| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
December 9, 2004
Today's sponsor: Kiplinger
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Increase 401(k) Participation & Contribution Rates in 2005! Finally a 401(k) education program that makes a difference to you and your employees: • Reduce your fiduciary risk by providing employees with unbiased financial information • Easy-to-use, engaging interactive format for maximum effectiveness • Decrease staff time answering employee 401(k) questions • Attractive volume pricing options • Available as an online course, CD or corporate license Make the Most of Your 401(k)! Take the FREE demo now!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
IBM Prepares 401(k) Substitution for New Hires as Cash Balance Pension Plan Is Closed to Them
Excerpt: "IBM, dogged by complaints about changes it made to employee pensions in the 1990's, has decided to close its pension plan to new employees at the end of the year and give all new workers a 401(k) plan instead. The outcry over the pension plan highlighted the wrenching changes for many workers, as corporate America moved away from providing fixed, guaranteed pensions and toward offering vehicles for employees to use to save for their own retirements instead." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
PBGC Amends Regulation on Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans for 2005
Excerpt: "The PBGC regulation that governs the allocation of assets in single-employer plans and sets forth the methods for valuing benefits of terminating single-employer plans covered by ERISA has been amended. The regulation substitutes a new table that applies to any plan being terminated either in a distress termination or an involuntary termination by the PBGC with a valuation date falling in 2005, and is used to determine expected retirement ages for plan participants." (CCH Pension and Benefits News)
The Place for Lifestyle Funds in a 401(K) Plan
June 2003. Excerpt: "Lifestyle Funds come in several varieties and often go by several different names, such as Lifestyle, Lifecycle, Balanced, and Asset Allocation funds. Regardless of the name, they all offer the same basic premise, which is a well diversified, professionally managed portfolio designed to meet the investor's objectives through a single, convenient investment vehicle. A Lifestyle Fund will own stocks, bonds, and cash investments at weights within predetermined ranges, and ...." (State Street Corporation)
NYC Mayor Bloomberg Takes Step Toward Equality with Pension Funds for Same-Sex Couples
Excerpt: "New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his appointees to the city's five pension funds will be proposing resolutions to treat marriages and civil unions of same-sex couples performed outside of New York State like any other marriage for purposes of pension fund benefits. The Mayor's move was spurred by a similar action New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi took in October to have the state's retirement system treat Canadian marriages of same-sex couples the same as ...." (The Empty Closet)
Many Britons Sour on Private Personal Pensions Experiment with Its British National Insurance System
Excerpt: "Britain runs the risk of a $110 billion gap in its pension system by 2050. Yet previous efforts to tinker with the country's tangled web of government and private benefits have produced what a commission headed by Mr. Turner called 'the most complex pension system in the world.' It was precisely the impulse in Britain to mix the government retirement plan with the private pension market that led to much confusion and substantial financial losses for pension funds and savers ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Cigna Loses in Case on Change in an Older Employee's Pension (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "See Wall Street Journal article of November 12, 2004 about Appeals Court ruling on Cigna's change to an older employee's pension through the cash balance formula." (Wall Street Journal via CIGNA Pension Plan Class Action Lawsuit Web Page)
Bill to Reduce Tax on Lifetime Annuity Income Would Seat Annuities at Social Security Reform Table
Excerpt: "New Senate legislation could reduce the tax on lifetime annuity income by 50%. The bill, which will be reintroduced in the next Congress in January 2005, is designed to give existing retirement income products a seat at the table when lawmakers start revamping Social Security. The bill was introduced Tuesday by Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D. A similar bill was introduced in the House much earlier in the legislative year by Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn." (National Underwriter)
Legislators Join Forces on Social Security Reform with Republican-Drafted legislation
Excerpt: "US lawmakers unveiled a bipartisan attempt to reform Social Security yesterday, with a Democrat backing Republican-drafted legislation that would part-privatise the pensions system. Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican, said that Allen Boyd, a Florida Democrat, had signed on as a co-sponsor of his Social Security reform bill. The Kolbe-Boyd bill is one of a number of congressional proposals on reforming the pensions system but the only bipartisan effort." (Financial Times)
Labor Department Council Wants Better 401(k) Fee Disclosure -- Recommends Form 5500 Be Updated
Excerpt: "A 15-member Department of Labor advisory council has submitted final reports calling for better disclosure of fees in 401(k) and defined-contribution plans. The Labor Dept. panel said many retirement plans use mutual funds that charge asset-based fees that are netted from the performance, which may be confusing both plan sponsors and participants. .... The committee recommended that Form 5500, which is used to report retirement plan investment management fees and expenses to the ...." (Investor's Business Daily)
Opinion: Social Security Isn't Broken: So Why Does Greenspan Want to Fix It?
Excerpt: "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress earlier this year that everyone knows there's a Social Security crisis. That's like saying 'everyone knows the earth is flat.' Starting with a faulty premise guarantees reaching the wrong conclusion. The truth is there is no Social Security crisis, but there is a potential crisis in retirement income security and there may be a crisis in the future in U.S. financial markets. It's this latter crisis that Greenspan actually is ...." (Dollars & Sense magazine)
Opinion: On Social Security: the Washington Post Gets It
Excerpt: "Recently I wrote a column for this publication contrasting the different approaches to Social Security reform taken by the New York Times and the Washington Post editorial boards; differences that have now put these two media titans on opposite sides of an increasingly heated issue. It was during the presidential campaign that the Washington Post dared to stake out this new territory by challenging firmly entrenched assumptions and seriously considering alternatives to the current...." (Jack Kemp via Tech Central Station)
Summary of Consensus on Legislative Proposals Affecting Hybrid Pension Plans (PDF)
August 2004. 4 pages. Excerpt: "Congress should promote the creation and continuation of voluntary employer sponsored retirement plans. Congress should foster the development and continuation of defined benefit retirement plans by giving employers the flexibility they need to maintain defined benefit plans that meet employer and employee needs." (The ERISA Industry Committee)
TIAA-CREF Retirement Fund Facing Inquiry into Relationship Between its Auditor and Two Ex-Trustees
Excerpt: "TIAA-CREF, the largest United States retirement fund, said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission was conducting an informal inquiry into a relationship between its auditor, Ernst & Young, and two former fund trustees. Ernst & Young, which has audited the fund for seven years, told TIAA-CREF in August that it had invested in a business owned by William H. Waltrip and Stephen A. Ross." (Bloomberg News via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Fourth Annual Allstate Retirement Reality Check Survey -- Mini Executive Summary for 2001-2004 (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Allstate's Retirement Reality Check survey is an annual review of Americans' attitudes toward, and savings for, retirement. The 2004 survey shows that, while Americans generally are optimistic about retirement, they recognize specific areas in which they are falling short financially. In the Allstate survey, the generations were defined as: Silent Generation, born before 1946; Baby Boomers, born 1946-1964; and Generation X, born 1965-1978." (Allstate)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: New York City Law Requirement of Equal Domestic Partner Benefits for City Contractors (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Businesses that contract with the City of New York should be aware of the City's recently adopted 'Equal Benefits Law.' The law requires that businesses with contracts for $100,000 or more provide domestic partner benefits to their employees that are equal to the benefits the employer provides to married employees and their spouses. This law is similar to laws in place in certain other cities, such as in San Francisco and Seattle, and a California state law that will ...." (The Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)
Towers Perrin's Worldwide Pay and Benefit Headlines for December 2004 (PDF)
8 pages. The newsletter includes updates on pay and benefit issues in Australia, Can.ada, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States. (Towers Perrin)
Colgate Executives Get Thousands for Perks -- the Plan Covers 800 Executives
Excerpt: "Colgate-Palmolive Co., which announced Tuesday it is eliminating 4,400 jobs, disclosed in a regulatory filing that many of its top executives and officers are given allowances of up to $11,500 a year to spend on anything from pet sitters to running shoes to karate lessons to movie rentals. The plan, called 'Above and Beyond,' was detailed in the consumer product company's quarterly filing in November with the Securities and Exchange Commission." (Associated Press)
State of the Third Party Administration Industry & Forecast for 2005
Excerpt: "The TPA industry has had an active, but not eroding amount of mergers & acquisitions among members. Frankly, the biggest problem is how to tally SPBA's comparative 'size' from year to year. A firm name may disappear from the roster, but the office & workers & clients are still in the TPA business under the merged SPBA member name, so they are not really a 'loss' to the industry or SPBA. .... [W]e find that for every merged or closing firm, there is a new firm joining each year." (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)
Mercer's 2004 Spotlight on Benefits Report Analyzes Benefit Levels of Large U.S. Employers
Excerpt: "The 2004 Spotlight on Benefits Report, an analysis of the benefit programs of more than 1,000 large US employers, indicates that large nonprofit organizations (including civic and professional associations, religious organizations, national charitable organizations, and major foundations) offer the highest level of total benefits at 128% of the market median, followed by government employers at 127% of the market median and education employers at 121% of the market median." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Newly Posted Events
Basic HSAs - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on January 20, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on January 11, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Comparing Roth and Traditional IRAs - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 22, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on February 10, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Current Health Care Trends – 2005 and Beyond (Based on survey research)
Nationwide on December 16, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Establishing IRAs and IRA Amendments - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on February 8, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
General Traditional IRA Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on February 15, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Beneficiary Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 8, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Contributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 31, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Required Minimum Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on January 25, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Required Minimum Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 17, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Required Reporting - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on January 13, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA to IRA Transfers and Rollovers - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on January 27, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA to IRA Transfers and Rollovers - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 24, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Update - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on January 5, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Update - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 2, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Roth IRA Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on February 22, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
SEP Plans - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 29, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
SIMPLE IRA Plans - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on February 17, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Withholding - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on February 24, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Newly Posted Press Releases
SIIA To Conduct Briefings On Compensation Practices
(Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc.)
CalPERS Discloses Private Equity Profits and Management Fees/Costs; Innovative Settlement Balances Transparency With Ability to Compete
(CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System))
Mortgage Benefits Corp. and First Consolidated Mortgage Company to offer Exclusive Stated Income Loan Product
(Mortgage Benefits Corporation)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Professionals
for BeneTemps, Inc.
in CT, MA, NY, RI
Pension Administrator
for The Benefits Consulting Group, Inc.
in IL
Daily Valuation Specialist/DC Record-Keeper
for R-Tech Consultants, Inc.
in CA
Conversion/Compliance Specialist
for Retirement Benefit Solutions, LLC
in VA
Assistant Administrator
for McCready and Keene, Inc.
in IN
Senior Marketing Analyst
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC
Health & Welfare Consultant
for National Consulting Firm
in DC
Retirement Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Customer Service Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
ERISA Business Analyst
for King & Spalding LLP
in GA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can reprint this newsletter in full (if you also include 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: