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

August 6, 2004
Today's sponsor: BeneCom Associates, LLC

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

BeneCom Associates, LLC, for one-stop benefit communications
Since 1992, BeneCom has produced benefit communications,
including enrollment materials, SPDs, benefit statements,
newsletters and more, for companies large and small,
nationwide. So if you've been looking for an independent
benefit communications specialist, look no further. Click
above for more information, or give us a call at
(860) 674-2626, Ext. 11, or (770) 461-5559. We're here to help.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Enron Battles Agency Over Funding of Pensions
Excerpt: "Enron has said it intends to work out a 'standard termination' for four of its pension plans, which cover about 17,000 workers. Under that scenario, it would buy annuities from private insurers to pay all the plan's benefits. The head of the government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said yesterday, however, that Enron has made little progress toward that goal, and he questioned the company's sincerity ..." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

PBGC Holds Millions in Unclaimed Pensions
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures private-sector pensions, said Thursday that its registry currently lists some 26,000 people eligible for benefits averaging about $3,675." (Boston Globe)

Enron Sues PBGC
Excerpt: "Enron Corp. has asked the court overseeing its bankruptcy case to block the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s efforts to take over four of the energy giant's retirement plans." (AP via Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)

Analysis: Proposed Medicare Regulations Start Filling in the Gaps for Employers (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register on August 3.... This summary will focus on the provisions of the proposed regulations that are of greatest interest for employers-- provisions on the retiree drug subsidy for employers that provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare-eligible retirees. These payments are made only for retirees who elect the employer coverage instead of obtaining coverage under [Medicare] Part D." (Hewitt)

Opinion: Defined Benefit System Needs Reform
Excerpt: "The recent decision by United Airlines to suspend contributions to its underfunded pension plan, at least in the interim during bankruptcy proceedings, is another very visible symptom of a broken defined benefit pension system that needs significant reform.... Although the [PBGC] has enough resources to pay benefits in the near future, the possibility of a taxpayer bailout of the PBGC could be necessary if the financial condition of the agency continues to deteriorate." (Rep. John Boehner, Chair of Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives)

New Book on S corporation ESOPs
The National Center for Employee Ownership presents excerpts from its new book, S Corporation ESOPs. Written by a team of expert practitioners and other authorities, it covers everything from the history of S corporations to tax issues, compliance, administration, and more. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Analysis: New Private Letter Ruling on Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This ruling is significant in three respects. In summary: (1) It is the 1st ruling on this subject since the issuance of Revenue Ruling 2002-62, some 19 months ago. (2) It redefines the concept of who constitutes the 'submitting taxpayer.' (3) It re-approves or re-affirms the use of 'annual recalculation' of periodic payments." (William J. Stecker, CPA of the Marble Group, Ltd.)

Revised Power of Attorney Form 2848 Excludes TPAs Who Are Not IRS-Registered Agents; Your Thoughts?
Excerpt: "[McKay Hochman Co., Inc. is] conducting a survey of [its] clients and recipients of this E-Alert to see how their firms might be affected by this change. We are specifically interested in finding out if the new rules mean that the firms will be without anyone to sign the Form 2848." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Retiring Into Rollout of Financial Services
Excerpt: "As the oldest baby boomers approach age 60, companies such as Fidelity Investments and The Vanguard Group are starting to roll out services to help make the transition from saving for retirement to living in retirement." (USA Today)

Retiring Women: a Real Anxiety
Excerpt: "The sad fact is that, for many women, retirement won't be rosy. Here's what [stock brokers] can do to help." (On Wall Street)

For Fiduciaries: the Catch-22 of Investment Return
Excerpt: "High return is easy to understand; risk is much hazier. As a result, many investment advisors focus solely on investment return and ignore risk. This undue emphasis on return characterizes much of what passes for acceptable money management in America today." (Morningstar Advisor)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

FASB Holds Firm to Option Expensing Stance
Excerpt: "The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has begun drafting the final rule of its proposal to mandate stock option expensing on corporate financials." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Text of Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, August 2004 Issue (PDF)
2 pages. Especially nice: 'Upcoming Key Dates' column. (Milliman USA)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide: August 3, 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 August 3, 2004." (Hewitt)

Have Any Computer Tips You'd Like to Share with Your Employee Benefits Colleagues?
Add 'em to our wiki page called ComputerTips! Perfectly OK to add a tip anonymously if you'd prefer. (BenefitsLink)

Newly Posted Press Releases

PBGC Ready To Pay $75 Million In Unclaimed Pension Benefits
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

Peter Mullin Joins Governor Schwarzenegger as Honorees of W.O.M.E.N. 2004 Highlight Award
(Mullin Consulting)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Account Manager - Small Group
for Benefit Concepts, LLC
in GA

Lead Human Resources Representative
for Entergy
in LA

Pension Administrators/Consultants
for Westchester Pension Investment Corp., Inc.
in NY

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: