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July 9, 2004
Today's sponsor: Natalie Choate's Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits

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

The Essential Handbook for Estate Planners
Do your clients expect you to know the best planning ideas for their
IRAs and other retirement plans and the pitfalls to avoid? If so,
Natalie Choate's book Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits
will be an invaluable resource for your work. Thousands of pros swear
by this handy desk reference, which covers everything from basic (such
as minimum required distributions, pre-age-59½ distributions, trusts
as beneficiaries) to advanced (such as disclaimers, non-citizen spouse,
life insurance, TEFRA 242(b)). Including the forms, checklists and
tables, you get 500 pages packed with information to help you win clients
and avoid lawsuits.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
SEC Eyes Pay-to-Play for 401(k)s
Excerpt: "The commission is looking into whether this practice was responsible for plans that ultimately were not in the best interests of participants." (CFO.com)

SEC Reviews 401(k) Fees
Excerpt: "As federal and state regulators scrutinize 401(k) plans' murky fee structures and 'revenue sharing' arrangements, they are focusing on an area that some retirement-plan specialists say is long overdue for attention." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)

New Pennsylvania Law Allowing 'Double Dipping' Could Help Philly Fill Its Teacher Vacancies
Excerpt: "A new state law allowing retired educators to come back and work a full year in districts with shortages - without losing their pensions - is expected to help Philadelphia fill its teaching vacancies. Gov. Rendell this week signed the law, largely a result of heavy lobbying by the Philadelphia district and its teachers' union, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers." (Philadelphia Inquirer; one-time registration required)

Kentucky Cabinet Takes Aim at 'Double Dippers'
Excerpt: "At least one department of state government has quietly started denying jobs to candidates who have retired from the state payroll. The new policy implemented by the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet is aimed at stopping a practice that critics term double dipping -- retired state employees returning to collect a salary in a new job, or even back to their old one, in addition to drawing state pensions." (Lexington Herald-Leader)

Loophole In Florida State Retiree Law Pays Big Money
Excerpt: "Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar is heading for a retirement bonanza next year -- even though he has no plans to leave office. Lamar, who is expected to run unopposed for his fifth term, is on track to receive $514,927 in a single payment in January, thanks to a loophole in state law." (Orlando Sentinel; one-time subscription required)

How Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts Reduce Success (PDF)
Excerpt: "[T]he investment performance of self-directed accounts is generally inferior to model portfolios. The low performance translates into a low real rate of return and increases the probability for retirement failure." (Unified Trust Company N.A.)

Revenue Sharing Aspects of Qualified Retirement Plan Management (PDF)
Excerpt: "Today, it's imperative that executives charged with fiduciary oversight of an organization's retirement or savings plan understand the distribution systems that investment management organizations use." (Unified Trust Company N.A.)

Opinion: New Retirement Plans Business Models-- Adapt & Grow Or Die
Excerpt: "The retirement plans market and the financial services industry are evolving, but the industry has been slow to react to major changes. The regulators will no doubt force the industry to evolve in a direction it would normally not pursue and this will spearhead further contraction.... It may not be the Age of Aquarius, but the Age of Disclosure and the unbundling of investments, advice, service, pricing and negotiated compensation has arrived." (Phil Chiricotti on 401kHelpCenter.com)

Application of the “Otherwise Excludible Employee” Rule to Cross-Tested Plans
Excerpt: "[Question:] In applying the average benefit percentage test to demonstrate compliance with the general nondiscrimination test, may an employer take into consideration the benefits provided under the 'plan' for otherwise excludible employees?" (SunGard Corbel)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

GAO Testimony: Accounting for Stock Options and Other Share-Based Payments
8 pages; July 8, 2004. Prepared written testimony by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (U.S. General Accounting Office)

Newly Posted Events

Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in Texas on October 7, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in Pennsylvania on October 7, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in Washington on October 7, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in Georgia on October 28, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of Qualified Plans
in Minnesota on October 21, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of Qualified Plans
in North Carolina on October 21, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts
in Georgia on July 15, 2004
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Atlanta Chapter

New Medicare Prescription Drug Act--What does it mean for your plan?
Nationwide on July 22, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases

Ernst & Young's 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year Award
(Sentinel Benefits)

HSAs May Prove Only Marginally Useful in Creating Required Retiree Health Savings
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

ERIC Praises House Ed and Workforce Drive to Get the Facts About Cash Balance / Hybrid Plans
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))

SouthWest Benefits Association Announces Its New Officers
(SouthWest Benefits Association)

Witnesses Express Concern about the Future of the Defined Benefit System, Warn Loss of Cash Balance Plans Would Undermine Worker Retirement Security
(U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce)

Symmetry Software releases online State & Federal Withholding Forms solution
(Symmetry Software)

Pilot Program Validates Resources For Living's Integrated Coaching Model for Obesity Disease Management
( Resources For Living (RFL))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Tax Manager - Employee Benefits Tax Services
for Deloitte
in PA, VA

Tax Senior Employee Benefits Tax Services
for Deloitte
in PA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for BCL Financial Management Consultants, Inc.
in IL

Retirement Services District Manager (Minneapolis)
for ADP Retirement Services
in MN

Qualified Plan Administrator
for Pension Services Corporation
in MO

Financial Operations Specialist
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

New Business Representative
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

Supervisor, Financial Operations
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

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