| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
September 9, 2005
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| (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) |
Easing of 401(k) Distribution Rules for Katrina Victims Urged by Nonprofit Council
Excerpt: "The Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America has asked the Internal Revenue Service to consider temporarily relaxing some rules governing withdrawals and loans from 401(k) plans to help Hurricane Katrina victims rebuild their lives." (MarketWatch)
What About My 401(k)? What Are Rollover Options?
Excerpt: "[S]omething as mundane as rolling over a 401(k) presents wildly different options from one individual to the next, as proven by the reader questions that came to my inbox after I wrote a piece about forgotten 401(k)s. While the act of 'rolling over' -- moving the money from one account to another -- is pretty straightforward, there's more to wresting one's money from a former employer than I let on." (Dayana Yochim via The Motley Fool)
American Airlines Acts to Limit 401(k) Fund Shifting by Participants
Excerpt: "Managers of American Airlines' company-sponsored 401(k) plan are cracking down on a growing number of employees who have been aggressively shifting money between funds in an attempt to boost their plan performance." (AP via Fort Worth Star Telegram via Airport Business)
San Diego Public Pension Fix Would Be Short Term, Report Says
Excerpt: "The City Council can temporarily reach its funding goal for its troubled pension fund within two years if it raises $600 million through selling land and borrowing cash, according to a city report issued Thursday. However, obligations to retirees would drag the fund's standing back to sub-par levels only three years later, the report said." (voice of San Diego)
Proposed Public Pension Fix Fails for Huntington, West Virginia
Excerpt: "A complex plan designed to solve Huntington's largest financial problem is dead, city officials said Thursday. For now, that means people who work in the city will be spared from having to pay a 1 percent occupation tax, a major ingredient of the plan to pay off the city's $117 million unfunded police and fire pension liability. It also means that the unfunded liability will continue to chomp away at the city's budget, resulting in reduced spending for city services ...." (The Herald-Dispatch)
San Diego Declares Pension Consultants' Work Deficient, Withholds $1 Million Payment
Excerpt: "The city of San Diego is withholding $1 million from a Houston-based law firm hired to investigate possible securities violations by city officials because it failed to review 57,000 potentially relevant documents, City Manager Lamont Ewell said Thursday." (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
ERIC Submits Letter to Senators Urging Careful Consideration of Pending Pension Reform Legislation
Excerpt: "The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) ... urged the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to avoid unfair retroactive mandates and 'litigation carve-outs' while supporting many of the bill's other provisions. ERIC's letter to committee members highlighted concerns with language in the current bill regarding hybrid pension plan provisions, specifically: ...." (The ERISA Industry Committee)
Bill Lets PBGC Negotiate Pension Payments
Excerpt: "The federal agency that insures private pensions would be able to cut deals with individual companies granting more time to pay pension liabilities under a bill approved by a Senate panel on Thursday." (Reuters via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
7th Circuit Court Clears ESOP Administrator of Wrongdoing in Hess v. Reg-Ellen Machine Tool Corp.
Excerpt: "Federal appellate judges have cleared an ESOP administrator of wrongdoing over allegations the administrator improperly kept two participants from diversifying their company stock plan accounts." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Does Failure to Consider Exchange Traded Funds Breach Fiduciary Duty?
Excerpt: "A number of financial advisers from across the United States have expressed concern about fiduciary expert Donald B. Trone's teaming up with an executive from Barclays Global Investors on a column that these critics say encouraged the use of exchange traded funds. These advisers question whether Mr. Trone, president of the Sewickley, Pa.-based Foundation for Fiduciary Studies - whom they admittedly admire as a leading light on fiduciary matters - had thought through his message." (Investment News; registration or subscription required)
Overview: Senate HELP Committee to Consider Defined Benefit Security Act
Excerpt: "Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ... Committee chair Michael Enzi ... has released the Defined Benefit Security Act ... which is expected to move through committee within days. The DBSA is the fourth proposal to enter the pension reform debate, following the administration's proposal ..., the Pension Protection Act ..., and the National Employee Savings and Trust Equity Guarantee Act ...." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Outlook for Congressional Action on Pension and Social Security Issues as of September 7, 2005 (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Other action on pensions could occur as part of the budget reconciliation process. The fiscal 2006 budget bill approved earlier this year requires the two congressional tax writing committees (House Ways and Means and Senate Finance) to assemble by September 23 legislation to cut taxes by $70 billion. The bill would provide a vehicle for passage of pension legislation, including the private DB funding provisions and the governmental provisions in the NESTEG Act." (National Council on Teacher Retirement)
Pensions Are at Heart of Boeing Walkout by Machinists
Excerpt: "The single biggest issue in the Machinists strike against Boeing isn't wages, health-care costs or job security. It's pensions, for reasons that aren't hard to understand." (The Seattle Times)
Overview: DOL Amends 'QPAM' Exemption (PDF)
4 pages. The Department of Labor published proposed amendments to the Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14. (Dechert LLP)
Coalition Letter to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Hybrid DB Plans (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The undersigned organizations ...believe that the best way to protect pensions for future retirees and working Americans is for Congress to address the status of hybrid defined benefit plans (cash balance and pension equity plans). In order to preserve the retirement security of millions of Americans and the solvency of the Pension BenefitGuaranty Corporation, it is essential that Congress comprehensively clarify that the design of hybrid plans is not age discriminatory." (American Benefits Council)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: Corporate Aircraft Operations and Use and Taxation Issues (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "When used wisely, corporate aircraft offer significant benefits over commercial air travel, such as increased productivity, security, convenience, and lower travel costs. However, the transition to corporate aircraft requires considerable planning in view of the various ownership and use options and the complex regulatory framework in which aircraft operate." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of September 6, 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)
AARP Attorneys Advise European Union on Age Discrimination Law
Excerpt: "The Anti-Discrimination Expert Group or ADEG, in which AARP has been granted Observer status, is composed of representatives from all 25 EU Member States with expertise in many areas of aging. The primary focus of the ADEG has been monitoring the implementation by the Member States of the Framework Directive on Equal Treatment (or simply the Framework Directive) adopted by the Council of the European Union in November 2000." (AARP)
Life and Death Planning for Federal Employees and Their Survivors
Excerpt: "As the waters begin to recede from the city of New Orleans, the death toll likely will begin to rise. Those deaths will serve as a grim reminder to those who escaped Hurricane Katrina of the kind of preparations to make to prepare for a federal employee's death." (GovExec.com)
Newly Posted Events
Effect Of The New Bankruptcy Act On Retirement Plans
in Delaware on September 15, 2005
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Phoenix Chapter
Fourth Quarter 2005 Update
Nationwide on November 17, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman
Fourth Quarter 2005 Update
Nationwide on November 18, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman
Newly Posted Press Releases
ERIC Submits Letter to Senators Urging Careful Consideration of Pending Pension Reform Legislation
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))
Senate HELP Committee Mixes Its Pension Funding Reform Message: Good For Funding Reform, Bad For Hybrid Plans
(American Benefits Council)
The SPARK Institute Working on Hurricane Katrina Relief Issues for Retirement Plan Sponsors, Participants and Service Providers
(SPARK Institute)
Treasury, IRS Announce Special Relief to Encourage Leave-Donation Programs for Victims of Hurricane Katrina
(U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service)
ICC Plan Solutions Pledges Support To Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
(Metrics Partners)
ERISA Advisory Council Sets September 2005 Meetings
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Account Manager, Health & Welfare
for Stanton Group
in MN
Sales Manager
for ING US Financial Services
in CT
Annual Plan Reporting Services Manager - PA
for Vanguard
in PA
Project Manager
for ING US Financial Services
in CT
Channel Support Manager
for ING US Financial Services
in CT
Sr Market Research Analyst
for ING US Financial Services
in CT
Pension Administrator
for Pension Administrator
in GA
Qualified Retirement Plan Administrator
for BKD, LLP
in CO
Senior Account Manager/Account Manager, Health & Welfare
for Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc.
in NY
Manager - Health Claims/Customer Service
for Zenith Administrators
in WA
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