| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
April 15, 2005
Today's sponsor: APSCREEN, Employee Locator
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
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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) |
Overview: Final Regulations Under Code Sections 401(k) and 401(m) (PDF)
Pages 1-5 of 12 pages. Excerpt: "The Regulations incorporate revisions necessitated by statutory changes enacted since 1994, update terminology and other language accordingly, and also consolidate, clarify and revise relevant guidance issued by the IRS since such time." (White & Case LLP)
Text: Testimony of Mark J. Warshawsky before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "[Assistant Secretary of Treasury Mark J. Warshawsky discusses] the Administration's proposal to reform and strengthen the single-employer defined benefit pension system against the background of the larger issue of promoting national saving." (U.S. Department of the Treasury via The ERISA Industry Committee)
Appeals Court Rules VA Firm Still on the Hook to PBGC for Plan Shortfall
Excerpt: "A federal appeals court has refused to overturn a lower court ruling that the nation's insurer of private-sector pension plans was within its rights in pursuing a Virginia couple's assets to help pay the shortfall in their terminated plan." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Single-Sum Sole Distribution Form for Defined Contribution Plans? (PDF)
Pages 7-8 of 12 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he IRS reminds employers who amend their DC plans to eliminate optional forms of benefit in favor of the single-sum distribution form that they must provide their participants with a summary of material modification or updated summary plan description with regard to such amendment within the applicable timeframe in compliance with ERISA's disclosure requirements." (White & Case LLP)
United Kingdom Pension News Filter -- A Roundup of the Latest Changes and Proposals for Reform
Excerpt: "Over the last few months, we have been inundated with regulations, guidance and codes of practice in anticipation of the first phase of the Pensions Act 2004. 6 April 2005 has now passed and we are operating under the new regulatory regime. It remains to be seen whether this will help or hinder the Government's objective of increasing pension saving." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Stock Option Expensing Rule Is Postponed by Securities and Exchange Commission
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday that it was giving United States companies that report earnings on a calendar year an additional six months before they must begin treating employee stock options as expenses. S.E. commissioners voted to delay options expenses until the start of a company's first fiscal year after June 15." (Bloomberg News via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of April 12, 2005
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt Associates)
Report Says Carriers Do Not Set Aside Resources for Voluntary Benefits
Excerpt: "A recent report by Eastbridge Consulting Group should give brokers a good idea of how the carriers with which they are partnering work. Almost all carriers ... do offer Web sites with tools for brokers, plan administrators and employees. But employee Web sites, arguably those that need the most functionality to help them make their decisions, have the lowest level of functionality, and usually are restricted to offering the ability to download forms and generic education materials." (The Adviser)
Newly Posted Events
April Brown Bag Luncheon - "Health Savings Accounts, Everything You Want to Know...and More"
in Ohio on April 26, 2005
presented by ASPPA Benefits Council of Greater Cincinnati
Newly Posted Press Releases
DOL Audits 1 in 5 Employers, BLR Survey Finds
(Business and Legal Reports, Inc.)
23rd Annual Creative Pension & Benefits Seminar Targets Human Resource, Law, Insurance, and Financial Professionals
(The Ohio State University Office of Continuing Education (CEd))
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.
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