BenefitsLink
Retirement Plans
Newsletter		To BenefitsLink home page Fill your job openings fast by advertising on BenefitsLink

August 2, 2005
Today's sponsor: ASPPA-- Working for America's Retirement (tm)

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Banner ad for ASPPA-- Working for America's Retirement (tm)

2005 ASPPA Annual Conference * Nov 6 - 9 * Washington, DC

Each year, there are new regulations and legislation, new products and services and new opportunities to increase your knowledge and enhance your business. Take part in this learning opportunity with more than 1,500 of your professional colleagues

ASPPA. For the Serious Retirement Plan Professional.


(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Treasury Move Would Help Uncle Sam -- But Impact Taxpayers, Investors and Pensioners Too
Excerpt: "Treasury's expected announcement Wednesday that it will revive the 30-year bond may help a debt-burdened Uncle Sam cut borrowing costs, but the decision stands to affect taxpayers, investors and pensioners too." (Scripps Howard News Service)

Safe Harbor 401(k)s May Be a Retirement Plan Alternative for Small Businesses
Excerpt: "[M]any employers who currently maintain 401(k) plans are disappointed when they realize that, at the end of the year, they must refund contributions to highly compensated employees because of low or reduced participation levels from the rank-and-file employees. To help business owners avoid this situation, a safe harbor 401(k) may serve as a better alternative to help enhance contributions for the highly compensated employees, while keeping overall administration costs in check." (A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. via Magic City Morning Star)

United Methodist Church Offers Managed Accounts to Defined Contribution Plan Participants
Excerpt: "The United Methodist Church's General Board of Pension and Health Benefits announced today that it will provide its defined contribution plan participants with managed accounts through ProManage, LLC." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Life-Cycle Investment Funds Now Available to Participants in the Thrift Savings Plan
Excerpt: "The TSP, which is a 401(k)-style retirement savings plan for federal employees, launched its newest set of funds in order to help participants allocate their money more effectively, according to plan administrators." (National Journal Group Inc. via GovExec.com)

Commentary: Importance of Communication of Redemption Fees to Retirement Plan Participants
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal today in this article--Fund Firms Set More 401(k) Fees--reports how more and more mutual fund companies are charging redemption fees to 401(k) plan participants for moving money around in their plans." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via Benefitsblog.com)

Opinion: Libertarian Perspective -- The Crisis in Pension Benefits
Excerpt: "Social Security is not the only 'defined benefit' pension plan in trouble. Indeed, it seems as if they are all going bankrupt." (Coastal Post Online)

Managing Pension Plan Financial Performance Worldwide (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "Global pension liabilities are large, and growing, for many multinational organizations. A recent Towers Perrin study of more than 130 leading multinationals found that worldwide pension obligations now represent almost a quarter of the average global company's market value -- and more than 100% of market value for some companies." (Towers Perrin)

Text: PBGC Response to Rep. George Miller's FOIA Request Regarding a Pension Reform Proposal (PDF)
7 pages. The request was dated June 22, 2005. (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation via American Benefits Council)

Overview: Senate Finance Committee Unanimously Approves Pension Funding Reform Bill
Excerpt: "The Senate Finance Committee ... approved the National Employee Savings and Trust Equity Guarantee (NESTEG) Act, a comprehensive pension reform bill sponsored by Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Democrat Max Baucus (D-MT). This version of the NESTEG Act includes comprehensive funding reform proposals for single- and multi-employer defined benefit plans. The committee-approved bill also includes proposals relating to cash balance and other hybrid plans." (Deloitte's Washington Bulletin via BenefitsLink.com)

Insurance Companies Want Their Say in Social Security Reform Debate
Excerpt: "In making their pitch now, the insurers emphasize that their annuities can contribute to national savings and provide 'a paycheck for life' similar to Social Security. They also contend that a flexible savings plan advocated by President Bush, which would probably take money away from them, would probably not increase long-term savings. And the insurers are trying to prevent the elimination of the estate tax, which many wealthy Americans now pay with the proceeds of life ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

Kentucky Court Rules City Does Not Have to Pay Retirement Benefits for 'Double-Dipper'
Excerpt: "The Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled that the city of Hazard doesn't have to pay retirement benefits to an employee with less than 30 years' experience seeking to 'double dip.'" (WKYT)

How to Rate an Exemption from the Penalty for Early Withdrawal of Retirement Funds?
Excerpt: "When clients are desperate for funds because of unforeseen circumstances, CPAs can help them tap retirement funds without triggering the 10% early withdrawal penalty. Eight exemptions to this penalty relate to life cycle events and present tax-planning opportunities." (Journal of Accountancy)

South Dakota's Public Employee Retire-Rehire Practice under Fire: Lawmaker Calls for Review
Excerpt: "A ... lawmaker wants to end the practice of letting public employees retire so they can start collecting benefits and then be rehired in the same job and get paid for that, too. .... Republican Sen. Clarence Kooistra, who tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the so-called retire-rehire provision from the South Dakota Retirement System, said Friday the regents' decision to put Robert 'Tad' Perry back in his old position two weeks after he retired shows the need for legislative review." (Argus Leader)

Bettering the Odds for Investment Committees
Excerpt: "Given that investment committees are by law held to certain standards of prudence, and that most committee members are intelligent men and women with expertise in areas other than investments, the challenge in fulfilling their obligation is significant. By virtue of decision-making responsibility, most of these committee members are now plan fiduciaries...that unknowingly inherited that role. So how do these individuals tune out the noise, make prudent decisions and avoid the ...." (401khelpcenter.com)

Experts Say Traditional Pensions Best for Public Employees
Excerpt: "Two pension fund experts advised Southern legislators that traditional retirement programs are best suited for public employees, rather than the newer, defined-contribution systems favored by private companies." (AP via Dateline Alabama)

The Listing of Published IRS Retirement Plan Guidance Has Been Updated through July 2005
The listings include: Treasury Regulations; Revenue Rulings; Revenue Procedures; Notices; and, Announcements relating specifically to retirement plans. (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Socially Conscious Investing Gets Results: Broad Acceptance Follows Solid Performance
Excerpt: "In the mid-1980s, approximately $100 million was invested in socially responsible stocks. Investors were driven by antiapartheid and antitobacco sentiments. Today, there are 200 mutual funds with assets of $150 billion that make up socially responsible investments, according to the Social Investment Forum of Washington, D.C. The $2 trillion market of socially responsible stocks is driven by diverse social forces and religious concerns." (Financial Advisor)

Retirement Perspective: A Proposal to Break the Cash Balance Logjam
Excerpt: "In this Perspective, [Mercer] propose a solution to the hybrid plan controversy, one that appropriately balances the concerns of both plan sponsors and participants." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting; one-time registration required)

Tax Credit Plan to Encourage U.S. Savings
Excerpt: "The House Ways and Means Committee is said to be considering a plan by tax lobbyist Richard Grafmeyer that would encourage individual savings by giving tax credits to institutions for matching those savings." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Text of Rev. Rul. 2005-48: Recognition of Sec. 83 Income Despite 16(b) and Contractual Restrictions
Guidance regarding which provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 delay taxation under section 83 of the Code and whether temporary contractual restrictions on the transfer of section 83 property cause rights in the property to be substantially nonvested. The IRS also announced that, except for cases arising under the jurisdiction of the First Circuit, the Service will not follow the decision in Robinson v. Comm'r., 805 F.2d 38 (1st Cir. 1986), reversing 82 T.C. 444 (1984). (Internal Revenue Service)

Benefits-Speak in Spanish Boosts Morale, Cuts Costs, Increases Understanding
Excerpt: "We've all seen workers' eyes glaze over upon hearing words like tax deferral, vesting and maximum contributions. Add in the difficulty of deciphering these options in another language - not to mention the logistics of enrolling in the plans - and it's easy to see how little of the benefits message might stick." (Employee Benefit News)

The July 2005 Trucker Huss Benefits Report (PDF)
8 pages. The two main articles in this issue are: ERISA Considerations When a Plan Invests in Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds; and, The Limits of Jebian -- Not Every Technical Breach Means De Novo Review. (Trucker Huss)

Firms Struggle to Balance Employee Health and Retirement Benefit Costs with the Bottom Line
Excerpt: "The Center for Political Accountability recently released survey results that reflect the dilemma. While many large companies support organizations that financially support the Bush administration's efforts for reform, they distance themselves from publicly supporting the controversial effort. Companies struggle to balance the costs of providing health and retirement benefits for employees as a good corporate citizen and the ability to stay in business." (Northeast PA Business Journal)

Compensation Costs Up 3.2 Percent in Private Industry Over the Year
Excerpt: "While increases in wages and salaries continued at a moderate pace, the sharp increases in benefit costs began to moderate. For private industry workers, wages and salaries rose 2.4 percent in the year ended June 2005; this was similar to the gain of 2.6-percent in June 2004. Benefit costs gained 4.9-percent for the period ended June 2005, slowing dramatically from an increase of 7.3-percent for the year ended June 2004." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Newly Posted Press Releases

Ceridian Encourages Employers To Address The Needs And Differences Of All Generations In The Workplace
(Ceridian)

Department of Labor Intends to Expand Enforcement of Disclosure Requirements
(Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLC)

North Carolina Office of State Personnel Announces Online Enrollment for State Employees Participating in NC Flex
(North Carolina Office of State Personnel)

Philadelphia Retirement Plan Expert R. David Danziger Forms New Law Firm
(Law Offices of R. David Danziger)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Marketing/Sales/Enrollments
for South Florida RIA, TPA and Record Keeping Firm
in FL

401K Daily Administrator
for American National Insurance Company
in

Operations Project Manager
for Fidelity Investments
in MA, NH

Operations Delivery Leader
for Fidelity Investments
in MA, NH

Consultant
for Louis Kravitz & Associates
in CA



Handy Links:
Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.

Published by:

BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151

Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.

Housekeeping:
If you'd like to STOP this newsletter, just click on this link: STOP sending this newsletter to me