If the headlines in this newsletter aren't clickable for you,
please use the online, clickable version at:
https://benefitslink.com/2004/2004_06_08_retirement.html
(click or copy-and-paste the above address into your web browser)

BenefitsLink
Retirement Plans
Newsletter		To BenefitsLink home page Fill your job openings fast by advertising on BenefitsLink

June 8, 2004 - 13537 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation

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

ASC - QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR THE PENSION INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS
ASC provides complete automation for the pension office, including:
DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, sophisticated
Compliance Testing, DV Direct Daily Valuation, Advanced Information
Manager Database (AIM), and Single-Step Processing. All ASC Technical
Support Members were experienced Pension Administrators or Actuaries
before joining ASC -- and most have been with ASC for over 10 years.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Employers Lose Early Retiree Pension Case
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court ruled Monday that employers cannot cut back on pensions for some people who retire early from one job and then go to work somewhere else. Federal law protects against cutbacks in benefits that take effect after a worker has retired, the court said in a unanimous ruling in favor of two Illinois construction workers." (AP via FindLaw.com)

Text of U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Heinz v. Central Laborers' Pension Fund (June 7, 2004) (PDF)
Excerpt (from syllabus): 'Held: ERISA §204(g) prohibits a plan amendment expanding the categories of postretirement employment that triggers suspension of the payment of early retirement benefits already accrued." (Supreme Court of the United States)

Text of Rev. Rul. 2004-57: Union-Run 457 Plan Permitted (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Issue: Does a plan fail to be an eligible governmental plan under § 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code solely because the plan is offered and administered by a labor union for the benefit of those State employees who are union members?" (Internal Revenue Service)

Text of Ann. 2004-52: Transition Relief for Certain Union-Run 457 Plans (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "A plan established before June 14, 2004, that does not satisfy the requirements of [Rev. Rul. 2004-57] solely as a result of being established and maintained by a labor organization instead of being established and maintained by an eligible governmental employer may nonetheless be treated as established and maintained by an eligible governmental employer if ... [the] eligible employer as defined under § 457(e)(1)(A) adopts the plan, or ..." (Internal Revenue Service)

Lessons From Behavioral Finance and the Autopilot 401(k) Plan
Excerpt: "Research from the field of behavioral finance suggests that many participants in defined contribution plans are not active, self-motivated decision-makers. This report analyzes the insights recent research reveals regarding participants' varied planning skills and their decision-making processes. It also discusses automatic or autopilot 401(k) plans, which are designed to respond to the behavioral biases of reluctant savers by altering key plan-default decisions." (The Vanguard Center for Retirement Research)

Overview: PBGC Voluntary Correction Program for Failure to Issue 2002 and 2003 Underfunding Notices (PDF)
Excerpt: "Except for companies in certain industries (e.g. airlines, steel), underfunding had been relatively rare during the 1990's bull markets, but in the last several years record low interest rates and poor investment returns have made it more common." (Pillsbury Winthrop LLP)

California County Required to Adjust Pensions Upward for Previously Ignored Compensation
Excerpt: "A financial time bomb ticking in the Marin County employees' pension fund since 1997 will explode this summer - and officials don't know the extent of the fallout." (Marin Independent Journal)

Ninth Circuit Rejects Fiduciary Breach Claims in Employer Stock Case
Excerpt: "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled a group of stock bonus plan participants could not go forward with claims against the plan's fiduciaries for refusing to deviate from the plan's terms by allowing them to sell all of their employer stock holdings when it would have been particularly advantageous to do so." (Deloitte's Washington Bulletin)

Business Owner Must Pay Significant Excise Taxes for Improper Plan Loans
Zacky v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo. 2004-130 (2004). Excerpt: "In this case, the tax court ruled that a business owner was liable for excise and other related taxes in excess of $180,000 for making improper plan loans totaling more than $140,000. The business owner was the sole shareholder of two companies, one of which sponsored a qualified plan covering the owner and his employees." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))

Employee Ownership Update for June 7
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the latest version of the NCEO's 'Employee Ownership 100' list (a compilation of the 100 largest majority employee-owned companies), plus a statement from unions, institutional investors, and others urging Congress not to impede accounting reforms for equity compensation. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Pension Plan Issues: Investment Framework
Excerpt: "This paper examines two investment strategies for pension plans: total-return and asset-liability matching. Often presented as an either/or proposition, our analysis indicates that plan sponsors have a spectrum of options. A prudent course of action might be to use matching strategies to meet near-term, relatively certain liabilities and to apply the total-return approach to the long-term, more uncertain liabilities." (The Vanguard Center for Retirement Research)

Welcome to New BenefitsLink Advertiser BCG Terminal Funding Company
Excerpt: "BCG Terminal Funding Company, founded in 1983, is a leading provider of annuity search and placement services for employer purchased qualified and non-qualified single premium group and individual annuity contracts. We offer benefit consultants, enrolled actuaries, ERISA attorneys, insurance agents and plan sponsors the strength of over 75 years of combined experience as annuity placements specialists, along with regional offices coast to coast."

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Federal Law Doesn't Recognize Same-Sex Marriages: Effect on Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "The different definitions of 'marriage' and 'spouse' under federal and state law will raise a number of complicated legal (and Constitutional) questions that may take years to answer.... Employers with employees in Massachusetts will have to begin dealing with these types of issues sooner rather than later. All other employers probably should at least start thinking about them because of the likelihood that other states will begin recognizing same-sex marriages in the future." (Deloitte's Washington Bulletin)

Newly Posted Events

18th Annual Advanced ALI-ABA Course of Study - Retirement, Deferred Compensation, and Welfare Plans of Tax-Exempt and Governmental Employers
in District of Columbia on September 9, 2004
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)

Active Living, Obesity and Nutrition
Nationwide on June 7, 2004
presented by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Advanced Cafeteria Plans
in Washington on July 22, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

Pension Seminar
in Ohio on June 24, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Council of Northeast Ohio

Solutions for Saving Health Care Dollars
in Georgia on June 17, 2004
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Atlanta Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases

dailyVest Releases Investor Statement Personal Rate of Return Batch Processing Software
(dailyVest Inc.)

Owner of Georgia Firm Pleads Guilty To Embezzling From Company’s Profit Sharing Plan
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

401(k) Sr Plan Specialist
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

Employee Benefits Consultant/Sales Consultant:
for Wachovia
in MD

401(k) Administrator
for Small Suburban Maryland 401(k)/Retirement Plan TPA
in MD

Pension Plan Administrator
for South Florida TPA
in FL

Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Administrative Retirement Services, Inc.
in IL

Benefits Specialist
for Chugach Alaska Corporation
in DC

Corporate Benefits and Compliance Manager
for Oldcastle, Inc.
in GA

Marketing & Service Coordinator/Executive Assistant
for Benefit Concepts, LLC
in GA

Defined Benefit Administration Manager
for AMVESCAP Retirement, Inc.
in GA

Plan Administrator
for Benefit Associates, Inc.
in CA

Handy Links:
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: