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May 6, 2005
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Massachusetts to Let Non-Profit Organizations into State's Defined Contribution Plan
Excerpt: "Massachusetts State Treasurer Tim Cahill on Wednesday announced plans to permit small nonprofit organizations to participate in the Bay State's defined contribution plan as a first step to opening the plan beyond state government." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

In Navarre v. Luna Court Says Unpaid Plan Contributions Can Be Discharged in Bankrup.tcy
Excerpt: "The owners of a former Oklahoma construction company can include the $120,000 they owe to various multi-employer benefit funds in their US Bankrup.tcy Court estate, a federal appeals court has ruled." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Highlights of The Segal Company's Annual Survey of the Funded Position of Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "As noted in the survey report, the 2004 Survey of the Funded Position of Multiemployer Plans found that even after a decline of four percentage points from the previous survey, the average withdrawal liability funded ratio of multiemployer pension plans remains high: 83 percent. The survey's most dramatic finding was that the percentage of plans that were 100 percent funded for their vested benefits declined from 31 percent to 17 percent." (The Segal Company)

Supplement to the Results Report of the 2004 Survey of the Funded Position of Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
1 page. The target page is an online supplement which features graphs of the survey data in the report. (The Segal Company)

Welcome to BenefitsLink PensionOnline
Excerpt: "PensionOnline is the #1 Plan Design Tool that makes it easy to prepare side-by-side analysis of traditional and cross-tested plans. PensionOnline provides web-based tools, and resources for retirement plan professionals. Our products are designed to support retirement plan professionals efforts to clearly communicate and illustrate the benefits of retirement plans to employers and employees." (BenefitsLink.com)

The Changing Impact of Social Security on Retirement Income in the United States (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "This analysis uses projections of the major sources of income at age 67 from the Social Security Administration's Model of Income in the Near Term (MINT) model. MINT starts with data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) for 1990 to 1993 matched to the Social Security Administration's earnings and benefit records through 1999. [Published January 1, 2005]" (Social Security Bulletin via Urban Institute)

As Boomers Retire, a Debate: Will Stock Prices Get Crushed?
Excerpt: "For tens of millions of baby boomers and younger workers, the basic long-range financial plan is simple: accumulate stocks and bonds while working, then slowly sell them off to keep up a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. Not so fast, says Jeremy Siegel, the Wharton School finance professor well-known until now for recommending stocks as a long-term investment. In speeches and a new book, he is warning that a flood of boomer retirees with trillions of dollars of assets to sell ...." (The Wall Street Journal via JeremySiegel.com)

Bankers Comment on Proposed DOL Regulation for Assets Held by Abandoned Plans (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "While we certainly appreciate that a QTA can be a person eligible to serve as trustee and must hold the assets of the plan, we would like to see an expansion of the definition. There are situations where the bank is the trustee, but is not the recordkeeper. In those situations, the recordkeeper is in the best position to step in as QTA ..." (American Bankers Association)

GAO: Options for Social Security Reform
20 pages. Excerpt: "[T]his report provides a list of the various options available to reform the Social Security program. Following this introduction is a table that lists a wide range of provisions that various proposals have used in some form. Following the table is a list of such proposals, all of which have been scored by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Chief Actuary ..." (U.S. Governmental Accountability Office)

Eliminating Cap on Taxable Wages Would Eliminate Social Security Shortfall, CRS Says (PDF)
17 pages. Excerpt: "If all earnings were subject to the payroll tax but the base was retained for benefit calculations, the Social Security Trust Funds would remain solvent for the next 75 years. However, the link between contributions and benefits would be broken." (Congressional Research Service, U.S. Library of Congress)

Opinion: How Privatization AND Immigration Can Cure Social Security
Excerpt: "[I]f we got really ambitious and 'imported' three million immigrants we'll have the Social Security situation 100% solvent even without privatization. What's more, immigrants also boost the economy by buying homes, the least-talked about aspect of retiree finances, accounting for at least 50% of current retiree assets." (Jane White, President of the Retirement Solutions Foundation, on GuideToSocialSecurity.com)

House Rep. Bill Thomas Adds Retirement Age to Social Security Debate
Excerpt: "House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas says all options are on the table to overhaul Social Security, and now he's laying out an ever-expanding buffet. Thomas, for the first time, said Congress should consider a package that includes increasing the retirement age, discouraging early retirement, splitting off disabled and survivors benefits from Social Security and slowing the growth of future benefits -- though not as much as the Bush administration has called for." (Bloomberg News)

May 2005 EBRI Issue Brief -- 'Comparing Social Security Reform Options' (PDF)
32 pages. Excerpt: "[The Issue Brief] seeks to provide answers to how the public will be affected by fundamentally different approaches to Social Security reform. This analysis compares 'Model 2' individual accounts from the 2001 President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security (the closest detailed proposal to what President Bush has endorsed) with three basic options: Raising taxes, imposing sharp ('cliff') benefit cuts, and gradually reducing benefits." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

The State of 50+ America – 2005 Edition (PDF)
60 pages. Excerpt: "The State of 50+ America 2005, AARP's second annual 'report card' on the quality of life of Americans age 50 and older, continues [an] examination of the many changes in the well-being of the 50+ population." (AARP)

Employee Benefits Developments March 2005 Summarizes Five ERISA Cases
The newsletter contains summaries of five ERISA cases subtitled as: Directed Trustee Granted Summary Judgment in WorldCom ERISA Action; Severance Benefits Described in E-mail Are Not Covered Under ERISA; Outsourcing Did Not Violate ERISA; Related Claims Not Subject to Plan's Arbitration Clause; and Denial Based on Lack of Objective Test for Pain Held to Be Arbitrary." (Hodgson Russ LLP)

NCR Corp. Shareholders Vote to Keep Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "A recent shareholder bid to end benefits for domestic partners at technology firm NCR Corp. is just the second such proposal nationwide to make it to a vote in five years, according to a g.ay-rights activist. NCR Corp. shareholders overwhelmingly voted down a proposal late last month to drop benefits for domestic partners of executives earning more than $500,000." (BenefitNews Connect)

Overview: IRS Issues Executive Compensation Audit Guidelines: What Employers Need to Do Now (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS ... posted on its website new 'Audit Technique Guidelines' ('ATGs') which provide IRS agents auditing corporate tax returns (Form 1120) a road map for reviewing a company's executive compensation practices. Specifically they assist the agent in determining whether various common items of compensation are being properly reported to the company's executives as taxable income, and .... [Originally published March 7, 2005]" (Haynes and Boone, LLP)

U.S. Multinationals Revising Long-Term Incentive Programs for Executives Outside the U.S. (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "U.S. multinationals are overhauling their long-term incentive (LTI) programs for non-U.S. executives. This is a departure from the recent practice of relying on LTI plan features that were uniform worldwide, with the same vehicle -- stock options -- and the same plan terms and award sizes. Now a growing number of companies are shifting to customized approaches." (Towers Perrin)

A Guide to Shareholders' Questions at Public Companies' 2005 Annual Meetings (PDF)
61 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this document is to assist management of public companies in preparing for the annual meeting and to be able to provide informed responses to shareholder questions. The document contains examples of questions that might be asked, based on those asked at annual meetings in recent years, and considering current events, including Section 404 compliance in this first year of reporting on internal control over financial reporting." (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)


Newly Posted Press Releases

Study Shows How Policy Options, Other Variables Could Affect Benefit Levels in Social Security
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Long-Term Care Insurance: The Essentials
(MetLife)

HR Technology Professionals Discover COBRApoint at the HRMStrategies
(COBRApoint)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Retirement Plan Sales Director
for First Mercantile Trust Company
in CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT

Defined Contribution Administrator
for FACTS, inc.
in IN

Retirement Plans Manager
for TheBANK of Edwardsville
in IL

Client Service Officer
for AmSouth Bank
in FL

Pension Administration Specialist
for Miami Valley Pension, a Brady Ware Company
in OH

Defined Benefit Plan Administrator
for Ingham Group
in FL

Daily Retirement Plan Consultant
for Long Island, NY Employee Benefits Consulting Firm
in NY

Sales & Marketing Consultant
for Retirement Planning Center
in IL




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