| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
August 16, 2004
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
ASC - QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR THE PENSION INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS ASC provides complete automation for the pension office, including: DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, sophisticated Compliance Testing, DV Direct Daily Valuation, Advanced Information Manager Database (AIM), and Single-Step Processing. All ASC Technical Support Members were experienced Pension Administrators or Actuaries before joining ASC-- and most have been with ASC for over 10 years.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Employers Learning to Simplify 401(k) Communications to Employees
Excerpt: "For much of the past two decades, employers embraced one of two approaches to 401(k) communication. One was shockingly minimalist: Send out occasional statements confirming account balances or plan changes, then get out of the way. The other was audaciously ambitious: Try to turn workers into savvy financial strategists by throwing an endless stream of brochures, manuals, newsletters, and workshops at them." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
U.S. Opposes United Air Plan for Pensions
Excerpt: "U.S. pension insurers asked a bankrup.tcy court on Friday to prevent United Airlines from halting contributions to its retirement plans, which the government says are underfunded by $8.3 billion." (Reuters via Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Delta Employee' 401(k) Balances in Danger if Bankrup.tcy Declared
Excerpt: "Delta spokesman John Kennedy said Delta offers employees both a defined pension plan as well as a 401(k) plan with a stock match equaling up to 2 percent of their annual salary. He called the benefit plan one of the most generous in the country." (Atlanta Business Chronicle; one-time registration required)
Steelworkers, Pension Agency Face Off: Court Must Untangle Web Surrounding Republic Shutdown Benefits
Excerpt: "Call it a spider's web, one whose issues are so entangled that there's no clear way out. It's now up to a federal appeals court in Cincinnati to sort through the issues and form an opinion in the dispute between the United Steelworkers of America and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. over payment of shutdown pension benefits." (Akron Beacon Journal; one-time registration required)
Rules/Regs: Tootle Do? -- One Step Forward, One Step Back on Cash Balance Plans
Excerpt: "Plan sponsors trying to determine the best course of action for their corporate cash balance policies were faced with the regulatory equivalent of bipolar disorder in June." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Let the Games Begin In Federal Employees' Compensation Arena
Excerpt: "The Social Security Marathon is the second big competition category in the Federal Olympics -- and the contestants include the National Association of Retired Federal Employees and education associations that are trying to chase down two laws that go by the arcane names of Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Overview: IRS Provides Model Amendments For Governmental Sec. 457 Plans
In Rev. Proc. 2004-56, the Internal Revenue Service provides model amendments that may be used by a state or local government employer to amend or draft its IRC Sec. 457 deferred compensation plan. The model amendments reflect the requirements of Sec. 457 and final regulations that the IRS issued in 2003. However, the revenue procedure does not apply to Sec. 457 plans maintained by tax-exempt entities. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Understanding Retirement Plan Fees and Expenses
Excerpt: "[T]his booklet provides a simplified explanation of plan and investment fees." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees for Employers
Excerpt: "This brochure can help you ask the right questions to better understand and evaluate the fees and expenses related to your plan." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
401(k) Plan Fee Disclosure Form (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "[P]lan fiduciaries should consider cost, among other things, when choosing investment options for the plan and selecting plan service providers. This 401(k) plan fee disclosure form may assist you in making informed cost-benefit decisions with respect to your plan." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
FASB Making Changes to Stock Options Draft; Effective Date Decision Delayed Until Fall
Excerpt: "FASB has begun to make important decisions in key technical areas, such as reconfirming its definition of grant date. Throughout the fall, it expects to consider key topics such as income tax effects, inclusion of employee stock purchase plans, and measurement of the fair value of stock options." (HR Policy Association)
Windfalls and Pratfalls in Exercising Stock Options
Excerpt: "Thanks to stock options, many Google employees will become fabulously wealthy, at least on paper, after their company goes public. But unless they understand how their options work and manage them carefully, they could face nasty surprises, as so many technology employees before them did." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Without a Plan for Replacing Stock Options, Companies Could Lose Their Best People
Excerpt: "Mellon's Ted Buyniski talks about what companies are doing in response to stock-option accounting proposals, and who's really paying the price." (Workforce.com)
New SEC Rules, Effective August 23, Require Form 8-K Disclosure of Certain Exec Comp Agreements
Excerpt: "Public companies will have to file Form 8-K more often and more quickly under new SEC rules scheduled to take effect on August 23, 2004. The new rules, which the SEC issued on March 16, 2004, add 8 new items to the list of events that trigger a Form 8-K disclosure requirement (called 'triggering events') and shorten the filing deadline for most items to four business days after a triggering event occurs." (Deloitte's Washington Bulletin)
Small Business May Lag in OT Compliance
Excerpt: "Aug. 23. That's the date by which all U.S. employers need to comply with new wage rules established by the Department of Labor earlier this year. The new rules are expected to result in overtime wages for an additional 1.3 million low-income, white-collar workers." (AP via The Boston Globe)
Newly Posted Events
Passing Participant-Driven Expenses Through to the Participants
Nationwide on October 20, 2004
presented by ASPA (American Society of Pension Actuaries)
The Final Word on HSAs – Overview of Recent IRS Guidance
Nationwide on August 26, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
The Principal Financial Group Unveils New Fiduciary Guide
(Principal Financial Group)
Torrid Technologies Releases Latest Version of Retirement Planning Software
(Metrics Partners)
Mortgage Benefits Corp. Announces Agreements with Four Benefit Brokers
(Mortgage Benefits Corporation)
Stull, Stull & Brody Announces 401(k) Breach of Fiduciary Class Action against Cardinal Health, Inc. and Others
(Stull, Stull & Brody)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
COMPLIANCE SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR
for AIG VALIC
in TX
Experienced Pension Administrator
for Matthews, Gold, Kennedy & Snow, Inc.
in AZ
Pension Supervisor
for Zenith Administrators
in CO
Pension Administrator
for Coble Pension Group, LLC
in AZ
Pension Analyst
for National Pension Services, a company of the Chittenden Corporation
in VT
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- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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