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

July 28, 2004
Today's sponsor: Kiplinger

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

Kiplinger Announces New Online 401(k) Course!
Satisfy your 401(k) education requirements with one easy step!
• Increase employee participation in your 401(k) plan
• Reduce your fiduciary risk by providing employees with unbiased financial information
• Easy-to-use, engaging interactive format for maximum effectiveness
• Cost-effective tool for a geographically dispersed workforce
• Attractive volume pricing options available
Don't delay. Take a FREE demo!

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Text of Proposed SEC Regulations for Hedge Funds (PDF)
30 pages. Excerpt: "The proposed new rule and amendments would require advisers to certain private investment pools ('hedge funds') to register with the Commission under the Advisers Act." (Securities and Exchange Commission)

The Case of the Vanishing 401(k)s
Excerpt: "[C]ompanies have begun making it easier for workers to sell the company stock in their 401(k)s. They're worried that the courts could find them responsible if their 401(k)s lock up too much company stock and don't sell when the shares turn sour ..." (BusinessWeek)

United Air Lines Softens Pension Funding Threat
Excerpt: "Reaching out to workers on Tuesday, United Airlines Chief Executive Glenn Tilton acknowledged that the carrier's decision to stop funding its pension plans has created 'significant anxiety.'" (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)

Some California Workers Decry Ruling in Public Safety Pension Interpretation by Agency
Excerpt: "State workers in a union that recently won lucrative public safety pensions won't get the better retirement formula for past service, and 600 supervisors and managers won't get the special benefit at all, the state department that negotiates labor contracts has decided." (Sacramento Bee)

Pension Savings Doubted In New York State
Excerpt: "Cash-starved cities like Buffalo are being shortchanged under a pension savings measure - passed by the State Legislature last week - that has been hailed by state officials as 'reform' but derided by critics as nothing more than smoke-and-mirror finances." (The Buffalo [NY] News)

Public Employee Retirement Systems' Compliance With Minimum Distribution Requirements (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he IRS [recently] deferred the application of certain aspects of the regulations for defined benefit plans but has now granted substantial relief for governmental plans under its new final rules." (Milliman USA)

Overview: Qualified Plan Trust May Include Deemed IRAs
Excerpt: "IRS has finalized regs on deemed IRAs, extending the separate treatment of deemed IRAs from the qualified employer plan of which they are part, but allowing deemed IRAs and a qualified plan to be included in a single trust. The final regs apply to deemed IRA accounts and annuities established on or after August 1, 2003." (RIA Tax News)

Overview: Final and Temporary Regulations on Treatment of Deemed IRAs
Excerpt: "The proposed regulations provided that the assets of the qualified plan and the assets of the deemed IRAs were required to be held in separate trusts. The final regulations provide that a separate trust is not required for deemed IRAs if separate accounting is maintained for each deemed IRA." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))

New Bonds Offer Inflation Protection
Excerpt: "There's a new bond in town. And like the government's popular Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, its aim is to help investors protect their money against the consequences of inflation." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)

The Distribution of Financial Wealth Among Boomers
Excerpt: "This data digest, by John Gist, Ke Bin Wu, and Satyendra Verma of the AARP Public Policy Institute, examines boomers' nonannuitized wealth (that is, total wealth excluding Social Security and defined benefit pensions) over the period 1989-2001 to see how well prepared they are for retirement. In particular, the authors examine how boomer wealth is distributed by various economic and demographic characteristics." (AARP Research)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide: July 27, 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 were updated on July 27, 2004." (Hewitt)

Newly Posted Press Releases

Hewitt Study Shows Companies Underestimate Cost of Leaves of Absence
(Hewitt Associates LLC)

Newkirk Introduces Two All-new Retirement Payout Estimators
(Newkirk)

Court Upholds PBGC Order Protecting Hospital Employee Pensions
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

Fringe Facts® Communicator 6.31 Streamlines Benefit Communications
(Benefit Software Inc.)

Compliance Assistance Seminars
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Milliman Announces Free Internet Seminars for Employers; Series to Address Disease Management, Behavioral Health, and True Group Long-Term Care
(Milliman USA)

New Survey Results Highlight Annual Benefit Statements
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Medicare’s Proposed Regulation To Implement New Preventive Services Under Medicare Modernization Act
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Pension Consultants/Administrators
for Northern NJ Mid-Size Pension Consulting Firm
in NJ

401k Account Executive
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

Employee Benefits Associate
for Warner Norcross & Judd LLP
in MI

HR Service Center Representative
for OfficeMax--A Boise Company
in IL

Counsel - Disclosures
for American Express
in MN

Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Benefit Consulting Group LLC
in NY

401k Client Service Rep
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ

Pension Administrator
for The Benefits Consulting Group
in IL

Employee Benefits Sales Officer
for CUNA Mutual Group
in AZ, CA, HI, NV, OR, WA

Director/Manager of Benefits
for Continuum Search
in TN

Manager, Benefits Outsourcing Team - COBRA and Flex
for Client of Jan Hufnell, Hufnell, Inc, Exec Recruiters Benefits and HR
in PA

ERISA Attorney
for LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P.
in FL

Marketing Specialist (Proposal Writer)
for ICMA Retirement Corporation...a mutual fund organization
in DC

Pension Analyst
for Fidelity Employer Services Company
in MA

Education Account Executive
for Principal Financial Group
in TX

Pension Legal Support
for Nyhart Retirement Division
in IN

Pension Administrators
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA

Handy Links:
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can reprint this newsletter 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: