-Times)

Opinion: How to Fix Treasury's Proposed Cash Balance and Pension Equity Plan Legislation
Excerpt: "The Treasury proposal, however, can indeed be fixed -- and rather simply. Treasury should align with the President by limiting its proposal to protect those participants who are too close to retirement to reasonably adjust their personal plans. As the President says, 'benefits should not be changed for people at or near retirement.' Exactly." (Watson Wyatt)

April Fools' Pension Joke in Japan Falls Flat
Excerpt: "A Japanese daily playfully reported on Thursday, April Fool's Day, that Japan's government was considering handing out lottery tickets to make up for future cuts in payments from the ailing public pension system." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

GAO Report: Public Reports Provide Useful but Limited Information on Private Pension Funds' Health
47 pages. Excerpt: "Information about the financial condition of defined benefit pension plans is provided in two sources: regulatory reports to the government and corporate financial statements. The two sources can often appear to provide contradictory information.' Executive summary at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04395high.pdf (U.S. General Accounting Office)

Accounting for the True Cost of Pension Plans
Excerpt: "Accounting for defined benefit pension plans has been likened to accounting for incentive stock options with respect to the distorting effects that accounting practice can have on reported income. The recent rise and fall in the equity markets has drawn attention to the way that accounting rules can mask the true costs of the plans from investors." (CPA Journal)

When IRA Owner Dies, Must Beneficiary Information Be Verified Under Patriot Act?
Excerpt: "USA PATRIOT Act section 326 requires identity information and verification only when a new account is opened. Thus, identity information and verification are not required unless the beneficiary opens a new account." (Compliance Headquarters)

OK, Change the World, Mr. Pension Fund Manager, But Protect My 401(k) Balance
Excerpt: "Don't look now, but Karl Marx is back, and he's wearing a Rolex watch and an Armani suit. The workers of the world have awakened to find they own big portions of corporate America through stock in their pension funds, and now they're rising in righteous anger to set things straight. Or so you might think." ([San Jose] Mercury News)

Text of Senate Lifetime Savings Account Proposal (PDF)
12 pages. (Via American Benefits Council)

Man Who Blew Self Up in Bolivia Congress Had Spent Years Seeking Pension
Excerpt: "Bolivian law grants retirement benefits at age 65 or after a worker has made contributions for at least 20 years. Picachuri, according to government officials, fell five years short of the minimum requirement, having worked in the mines for 15 years.... The suicide 'was the act of a desperate man.' Bolivian President Carlos Mesa told the nation Tuesday night." (AP via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Air Canada, Union Reach Pact On Pension Change
Excerpt: "The agreement would allow all current active and inactive airline employees represented by District 140 of the International Assn. of Machinists & Aerospace Workers to choose between a defined contribution or defined benefit plan." (Business Insurance)

Dollar Wisdom For Teenagers
Excerpt: "'Parents are the number one influence on teens when it comes to money,' says Don Blandin, president of the D.C.-based American Savings Education Council. A 1999 ASEC survey found that 94 percent of 16-to-22-year-olds are likely to turn to their parents for financial education and guidance." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Text of FASB Exposure Draft on Accounting for Stock Options
Excerpt: "On March 31, 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a proposed Statement, Share-Based Payment, that addresses the accounting for share-based payment transactions in which an enterprise receives employee services in exchange for (a) equity instruments of the enterprise or (b) liabilities that are based on the fair value of the enterprise's equity instruments or that may be settled by the issuance of such equity instruments." (Financial Accounting Standards Board)

Accounting Board Wants Options to Be Reported as an Expense
Excerpt: "Addressing a concern of many investors, the Financial Accounting Standards Board proposed yesterday that companies be required to report as an expense the value of the stock options they give to employees and executives." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Opinion: High-Tech Community Must Surrender on Stock Options Expensing
Excerpt: "The aftermath of the technology bubble has taught business many lessons. In the accounting realm, one stands out: No longer should public companies be allowed to incur massive annual costs in highly dilutive stock option grants to executives ... without an appropriate charge to earnings that makes these costs fully transparent to shareholders and the equity markets, as well as properly reflect true personnel costs." (Robert I. Schwimmer in the CPA Journal)

Proposed Legislation and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Programs
Excerpt: "Over the past two years, Congress has been considering legislation that would require significant changes in the design and operation of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. While the details are always subject to change until final passage, the tax-writing committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate appear to have coalesced around several key proposals." (CPA Journal)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated to March 30, 2004
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law, regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law. Click ... to learn more about pending legislation in each area. These files have been updated on March 30, 2004." (Hewitt)

Newly Posted Press Releases

NFP Securities Selects The Newport Group as a Premier Qualified Plan Provider
(The Newport Group)

Prudential Financial Completes Acquisition of CIGNA's Retirement Business; Combined Business Will Deliver Exceptional Retirement Expertise and Capabilities
(Prudential Financial, Inc.)

Health Care Reform A Major Campaign Issue For Voters: New Survey
(Commonwealth Fund)

CIGNA Finalizes Sale of Retirement Benefits Business to Prudential Financial
(CIGNA Corporation)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Pension Plan Administrators/Consultants/Actuaries
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in AZ

Counsel
for American Express
in MN

Vice President Sales
for Client
in CA

Senior Compliance Analyst
for CNA Trust
in CA

Senior Plan Administrator
for Sunwest Pensions
in AZ

Account Executive
for Lockton Companies Inc.
in MO

Pension Administrator
for Pensions Plus, Inc.
in CT

Senior Pension Plan Manager
for Benetrends, Inc.
in CA

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