| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
January 6, 2005
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
401(k) Plans and Women: A 'Good News/Bad News' Story (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Over the past two decades, coverage under employer-sponsored pension plans has shifted from traditional defined benefit to 401(k)-type defined contribution formats. This shift has many important implications for retirement security. This brief examines the differential impact of the transition for men and women." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Opinion: A Self-Serving Flight Plan? United Airlines Dumps a Pension Obligation on PBGC
Excerpt: "United Airlines wants a U.S. Bankrup.tcy Court judge to let it load four troubled employee pension plans onto the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. At the same time, it's creating a new plan to compensate pilots whose large traditional pensions could decline under federal supervision." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Addressing Women's Retirement Needs: Financial Education Programs Speak to Special Challenges
Excerpt: "Weyerhaeuser ... has offered financial literacy programs for more than 20 years. 'Special Considerations for Women in Planning for Their Financial Future' was the latest. Sally Hass, benefits education manager, designed and leads it. She has reached as many as 1,000 women annually for the past five years, spreading her message to foresters, office managers, production workers and others in 40 locations in North America." (Workforce Management)
Cypen & Cypen December 30, 2004, Newsletter Covers Two Items on Pension Distributions
This edition reports on two subjects: (1) Maximum Pension Benefit Payable under IRC Section 415 from DB Plan Must Account for Value of COLA and (2) Military Disability Benefits Subject to Equitable Distribution. (Cypen & Cypen)
California Voters May Face Choice to Change State Employee Pensions to 401(k) Plan
Excerpt: "In a significant echo of President Bush's plan to privatize part of Social Security, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called Wednesday for privatizing two of the nation's largest public pension systems. The change, if passed during a possible special election later this year, could eventually unravel much of the influence of California's two massive public pension funds that manage more than $300 billion in assets." (AP via SFGate.com)
The Great Debate: The Future of Social Security -- Ten Letters to the Editor of the New York Times
Excerpt: "'The Social Security Fear Factor' (editorial, Jan. 3) doesn't mention that private retirement accounts have an even broader aim, to deprive the federal government of revenues to force cuts in all domestic programs, including Social Security. It is a particularly risky strategy today in a climate of uncertain interest rates and a falling dollar. Once again, it appears that in this administration, ideology trumps economic logic." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Conventional Wisdom Holds that Variable Annuities Don't Belong in Tax-Deferred Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "[V]ariable annuities are selling briskly--and retirement accounts are where the majority of them are ending up. According to the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA), total sales in the third quarter of 2004 were $30 billion: 59% in 'qualified plans,' as retirement programs funded with pre-tax dollars are called, and 41% in non-qualified accounts." (The Thomson Corporation and OnWallSreet.com)
Large Private Social Security Accounts Being Considered by Administration
Excerpt: "The Bush administration is focusing on a Social Security proposal that would allow younger workers to invest nearly two-thirds of their payroll taxes in private accounts, with contributions limited to about $1,000 to $1,300 a year, an administration official said Tuesday." (AP via Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)
Audio: Examining the History of Social Security with Eugene Steuerle on NPR
Excerpt: "Eugene Steuerle, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and an expert on Social Security, says now that Americans are living longer and retiring earlier, the system is being taxed beyond anticipated calculations. Hear Steuerle and NPR's Renee Montagne." (Morning Edition via National Public Radio)
Audio: Proposed Social Security Fix Could Cut Benefits
Excerpt: "As President Bush considers ways to reform the Social Security system, he's said to be considering a plan that would reduce benefits for retirees. Many people on both sides of the Social Security debate believe the administration is seriously considering indexing benefits according to inflation rates rather than current prevailing wages. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports." (Morning Edition via National Public Radio)
White House Urges Social Security Benefit Cuts, According to Wall Street Journal Report
Excerpt: "The White House has written a memo arguing that changing the Social Security system will require reducing benefits as well as setting up private investment accounts, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday." (Reuters via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
G.O.P. Divided as Bush Views Social Security
Excerpt: "'The president should go for a very large account because it's going to take exactly the same amount of energy to get a large account as a small one, and you get a dramatically bigger reward with a large account,' said Newt Gingrich, a Republican and former House speaker. 'And anything that changes benefits on an involuntary basis will allow the Democrats, the AARP and the unions to beat our brains in. It isn't politically doable.'" (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of Revised Notice 2005-1 Containing IRS 'Clarifications' to Transition Rules (PDF)
Excerpt: "Notice 2005-1 provides guidance on the executive compensation provisions of new section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, which was added by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. An advance version of the notice was released to the public on December 20, 2004. Two small but helpful clarifications are being added to the transition rules in the notice." (Internal Revenue Service)
Accounting Rule Requiring Stock Option Value Reporting Could Change Performance Incentives
Excerpt: "A new ruling from the Financial Accounting Standards Board will require employers to report the value of stock options for the first time, in effect treating employee stock options like salaries or cash bonuses. The change, which takes effect June 15, is likely to have implications for long-term incentive plan design for employees." (BenefitNews Connect)
Financial Executives International's CEO's List of the 2005 Top 10 Financial Reporting Issues
Excerpt: "As companies absorb all of the financial reporting changes for 2004 financial reporting - and look ahead - FEI CEO and President Colleen Cunningham has compiled [a] list of the Top 10 Financial Reporting Challenges for 2005 ...." (Financial Executives International)
Overview: IRS Guidance on New Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Law (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "This guidance is limited in scope, and takes the form of 38 questions and answers on the following topics: definitions and coverage; stock options and stock appreciation rights; change in control events; acceleration of payments; effective dates and transition relief; and the application of information reporting and wage withholding requirements." (Miller & Chevalier Chartered)
Overview: New Law Provides Employees on Military Leave with Additional Benefit Rights (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Effective March 10, 2005, employers must provide employees with a notice of the rights, benefits and obligations of the employee and the employer under USERRA. The Secretary of Labor will provide the notice required under the VBIA by March 10, 2005. The notice may be provided to employees by posting it in those workplaces where the employer customarily posts notices for employees." (Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham)
Newly Posted Events
2005 Pension Symposium - Pension Funding Reform
in District of Columbia on April 6, 2005
presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries/American Academy of Actuaries/American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries/Society of Actuaries
2006 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting
in District of Columbia on March 26, 2006
presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries/American Academy of Actuaries
Basic HSAs - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on April 19, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on April 5, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Conversions and Recharacterizations - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on April 7, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Excess Contributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on April 14, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Required Reporting - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on April 12, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Medicare Prescription Drugs Seminar
in District of Columbia on April 6, 2005
presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries/American Academy of Actuaries/American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries/Society of Actuaries
Professional Standards Seminar
in District of Columbia on April 3, 2005
presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries/American Academy of Actuaries/American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries/Society of Actuaries/Casualty Actuarial Society
Small Consulting Firms & Practices Roundtable
in District of Columbia on April 6, 2005
presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries/American Academy of Actuaries/American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries/Society of Actuaries/Casualty Actuarial Society
Newly Posted Press Releases
Treasury and IRS Issue Clarifications of Transition Rules for Deferred Compensation Plans Under 409A
(U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service)
Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc. Forms Strategic Partnership with Gilsbar, Inc. for Benefit Plan Administration
(Gilsbar, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Sales Representative
for Great-West Healthcare
in IL, KS, MO
DCS Compliance Manager
for Boston Financial Data Services
in MA
Account Executive - Columbia, Maryland Washington D.C.
for Transamerica
in DC
Trust Sales Consultant
for MassMutual Financial Group
in CT
Pension Plan Coordinator - San Mateo, CA
for Transamerica
in CA
Implementation Specialist
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ
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