| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
September 2, 2005
Today's sponsor: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| Software for 401(k), DB and Flexible Benefits |
DATAIR's IMPROVED BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION SOFTWARE for 401(k), Defined Benefit and Cafeteria/Flex plans. Designed for
administrators and consultants. System modules include:
|
| (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) |
How to Benefit from a Roth 401(k): Employees Should First Decide Whether to Pay Taxes Now or Later
Excerpt: "Starting next year, workers may have access to a new 401(k) savings option aimed at decreasing their tax burden in retirement.Highly paid workers are the most likely to take the gamble and contribute to this new type of account -- known as a Roth 401(k). They are also the most likely to see it pay off, tax experts said." (Wall Street Journal Online via MJM Financial LLC)
The Lower Cost 401(k) Option: ETFs Finding Way Into Retirement Plans for All the Right Reasons
Excerpt: "Using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as investing options in 401(k) plans is becoming increasingly popular as firms realize that ETFs offer participants a lower-cost option than mutual funds. Last month, Fiserv Investment Support Services teamed up with the Institute for Wealth Management (IWM) to provide plan sponsors who hold assets at Fiserv with ETF portfolios that use research provided by well-known institutional money managers." (InvestmentAdvisor.com)
Audio: Firms Forcing Use of 401(k) Plans to Increase Retirement Saving
Excerpt: "The decline of traditional pension plans means more and more Americans will depend on savings and Social Security when the[y] move into retirement. The problem is that many Americans aren't saving enough -- and some employers who offer 401(k) retirement savings plans are concerned about low participation rates. As our series on retirement issues continues, NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports many of these companies are beginning to enroll their workers automatically." (All Things Considered via National Public Radio)
Overview: Converting Individual Retirement Annuities to Roth IRAs
Excerpt: "The Revenue Service has issued new rules on valuing conventional Individual Retirement Annuities which are converted to Roth IRAs. The guidance consists of temporary regulations and corresponding proposed regulations. The new rules went into effect August 19, 2005." (SunGard Corbel)
Survey of Defined Contribution Plan Participant Statements 2005 (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "PSCA collected data on defined contribution plan participant statements from 433 companies. Respondent companies spanned a wide range of sizes, industries, and geographic locations. In general, plan sponsors appear to be fairly satisfied with their statements. Detailed information about their responses is provided [at the target page]." (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)
Global Survey of Retirement Plan Fiscal 2004 Year-End Accounting Assumptions (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "This report presents the results of Hewitt's global survey of fiscal 2004 year-end accounting assumptions for employee benefit plans. It includes information for 20 countries, as well as aggregated results for countries in the Euro Zone. The report also provides a range of expected discount rates based on economic indices as of June 30, 2005." (Hewitt Associates)
United Kingdom Funding Rules Put Off until October 31
Excerpt: "The UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has delayed the effective date of the new funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans for about five weeks." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Overview: Distribution of Marital Property Retirement Assets
Excerpt: "The first thing that must be determined is the worth of the various retirement assets. Their respective attorneys should provide retirement benefit release forms signed by each of their clients .... It is very important that each attorney get their opposing counsel's client's retirement information independently to avoid any possibility of hiding any provision, or misrepresenting the value, of the retirement assets. Once that information is obtained, pension appraisals must be ...." (www.divorcenet.com)
Using the Same Outsourcer for DB and DC Plans Can Benefit Both Employers and Employees
Excerpt: "The idea that companies should focus on their core businesses and let others handle the peripheral chores is not new. Nor is the notion of streamlining systems to boost efficiency. But put those two ideas together, apply them to retirement benefits, and you have TRO -- the practice of outsourcing both DB and defined contribution (DC) plans with the same outsourcing provider." (Treasury & Risk Management)
Overview: Treatment of COLAs among Top Issues at IRS August 17 Hearing on § 415 Regs (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Representatives of public plans and other organizations gave feedback to IRS and Treasury officials during a hearing on August 17 about the proposed 415 regulations. .... [The] witnesses raised a variety of issues, including the following: Multiple Annuity Starting Dates; COLAs; Post-Termination Pay; Increasing Defined Benefit Limit after Age 65." (National Council on Teacher Retirement)
Overview: Final and Proposed Regulations for Eliminating Section 411(d)(6) Protected Benefits (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS has issued final regulations that set forth the conditions under which a plan may eliminate or reduce an optional form of benefit, an early retirement benefit, or a retirement-type subsidy. In response to the Supreme Court decision in Central Laborers' Retirement Fund v. Heinz ..., the IRS issued proposed regulations on plan amendments that suspend or eliminate benefits already accrued." (Buck Consultants)
3rd Circuit Court Says ERISA Allows Alter-Ego and Veil-Piercing Liability
Excerpt: "The 37-page opinion by U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin in Brown v. Astro Holdings Inc. is limited to cases under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in which the plaintiff seeks to recover pension plan contributions from an employer that withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan." (The Legal Intelligencer via Law.com)
Overview: Dealing With QDRO'S That Were Never Written
Excerpt: "The unfortunate truth is that Qualified Domestic Relations Orders became a retirement asset distribution tool on January 1, 1985 but few attorneys knew much about them until they started being mentioned as areas of concern for potential malpractice in various legal publications." (www.divorcenet.com)
Molson Coors Employees Sue for Retirement Plan Losses
Excerpt: "Employees are suing Molson Coors Brewing Co. for failing to disclose that Adolph Coors Co. was not meeting profit targets before its merger with Molson Inc. this year. .... The suit says Molson Coors stock was 'plainly unsuitable and imprudent' as an investment option for the plan and its participants and the defendants should have 'taken appropriate action, including adoption of a reasonable policy of divestment, elimination or restriction of further investment,' ...." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Opinion: Social Security, Risk and Choice
Excerpt: "Some commentators have lately declared dead the administration initiative to 'privatize' Social Security. However, I suspect they don't believe that. Why, otherwise, would they continue challenging even the philosophical underpinnings of the Social Security reform advocated by the president?" (The Washington Times)
Opinion: GOP's Stealth Plans for Social Security Privatization
Excerpt: "If you thought privatization of Social Security was dead and we won, think again. According to the Dallas Morning News, the Republicans are planning a devious plan to sneak in private accounts this fall, doing it in a way that will not require Senate committee approval. And Karl Rove is involved, meaning this is still a high priority." (People's Weekly World Newspaper)
Overview: Staggered Remedial Amendment Periods
Excerpt: "The IRS has released Revenue Procedure 2005-66 ... which formally implements a system of cyclical Remedial Amendment Periods (RAPs) under IRC § 401(b). The Revenue Procedure is the culmination of a project that began in 2001 when the IRS issued its first white paper regarding the determination letter program. Since that time, a second white paper was issued, numerous meetings with practitioners took place, and draft revenue procedures were circulated to solicit additional input ...." (SunGard Corbel)
The Top 3 Retirement Plans for the Self-Employed
Excerpt: "Self-employment is fast becoming a way of life for many older Americans. And with good reason. Unlike most working Americans, the self-employed have the ability to use a plethora of retirement plans, including SEP, SIMPLE, 401(k) and defined benefit (or DB as they say in the pension world), to reduce taxes as well as build huge nest eggs." (MarketWatch)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: IRS Focus on Exempt Organization Compensation and How to Prepare for an Audit (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Corporate scandals, excessive compensation packages and questionable accounting standards have made headlines over the past several years. While much of the focus has been on public companies, Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations (EOs) have received their share of attention as well. In response to widespread media reports of excessive compensation and conflicts of interest, the IRS has increased its audit presence in the EO sector and will exact penalties against ...." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)
ADEA Legal Update: School Corp. Offering Early Retirement Incentives and Retiree Medical Benefits
Excerpt: "The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) has been an uncertain hurdle for school corporations in designing early retirement incentive programs that reduce benefits on account of age in order to encourage retirement, as well as retiree benefits simply intended to provide transitional retirement benefits, such as retiree medical benefits that terminate at Medicare eligibility." (Ice Miller)
Trucker Huss Benefits Report, August 2005 (PDF)
8 pages. Articles include the following titles: (1) Recent Proposed Treasury Regulations on Electronic Benefit Communications Reflect Influence of E-SIGN and (2) Recent Disney Decision Emphasizes that Norms for Corporate Governance Change with the Times. (Trucker Huss)
Indian Tribes Urge Ways and Means Committee Chairman to Clarify Status as Governmental Plans
Excerpt: "A broad coalition of Indian tribes and tribal organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians, has signed a letter urging Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas to include a provision clarifying that tribal governments have the same ability as federal, state, and local governments to self-regulate their employee benefit plans when he crafts a broad retirement security bill in September." (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)
Newly Posted Events
EGTRRA and Interim Amendments - When, Why, and How
Nationwide on September 28, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Newly Posted Press Releases
Federal Pension Insurance Agency Pledges Swift Replacement Of Lost Checks To Katrina Victims
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
IRS Names New Head of Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))
CPI Introduces New Enrollment Kit Solution
(Metrics Partners)
CPI Opens Kansas City Consulting Office
(CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.)
U. S. Labor Department Extends Annual Reports Deadline After Hurricane Katrina Hits Alabama
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
U. S. Labor Department Extends Annual Reports Deadline After Hurricane Katrina Hits Louisiana
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Hurricane Relief Approved for 10,000 Gulf Coast Participants of Teamster Benefit Funds
(Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare Fund)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
AVP, Health Management & Insurance Programs
for UnumProvident Corporation
in ME
Retirement Plan Administration Specialist
for Consulting Actuaries Incorporated
in NJ
Licensing/Registration Supervisor
for ING US Financial Services
in CA
Implementation Consultant
for Administaff
in TX
Employee Benefits Analyst
for County of Sacramento, CA
in CA
Benefits Manager
for Montgomery County Government
in ANY STATE
Training Manager
for ING US Financial Services
in CA
Director, Retirement Services Support Services
for Administaff
in TX
Paralegal - Retirement Plans
for MidAmerica Administrative & Retirement Solutions, Inc.
in FL
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.
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: