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July 20, 2004
Today's sponsor: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

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

DATAIR Pension & Benefits Software Sale
License one DATAIR system and receive another one of equal or lower
price without license fee!*
Regardless if you're just starting out in the business or looking to
expand your services, you can take advantage of this limited time offer.
Choose from:
DC/401(k) System             Retirement Plan Documents
Defined Benefit System       Pension Reporter
Cafeteria Administration     Cafeteria Plan Documents
Client Manager
Contact sales@datair.com or call 1-888-328-2474.
(*Restrictions apply; see website for details.)

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
New Tactics to Boost 401(k) Interest
Excerpt: "Employers try contests, computer games and financial counseling to engage workers who can't seem to focus on retirement planning." (Workforce.com)

Loans Declining from Federal Government Employees' Thrift Savings Plan
Excerpt: "In May and June, the Thrift Savings Plan issued about 1,800 loans per day. In the first dozen days of July, the plan issued an average of 534 per day. The drop probably can be attributed to a tightening of rules for the TSP loan program, officials said yesterday at a meeting of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

More Disclosure for California 403(b) Products
Excerpt: "Perhaps not at the original July 1 deadline but certainly by late summer, the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) will have its 403(b) Web portal up and running. This means that going forward, any vendor that wants to offer its product in a 403(b) plan in the state of California must register with the new portal-- www.403bcompare.com-- and disclose on the site various fees and performance data." (Financial-Planning.com)

Opinion: Form 5500-- the $495 Tax Form
Excerpt: "This year, the Labor Department, charged with administering a whole raft of pension and retirement programs, ceased mailing filers the necessary forms. Instead, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL-EBSA) wants would-be retirees to file the forms-- known as 5500 and 5500-EZ-- electronically." (Andrew Glass in The Hill)

Measures To Fix San Diego Municipal Pension Plan OK'd
Excerpt: "The council also approved two ballot measures – one calling for the pension debt to be paid off in 15 years and banning future underfunding by the city, the other calling for a restructured pension board." (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Don't Let Your Pension Plan Discourage Older Workers
Excerpt: "Older workers sometimes are forced to retire and go to work for another company, even through their original employer would benefit from their staying." (Workforce.com)

A New Pension Fund for Struggling Artists
Excerpt: "Members of the art investment world have produced a scheme intended to assure artists some long-term financial stability while making money for investors." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Text of American Benefits Council Letter to DOL About Fiduciary Duties of Directed Trustees (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The Council's plan sponsor members (who are often the named fiduciary of their respective plans) believe that a standard that requires continuous prudence evaluations by directed trustees is not in the interest of plans or participants." (American Benefits Council)

Payments Company Received as Reimbursement of Pension Plan Expenses Were Not Plan Assets
Excerpt: "A company that received money from a union for purposes of reimbursing the company for certain pension plan-related expenses did not violate ERISA when it deposited those funds into its own corporate account, and not into the plan's pension fund.... The company requested ... that the union would make payments to the company as reimbursement for certain expenses that the company incurred for providing benefits to those employees who were temporarily working for the union." (RIA Tax News)

Text of Rev. Rul. 2004-84: Applicable Federal Rates for August 2004 (PDF)
3 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Text of Rev. Rul. 2004-87: Golden Parachute Rules During Bankruptcy (PDF)
8 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)

Guidance Provided on Application of Golden Parachute Rule in Bankruptcy
Excerpt: "The IRS has provided four fact situations to address whether there is a change in ownership or control pursuant to the acquisition of corporate stock by creditors in a bankruptcy reorganization for purposes of the exemption to the golden parachute rules under Code Secs. 280G(b)(5)(A)(ii) and 4999." (CCH News & Information Library)

Text of Social Security Number Privacy Bill as Reported by Subcommittee (PDF)
50 pages. Excerpt: "This Act may be cited as the 'Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2004.'" (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security)

Report of Subcommittee on Social Security Privacy Bill, H.R. 2971 (PDF)
30 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he bill would prevent private sector employers and those providing employee benefits from displaying an individual's full or partial SSN on any identification card or tag issued to the employee or an employee's family member." (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security)

Big Severance Packages Mark Recent Deals
Excerpt: "Sizable severance packages are alive and well, even after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and despite a tepid economy. As proof, just look at the payouts that several top executives are poised to receive following a few recent high-profile deals." (CFO.com)

Showdown Over Stock Options Comes to House
Excerpt: "A showdown pitting donor-rich Silicon Valley against key regulators and big investors comes to the floor of the House, which is moving to block a proposed requirement that companies deduct from their profits the cost of stock options." (AP via New York Times; one-time registration required)

Newly Posted Press Releases

EBIA Allows Public Access to Cafeteria / 401(k) Plan Tax Savings Calculator
(Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Manager, Employer Compliance
for Writers Guild Industry Health & Pension Fund
in CA

Associate Manager, Healthcare Sales Training
for Great-West Healthcare, a division of Great-West Life & Annuity
in CO

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