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June 30, 2004
Today's sponsor: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

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DATAIR Pension & Benefits Software Sale
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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)
Text of Court's Memo and Opinion Denying Motion to Dismiss Fiduciary Suit Against Directed Trustee (PDF)
39 pages; Kling v. Fidelity Management Trust Co. (No. 01-CV-11939-MEL, 6/23/04). Excerpt: "Fidelity can be found liable if Kling is able to prove at trial that Fidelity followed orders contrary to ERISA or the Plan.... [A]lthough Fidelity may not have exercised discretion over Plan assets sufficient to convey fiduciary status as to the investment of those assets, Fidelity's duty to distinguish between proper and improper instructions was itself a fiduciary duty." (U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts)

Are Your Employees Ready for Retirement?
Excerpt: "Without the benefit of a traditional pension plan, a study finds, many workers won't have enough money to retire -- even if their employers supply them with 401(k) plans." (CFO.com)

Cut Public Pensions in California? It's a Touchy Prospect
Excerpt: "Assemblyman Keith Richman studied public employee pensions for a year so that he could propose changes to a system he believed was broken. In the end, he decided against writing legislation. Lawmakers and local government officials simply have no appetite for facing a looming crisis, the Northridge Republican concluded." (Sacramento Bee)

Opinion: California Has One Day Left to Save $100 Million; Billboard Inspectors = 'Public Safety'?
Excerpt: "Barring a sudden unlikely outbreak of courage, an additional 3,200 state workers will get a 25 percent pension boost tomorrow. Legislators refused to repeal the increase for milk testers, billboard inspectors and driver's license examiners, among others." (Sacramento Bee)

An Analysis of Unisex Annuity Rates In the United Kingdom (PDF)
62 pages. Excerpt: "Women receive lower monthly annuity payments than a man from the same amount of pension saving because annuity providers take into account the expectation that women will live longer than men. This study analyses the issues surrounding the compulsory use of unisex rates for all annuities in the UK, and the potential impact of such a change." (Pensions Policy Institute)

Texas Teachers Rushing Through Social Security Loophole
Excerpt: "Thousands of Texas teachers have rushed to retire before a lucrative loophole in Social Security law closes, but there's one catch: They must first spend a day washing windows or scrubbing floors." (AP via Omaha World-Herald)

Overview: Governmental 457 Plans Allowed To Include Assets In Group Trusts
Excerpt: "The IRS is extending the holding of Rev. Rul. 81-100 to governmental 457 plans, thereby permitting eligible governmental 457 plans to include their assets in group trusts. Rev. Rul. 81-100 had previously addressed the tax exempt status of trusts in qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) that pooled their assets in group trusts, usually for the purpose of diversifying the investments." (CCH News & Information Library)

Employee and Employer Views on Current and Proposed Retirement Plans
19 pages. Excerpt: "This [survey] focuses on the retirement and savings account initiatives (primarily the Lifetime Savings Account, LSA) proposed by President Bush. Attitudes of employers and employees regarding their existing supplemental defined contribution plans are also examined." (Nationwide (R) Retirement Solutions, Inc.)

PBGC Seeks To Poll Employers On Pension Freezes
Excerpt: "Seeking to fill an informational void, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is attempting to ascertain how many employers have frozen their defined benefit pension plans and how many expect to do so." (Business Insurance)

Tossing Good Money After Bad Investment Advice
Excerpt: "Charles Austin Jr., a Richmond, Va., lawyer and president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, says ... abuse ... is 'a very big problem that goes on everywhere.' Older people, he says, 'who may have had 40 years to save money,' have always been favorites of the investment industry. But their attractiveness is increasing as their number and assets grow." (AARP Bulletin)

U.S., Mexico Sign Deal on Social Security Benefits
Excerpt: "Mexican workers in the U.S. and American workers in Mexico would be able to transfer social security benefits across national borders under a pact signed by both countries Tuesday." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Update on Provisions Affecting Deferred Compensation in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "On June 17, the House of Representatives passed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 ('AJC'), which if approved in its current form, will make deferred compensation taxable on a current basis unless it meets certain requirements. The provisions in AJC are very similar to the provisions in the Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act of 2004 ('JOBS'), which was passed by the Senate on May 11. The House and Senate are expected to meet in conference ... after July 4th ..." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)

USERRA Becoming a Battleground for Employers
Excerpt: "With more than 160,000 National Guard and reservists now on active duty, more and more companies are having to come to grips with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)." (HR.BLR.com)

IESOC: Option Expensing 'Unwise'
Excerpt: "The International Employee Stock Option Coalition (IESOC) has called the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) recent mandate to record all stock option grants as an expense 'unwise.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

FASB Might Delay Rule On Options Expensing
Excerpt: "The Financial Accounting Standards Board may delay a rule requiring stock options to be counted as an expense because companies face deadlines to implement other rules. 'We may need more time,' FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz said at a press conference yesterday at the regulator's Norwalk, Conn., headquarters." (Bloomberg via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Opinion: One Company Does It Right-- Basing Stock Option Grants on Past Performance
Excerpt: "That company is Synovus Financial Corp. of Columbus, Georgia, a provider of various financial services in several Southern states. For any given year, the number of option shares granted is determined through reference to a matrix, where one axis is the company's total shareholder return during the three years prior to the year of potential grant, and the other axis is the three- year total return on the KBW 50 bank stock index." (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)

Newly Posted Events

Empowerment and Paternalism: The New Retirement Paradigm
Nationwide on July 28, 2004
presented by Financial Engines, Inc.
Newly Posted Press Releases

Hewitt Study Shows Most U.S. Employees May Need to Work Longer and Save More for Retirement
(Hewitt Associates LLC)

President Names Advisors to Federal Pension Insurance Program
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

California Creative Benefits Produces Benefit Statements with Fringe Facts® Communicator to Help Organizations Communicate the Value of Benefits
(Benefit Software Inc.)

The Principal Financial Group Unveils Hire Through Retire Education Program for Defined Benefit Plan Participants
(Principal Financial Group)

Leapfrog Group Offers First Web-based Compendium of Quality Incentive and Reward Programs
(The Leapfrog Group)

ADP Retirement Services is Top 401k Recordkeeper, According to Data in CFO's Annual Buyer's Guide to 401k Providers
(ADP Retirement Services)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Health & Welfare Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in CT, NJ, NY, TX

Enrolled Actuary / Actuarial Assistant
for Qualified Benefits, Inc.
in CA

Plan Administrator
for Howard Simon & Associates, Inc.
in IL

Benefits Assistant II
for BB&T
in NC

401(k) Enroller/Contractor
for Transamerica-The Winning Organization
in ANY STATE

Participant Education Manager
for National City
in OH

401(k)/Defined Contribution or Defined Benefit Account Manager
for National Retirement Services, Inc. (NRS)
in CA, NC

401(k) Enroller/Contractor - Bilingual
for Transamerica
in CA, FL, GA, IL, TX

401(k) Administrator
for Suburban Philadelphia Pension Consulting Firm
in PA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Compext (a Division Of Traviswolff)
in TX

Benefits Operations Manager
for Georgetown University
in DC

Account Executive - Client Relationship Management
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in TX

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