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February 28, 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)
ERISA and the 401(k) Plan Fiduciary (PDF)
43 pages. Excerpt: "Like the more traditional forms of retirement programs, 401(k) plans are characterized as 'employee pension benefit plans' for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ('ERISA'). Accordingly, the individuals who are responsible for the administration and management of a 401(k) plan are characterized as 'fiduciaries' under ERISA and are subject to the same fiduciary standards that apply to the fiduciaries of any other form of retirement plan." (Snell & Wilmer)

Overview: EGTRRA Opinion and Advisory Letter Program for Pre-Approved Defined Contribution Plans
Excerpt: "This revenue procedure is the latest in a series of steps the IRS is taking to revamp its opinion, advisory, and determination letter process." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Plan Fiduciaries Have Ongoing Duty under ERISA to Monitor and Replace 401(k) Investment Choices (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "'The DOL emphasizes...that the act of designating investment alternatives...in an ERISA section 404(c)) plan is a fiduciary function.... All of the fiduciary provisions of ERISA remain applicable to both the initial designation of investment alternatives...and the ongoing determination that such alternatives ...remain suitable and prudent investment alternatives for the plan.'" (Unified Trust Company, NA)

Marketing Co-Fiduciary Advisory Services to Qualified Plans: First of Three-Part White Paper
Excerpt: "The marketplace is undergoing a seismic shift in how 401(k) services are sold and delivered, and the purpose of this paper is to help advisors become leaders under the new advisory model." (Center for Due Diligence)

Financial Firms Gear Up to Manage 401(k) Accounts
Excerpt: "Financial powerhouses across the nation are jockeying for position to serve millions of workers who don't have the time - or don't want to make time - to manage their 401(k) retirement accounts wisely. This legion of 'reluctant' or 'disengaged' 401(k) savers comprise from one-third to one-half of the 48 million workers who have 401(k)s or similar retirement accounts. They've saved $3 trillion in their accounts, yet they show little or no interest in growing their holdings for profit." (Knight Ridder News via The Billings Gazette)

Overview: PBGC Proposes Change to Liability Payments Rule
Excerpt: "A newly proposed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. rule would make permanent a procedure the agency has used on a case-by-case basis. The rule involves the extra liability payment employers with underfunded pension plans must make when they close down a facility and lay off a significant percentage of their workforce." (Business Insurance)

Overview: PBGC Amends Rule Regarding Plant Shutdowns
Excerpt: "The PBGC February 25 published a proposed amendment to the rules governing liability calculations for shut down benefits in the case where there is only one employer." (The ERISA Industry Committee)

Opinion: A Primer in Pension Padding
Excerpt: "I often begin the government class I teach to MBA students with a few tips. The first is that when government does something that seems to make no sense, always ask whether the move results in someone's pension getting a boost. Invariably they look at me as if I've lost my mind, but public pensions have again been in the news with the Contributory Retirement Appeal Board's denial of former UMass President William Bulger's claim that a housing allowance and annuity payments ...." (The Boston Herald)

New One-Hour Public Television Documentary Will Examine America's Financial Insecurity
Excerpt: "Financial Insecurity: Facing America's Health Care and Retirement Crisis will begin airing on PBS stations in Spring 2005. Please check back to see when the documentary is airing in your city or check with your local PBS listings." (Hewitt Associates LLC)

Social Security Update: War Of Words Continues; Chile Private Account System Described
Excerpt: "The war of words over President George W. Bush's personal Social Security accounts proposal has heated up after various advocacy groups began running ads attacking each other's position. Columnists and letter writers also have continued 'debating' the subject." (Spencer Benefits Reports)

An Early Call for Compromise on Social Security Reform
Excerpt: "With the two parties seemingly at a stalemate over President Bush's proposal for private accounts in Social Security, Representative E. Clay Shaw Jr., Republican of Florida, says he hopes to promote his own Social Security plan as a potential compromise." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

Would Workers Choose Private Social Security Accounts?
Excerpt: "When White House officials unveiled President Bush's plan this month, they predicted that two-thirds of workers would choose private accounts, based on estimates by Social Security Administration actuaries. That number sounded high, considering that 55 percent of respondents in a recent Gallup poll said private accounts sounded like a bad idea and only 40 percent said they sounded like a good idea." (San Francisco Chronicle via Rocklin & Roseville Today)

Partisan Social Security Claims Questioned: Budget Experts Say Both Sides Flawed
Excerpt: "As the two political parties would have it, Social Security is either careening toward catastrophe or is on as solid financial footing as it has ever been. Both sides have marshaled -- or twisted -- facts and figures to back up those seemingly irreconcilable views." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)

ICI Statement on the President's Tax, Savings, and Retirement Policy Proposals for Fiscal Year 2006
Statement Submitted to the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, February 22, 2005 (Investment Company Institute)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Overview: Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Guidance Brings Good News (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he IRS issued Notice 2005-1 (the 'Notice') providing guidance regarding the recently-enacted non-qualified deferred compensation provisions contained in new section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code ('409A'). The Notice provides critical transition relief from the new law, which is scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2005." (Haynes and Boone)

Overview: USERRA Modifications as a Result of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "President Bush has signed the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 (the 'VBI Act'). In addition to modifying and extending a number of educational, housing and other benefits to members of the uniformed services, the VBI Act amends several requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ('USERRA') that directly impact employers." (Haynes and Boone)

Newly Posted Events

Employee Benefits for Tax-Exempts Conference hosted by the SouthWest Benefits Association and IRS
in Texas on April 1, 2005
presented by SouthWest Benefits Association

Health Plans, HIPAA, and COBRA Update
Nationwide on April 27, 2005
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)

HMO Plus Demo
Nationwide on March 8, 2005
presented by Newkirk Products, Inc.

HMO Plus Demo
Nationwide on March 15, 2005
presented by Newkirk Products, Inc.

HMO Plus Demo
Nationwide on March 22, 2005
presented by Newkirk Products, Inc.

HMO Plus Demo
Nationwide on March 28, 2005
presented by Newkirk Products, Inc.

Plan Freezes, Terminations and Mergers
Nationwide on March 1, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Recent Developments on Revenue Sharing
Nationwide on March 22, 2005
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

What's New on the Form 5500
Nationwide on March 24, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

What's New on the Form 5500
Nationwide on March 31, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Newly Posted Press Releases

PBGC Protects Pensions At Oxford Automotive
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

PBGC'S Belt To Testify Before Senate Finance Committee
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

The State of Iowa and The Principal Financial Group Take Lead Roles in AARP Foundation's National Mature Workforce Initiative
(Principal Financial Group)

SouthWest Benefits Association and IRS Host Employee Benefits Conference
(SouthWest Benefits Association)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

401(k) Client Relationship Manager
for Financial Service Leaders
in ANY STATE, CO, MI, PA

Manager, Client Services
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA

Broker/Sales Associate
for MJM Global Services & Benefits, Inc.
in NJ

Compliance Director
for 32BJ, Taft-Hartley Employee Benefits Fund
in NY

Pension Administrator - Defined Benefits Plan
for Retirement System Group Inc.
in NY

Implementation Consulting Analyst - US Outsourcing
for Mercer Human Resource Consulting
in IL, MA

Employee Benefits Attorney
for Nyemaster, Goode, West, Hansell & O'Brien, P.C.
in IA



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