| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
April 28, 2005
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Special Issue of Focus on 401(k) Plans Newsletter: Evaluating Participant Service (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Most plan sponsors will agree that the quality of the customer service experience their employees receive when calling a service provider should meet or exceed the quality they receive when calling their own benefits office. .... The topics described here should help a plan sponsor begin to determine whether its employees are receiving this kind of quality; in the end, it may make all the difference in the retirement lifestyle your employees enjoy." (The 401(k) Company)
Fee Transparency + Revenue Sharing = Good Deal for 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "Only a handful of service providers are embracing full fee transparency/revenue sharing model for obvious reasons. The ones with the most to lose are the companies who use the ERISA plan marketplace to distribute their proprietary investment product because this new pricing model creates downward pressure on their margins." (401khelpcenter.com)
What Sponsors and Participants Want -- A Successful 401(k) Plan
Excerpt: "According to Plan Sponsor Magazine, which conducts an annual survey, sponsors are looking for the following with respect to their 401(k) plans: Increase participation; Increase savings rates; Achieve age and risk appropriate asset allocation; Assistance with discharging fiduciary duties." (Morningstar)
United Airlines Pledges $1.5 Billion Package to Pension Insurer for Pension Takeover
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will receive up to $1.5 billion in United Airlines' notes and stock after the carrier emerges from bankrup.tcy in exchange for taking over United's underfunded employee pension program." (Chicago Sun-Times)
Missouri Governor Quashes Labor Plum -- Abolishing a 'Special' Separate Public Pension Plan
Excerpt: "Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation yesterday abolishing a lucrative pension plan that over the years has benefited ex-lawmakers and other political insiders appointed to the state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. The special pension system pays higher retirement benefits to administrative law judges than are available to most other state employees. It also counts previous government service toward its benefits, which has allowed veteran lawmakers to boost their pensions ...." (AP via The Columbia Daily Tribune)
Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
In Q&A 236, you stated that the attribution rules do not require that a single share of stock be treated as 2 shares. Under IRC 1563, if I have a husband and wife who each own 5% of a corporation, can I assume that neither owns more than 5%, or must I assume that one owns more than 5%? Are the rules the same under IRC 318? (Must I assume that at least one is a key and an HCE, and can I choose which one?) (BenefitsLink.com)
American Samoa Disaster Relief Relating to PBGC Deadlines in Response to Tropical Cyclone Olaf
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is waiving certain penalties and extending certain deadlines in response to the major disaster declared by the President of the United States on account of high winds, high surf and heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Olaf during the period February 15-21, 2005, in the Territory of American Samoa." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Overview: IRS Provides Qualification Relief for Plans Affected by Anti-Cutback Decision
Excerpt: "In Heinz, an amendment to a multiemployer pension plan expanded the types of post-retirement employment that would result in the suspension of benefit payments. The Court held that this amendment violated the prohibition against retroactive cutbacks in accrued benefits. The revenue procedure limits the retroactive impact of the Court's decision [for the purpose of qualification of a plan under Code section 401]." (Deloitte)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Testimony: Redefining Retirement: Options for Older Americans, Senate Special Committee on Aging
17 pages. Excerpt: "The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging asked GAO to discuss demographic and labor force trends and the economic and fiscal need to increase labor force participation among older workers. This testimony will address those factors making it important to encourage those who want to work to continue doing so, as well as factors affecting older Americans' employment decisions. [Highlights are at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05620thigh.pdf]" (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Overview: Bankrup.tcy Reform Legislation Affects Employee Benefit Plans and Executive Compensation (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "This Client Alert highlights the most significant provisions of the Act affecting employee benefit plans and executive compensation. These include amendments providing additional protection from creditors for employee contributions to and interests in retirement plans and education savings plans, facilitating employees' repayment of plan loans, and placing significant additional restrictions on pre- and postpetition payments to insiders and on prepetition modifications ...." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
Overview: Benefits and Compensation Features of the Consumer Bankrup.tcy Act
Excerpt: "On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed the Bankrup.tcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (the 'Act'), a measure long sought by the banking and credit card industries to tighten the rules for personal bankruptcies. The Act also makes a limited number of changes in the rules for corporate bankruptcies. Several of the Act's provisions are relevant for employee benefit plans. This Compliance Alert highlights the principal changes." (The Segal Company)
Judge Orders NFL to Pay Pension, Disability Benefits to Estate of Hall of Famer Mike Webster
Excerpt: "A federal judge has ordered the NFL to pay the estate of Hall of Fame center Mike Webster disability benefits for injuries caused by his football career. U.S. District Judge William Quarles Jr. granted the request by Webster's estate that the NFL Player Retirement Plan and the NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan pay all benefits owed under the plan retroactive to March 1991, when Webster became totally and permanently disabled." (AP via The Contra Costa Times; one-time registration required)
Worker Ignorance of Employee Benefit Offerings Is No Benefit to Employers
Excerpt: "A survey of 1542 workers by MetLife shows that while employees recognize the importance of healthcare insurance, pension plans and disability insurance, the benefit they value most is paid vacations." (California Job Journal)
Is the Worst Yet to Come with Number of Uninsured Increasing and Fewer Employers Covering Workers?
Excerpt: "Industry observers say national coalitions have played a key role in generating a renewed debate around the uninsured problem. But for all the extra lip service, the nation may be no closer to a workable solution than it was a decade ago, when President Clinton's sweeping healthcare reform plan sank amid skepticism, said professor Richard Kronick, chief of the healthcare-sciences division at the University of California at San Diego." (modernhealthcare.com)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of April 26, 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)
Newly Posted Events
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
Nationwide on June 2, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of Qualified Plans
Nationwide on June 29, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Plan and Corporate Governance: Rethinking the Roles of Officers and Directors
Nationwide on May 10, 2005
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Newly Posted Press Releases
IRS Offers Small Businesses New Retirement Plan Resource Guide IR-2005-50
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))
Newkirk Updates OnTrack Participant Newsletter
(Newkirk Products, Inc.)
District Of Columbia Insurance Agent Convicted Of Stealing More Than $1 Million From Thirty-Two Employee Benefit Plans And A Charity
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Spokane, WA – “Hotbed” Of Governmental HRAs
(HRA Consultants, a division of VEBA Service Group, LLC)
The 412i Company releases new CD on 412i Plans.
(The 412iCompany)
Roger T. Weitkamp, Esq. Joins the Board of the ASPPA Benefits Council of Atlanta
(ASPPA Benefits Council of Atlanta)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Communications Specialist
for Pitney Bowes
in CT
HR Generalist
for Major Midtown Union Health Plan
in NY
Single System Deployment Manager
for Great-West Healthcare
in CO
Retirement Education Specialist
for Nationwide Insurance
in AZ, CA, NV
Enrolled Actuary for Qualified Retirement Plans
for First Actuarial Corporation
in MI
Retirement Services Relationship Manager
for SunTrust
in VA
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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Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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