July 5, 2005 Today's sponsor: Penchecks, Inc. (Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Evaluate 403(b) Plan Sooner, Not Later Excerpt: "Note to teachers, doctors, professors and other nonprofit employees: Think about moving your 403(b) retirement plan-- the one with hefty fees and few investment options-- to something more attractive before an impending rule change bars it." (AP via Washington Post) Gauging the Health of Private Pensions Excerpt: "Last week, the House approved a bill that would ensure that private pensions are paid. Sylvester Schieber, director of U.S. benefits consulting at Watson Wyatt, a human resources consulting firm, discusses the relative health of private pensions." (National Public Radio) ERIC Side-by-Side Comparison of Pension Reform Proposals Excerpt: "The House Education and Workforce Committee late yesterday completed its two-day markup of H.R.2830 providing extensive reforms to pension funding as well as cash balance, pension equity, and other hybrid plans. The side-by-side summary of H.R.2830 (below) includes the Administration's original proposal and ERIC's proposal for comparison." (ERISA Industry Committee) Summer 2005 Issue of Milliman's Multiemployer Review (PDF) 2 pages. Articles include 'Extensions of the Amortization Period to Cure Funding Deficiencies,' 'Borrowing Contributions from the Following Year' and 'Correcting Amendments to the Suspension of Benefits Rules." (Milliman) Actuary Paulette Tino Receives Robert J. Myers Service Award Excerpt: "[S]he is the first woman to receive the Academy's Robert J. Myers Service Award, presented annually to an actuary who has made an outstanding contribution in public service.... When she first came to the IRS, Tino worked, among other things, on developing regulations governing ERISA." (Contingencies Magazine) Opinion: Pension Guarantees Deserve Attention Excerpt: "With United terminating four underfunded plans as part of its bankrup.tcy reorganization, many of its employees and retirees will see their benefits cut by more than one-third. Of the $9.8 billion in unfunded United pension plan liabilities, the PBGC only guarantees about two-thirds." (Business Insurance) Pension Roulette: How Secure Is Your Future? Excerpt: "When five United Airlines flight attendants lost their pensions in May, they decided to show their anger-- and a bit more-- by posing for a 2006 calendar titled 'Stewardesses Stripped (Of Their Pension).' The women, ages 55 to 64, appear in far less than their uniforms to get across their message that 'no retirement fund is completely secure and there is a definite crisis in the pension guaranty system.'" (AARP) IRA Beneficiary Distributions Quiz Excerpt: "[P]ut your knowledge to the test with a short quiz." (Bankers Systems, Inc.) Board Member Responsibilities for ERISA Retirement Plan Management Excerpt: "ERISA ... does not articulate specific fiduciary governance processes. Indeed, this absence of a statutory example of retirement plan governance is a primary cause for dysfunction in the private retirement plan system in this country." (Wayne H. Miller in the Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Journal) With Benefits Dwindling, Pilots Fight Retirement Excerpt: "Commercial airline pilots must retire at age 60. That hasn't been a problem in the past because pilots had generous pensions. But with several of the major airlines in bankrup.tcy, pilots are seeing their pensions reduced and some are fighting mandatory retirement." (National Public Radio) Social Security: What's on the Table? Excerpt: "In coming months, Consumer Reports will 'shop' proposed Social Security overhauls to see how well each meets the needs of the millions of elderly, disabled, widowed, and orphaned beneficiaries who rely on it as a major source of income. Among the factors we believe are important for consumers: ..." (ConsumerReports.org) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Just What Are the Odds, Anyway? Excerpt: "We actuaries devote our lives to probing and prodding the quantity QAV, where Q is risk (the probability that an event will occur), A is the cost of that (usually) untoward event, and V allows for the time value of money. This article is about Q." (Contingencies Magazine) The Effect of Unions on Employee Benefits Excerpt: "It is well-established that unionized workers in the United States are covered by more extensive employee benefits than are comparable nonunion workers.... What is less clear, however, is why this is so." (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics) Changes in Incentive Plans Underway Excerpt: "[M]any companies are redesigning their long-term incentive plans by altering the eligibility criteria, design parameters and size of executive awards. Seventy-one percent of large employers are revising or plan to revise their long-term incentive program design in anticipation of mandatory stock option expensing in the United States ..." (BenefitNews.com) New Option Valuation Methodology Proposed Excerpt: "A new valuation alternative? Cisco Systems has taken an entirely fresh look at this issue, and is proposing that it set the value of its options by selling some 'derivative' options with attributes very similar to those granted to employees to a group of institutional investors." (Beyster Institute) Newly Posted Events Challenges and Solutions for Mature ESOP Companies in Massachusetts on October 4, 2005 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership Challenges and Solutions for Mature ESOP Companies in California on November 15, 2005 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership ESOP Feasibility: Beyond the Basics in Minnesota on October 11, 2005 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership ESOP Feasibility: Beyond the Basics in California on October 25, 2005 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership From Black-Scholes to Binomial - FAS 123(R): Employee Stock Option (ESO) Valuation Methodologies Nationwide on July 26, 2005 presented by Financial Executives International The Count Down Is On: Understanding Your Options for the Retiree Drug Subsidy Nationwide on July 6, 2005 presented by Financial Executives International Newly Posted Press Releases ERIC and Deloitte Receive Results of Wellness Program Survey (ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)) ACLI Testifies on Benefits of Long-Term Care Insurance Before Senate Finance Committee (American Council of Life Insurers) The President of The ESOP Association Urges Congress to Enact the ESOP Promotion and Improvement Act of 2005 as Part of Building an Ownership Society (ESOP Association) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Health & Welfare Associate for Towers Perrin in CA, MI, NJ, NY Manager - Retirement/Recordkeeper Analyst for WESPAC in CA Testing and Reporting Specialist (Future Opportunity) for Fidelity Investments in KY Senior Benefits Systems Analyst for The Rosen Group Inc. in NJ Account Manager, 401(k) for ABD Insurance and Financial Services in CA Regional Manager for Growing Mid-Size TPA Firm Setting Up New Regional Office in DC, DE, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MO, NJ, OH, PA, WV Pension Administrator for Benefit Systems, Inc. - Austin, Houston or San Antonio in TX Life & Health Sales Representative for Great-West Healthcare in MI Compliance Specialist - Contracts for Mercer Human Resource Services in TX Implementation Analyst for Mercer Human Resource Services in MA Account Manager, Health & Welfare for Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc. in NY Account Manager for Kibble & Prentice in WA Handy Links:
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