| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
August 24, 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)
Text of Final Reg on Electronic Registration of ERISA Investment Advisers (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Under the final regulation, in lieu of filing a copy of their state registration forms with the Secretary of Labor, state-registered investment advisers seeking to obtain or maintain investment manager status under Title I of ERISA must electronically register through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) as an investment adviser with the state in which they maintain their principal office and place of business." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefit Security Administration)
New York Times Coverage: Pilots Could Control Fate of US Airways
Excerpt: "With time running out and its future on the line, the US Airways Group will look to the leaders of the pilots' union to do tomorrow what the union's negotiators refused to do over the weekend: accept the airline's demand for $295 million in pay and benefit cuts." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Washington Post Coverage: US Airways' Talks with Pilots Union Break Down: Concessions Sought to Avert Bankrup.tcy
Excerpt: "US Airways' pilots union announced that negotiations on pay and benefit cuts broke down yesterday, prompting the carrier's executives to ask that their latest proposal be taken directly to the union's leadership for a vote." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Federal District Judge Upholds Cuts in Oregon State Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "A federal judge has upheld the Oregon Legislature's cost-cutting reforms to the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, rejecting claims that the changes violate workers' contract rights." ([Salem OR] Statesman Journal)
Officials Admit They Made Mistake in San Diego Pension Decision
Excerpt: "Leaders of the faltering San Diego pension system, claiming that their lawyers lead them into an unsound arrangement and should be held accountable, are now admitting that their choice to approve a new funding arrangement was a mistake." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
New Tools Help Plan Sponsors Fulfill Fiduciary Duty
Excerpt: "[One new] tool is a disclosure form called the 'Intermediary and Service Provider Annual Disclosure Statement' that plan sponsor fiduciaries can use to gather fee and expense information from those who provide services to their plan." (401kHelpCenter.com)
U.S. Company Pension Plans May Need Taxpayer Rescue, Study Says
Excerpt: "A $350 billion pension shortfall among U.S. companies may force the federal agency that insures retirement plans to seek a taxpayer bailout similar to the one during the savings and loan crisis, according to the Cato Institute, a Washington-based policy research group." (Bloomberg.com)
Bankrup.tcy Lawyers Using 403(b) Case to Argue Assets Are Subject to Bankrup.tcy Creditors
Excerpt: "I have received word from bankrup.tcy attorneys that, even in states not governed by the Sixth Circuit, bankrup.tcy trustees are taking the Rhiel v. Adams decision to heart and trying to rely on the Rhiel case to include 403(b) plan assets as part of the bankrup.tcy estate." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier on BenefitsBlog.com)
Opinion: Companies Failing Workers on Defined Benefit Plan Funding
Excerpt: "United's actions follow an irresponsible routine that has become all too common in the corporate world. Companies contribute too little to their pension plans in good times and then run to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and bankrup.tcy court in bad times to wiggle out of their obligations." (USA Today)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
USERRA Update: Employment-Related Rights for Called Up Military Reservists and Returning Vets
Excerpt: "According to published reports, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-SD) recently has requested Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to begin a formal Labor Department investigation of complaints from returning military forces who say they have lost jobs or benefits after returning.... Given current circumstances, an update on USERRA requirements is appropriate." (Deloitte's Washington Bulletin)
IRS Provides Form 5500 Relief for Plan Sponsors in Florida Counties Affected by Hurricane
Excerpt: "IRS has announced special tax relief for taxpayers residing in 25 Florida counties that were hit by Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley and declared Presidential Disaster Areas. These counties are listed in IR 2004-108." (RIA Tax News)
Debate Over Benefits for Same-Sex Couples Heats Up
Excerpt: "Providing benefits to same-sex couples is on CEOs' radar: A study by the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Campaign found there was an 18 percent increase last year in private employers, colleges and universities offering domestic partnership benefits." (Entrepreneur magazine)
Long-Term Incentive Practices for CEOs Undergoing Change
Excerpt: "Large corporations are changing how they pay their CEOs by scaling back the use of stock options and stepping up use of restricted stock and long-term performance awards. A Towers Perrin analysis of proxy statements filed by publicly traded Fortune 250 companies confirms that the days of awarding CEOs extraordinary long-term incentive packages composed primarily of stock options are gone." (Towers Perrin)
Overview: Additional Form 8-K Disclosure Requirements and Acceleration of Filing Date (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "[C]ompanies will now have to promptly report on Form 8 K changes in top management and directors (i.e., elections, resignations, departures) as well as the adoption of or amendment to employment contracts and other material executive compensation or benefits arrangements. Filing deadlines have been shortened to four business days after the occurrence of the event in most cases." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Roadmap for FLSA Final Reg Compliance
Excerpt: "Michael Fox has found [a Q&A flowchart] for understanding the new regulations. Congrats to Ogletree Deakins for attempting to simplify something that appears so complicated." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier on BenefitsBlog.com)
Overview: the Final FLSA Regulations (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The key changes in the final regulation are ..." (The Segal Company)
New Overtime Work Rules Clock In
Excerpt: "The first overhaul of overtime work rules in more than 50 years will punch in Monday, and up to 20 percent of companies are not expected to be in compliance.' (The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer)
Newly Posted Events
Basics of Employee Retirement Plans
in Massachusetts on October 14, 2004
presented by New England Employee Benefits Council
Compensation Fundamentals
in Massachusetts on November 2, 2004
presented by New England Employee Benefits Council
How To Form Partnerships With Health Care Service Providers
in Massachusetts on September 15, 2004
presented by New England Employee Benefits Council
How To Understand and Assess Retirement Plan Fiduciary Responsibility in the New Environment
in Massachusetts on October 7, 2004
presented by New England Employee Benefits Council
The New Retirement "Deal"
in Massachusetts on October 22, 2004
presented by New England Employee Benefits Council
Newly Posted Press Releases
Bruce Ruud & Associates, LLC now offers investment advisory services to plan fiduciaries and participants
(Bruce Ruud & Associates, LLC)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefits Consultant/Project Manager
for Lynchval Systems Worldwide, Inc.
in VA
Senior Retirement Consultant
for Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc.
in NJ, NY
Internal Sales Representative
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ
Account Manager
for Great-West Healthcare
in GA
Chief Operating Officer
for A South Florida based TPA
in FL
Client Relations Manager
for ING U. S. Financial Services
in PA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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