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September 15, 2005
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PBGC Deadlines' Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida
Excerpt: "This announcement has been updated to add additional parishes or counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as well as counties in Florida and to extend disaster relief until January 3, 2006. Information on employee plan payment deadline extensions is available on the IRS's Web site at www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=147233,00.html." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

Overview: Minimum Funding Contribution Relief for Retirement Plans Affected by Hurricane Katrina (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS has released Notice 2005-60, which provides relief from the Code and ERISA minimum contribution funding requirements for qualified plans situated in areas affected by hurricane Katrina." (Buck Consultants LLC)

Groups Push for 401(k) Breaks for Katrina Victims
Excerpt: "Interest groups in the retirement benefits field are urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Congress to make it easier for victims of Hurricane Katrina to tap into 401(k) savings to help them recover from disaster-related losses." (Society for Human Resource Management)

Northwest Airlines Banks on Pension Plan Reform to Avoid Termination
Excerpt: "For Northwest to emerge from bankrup.tcy, it may have to turn its pension plan over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, going to court to terminate its current pension obligations. Northwest said Wednesday it wants to avoid that step. The company said it is hopeful that Congress will pass pension reforms that will give it breathing space, allowing more time to stretch out payments to shore up the pension system." (The Detroit News)

Northwest's Timing Made U.S. an Unsecured Creditor for Pension Fund Contribution
Excerpt: "By filing for bankrup.tcy yesterday, Northwest Airlines expects to make the federal government an unsecured creditor for a $65 million contribution to its pension fund that was coming due today. Had Northwest delayed the filing by even one more day, the government would have had a stronger claim on the money." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

Overview: Preparing for Roth 401(k) or 403(b) Plan Accounts
Excerpt: "Starting in 2006, plan sponsors can allow participants to make after-tax Roth contributions to 401(k) or 403(b) plans through a qualified Roth contribution program. Roth contributions are available under new Internal Revenue Code (the 'Code') section 402A, which was added by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 ('EGTRRA')." (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)

Text: PBGC Technical Update 05-1: 2005 Participant Notice
Excerpt: "The PBGC regulation implementing ERISA section 4011 includes a Model Participant Notice that plan administrators may use to meet the Participant Notice requirement. For the convenience of plan administrators, each year the PBGC republishes the Model Participant Notice, updated to reflect the latest information on maximum guaranteed benefits." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

Panel Makes Recommendations to Save Colorado's Public Employee Pension Fund
Excerpt: "A state-appointed panel said Wednesday that Colorado's public employee pension fund should cut benefits and replace its entire board of directors to erase a projected $12.8 billion shortfall." (AP via 9news.com)

Editorial: Colorado's Public Employee Retirement Association Needs Fortification
Excerpt: "PERA, the state retirement association, has suffered a sudden decline in financial stability and the legislature should act sooner rather than later." (DenverPost.com)

Wife Killer Not Entitled to Her Retirement Benefits
Excerpt: "The US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that a retirement plan administrator breached its fiduciary duty by paying benefits to a deceased participant's husband, indicted for killing his wife." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

Before Hiring a Provider or Advisor As a Co-Fiduciary, Look Closely at What You Are Getting
Excerpt: "After the mutual fund scandals and the stock market's volatility in the past few years, more sponsors want help with selecting and monitoring plan investments. Enter the plan provider or advisor willing to sign a contract that labels it a co-fiduciary for certain tasks in those areas -- and often charging extra for it." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

Help for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries in Monitoring Investment Choices
Excerpt: "[M]ost small plan sponsors, and many mid-size sponsors, need help in monitoring their plan investments. While that help can come from a variety of sources, this column looks at the support offered by plan providers, which generally falls into one of three categories: [Co-Fiduciary; Alliance Fiduciary; and, Non-Fiduciary Support." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

Commentary: Social Security -- A Better Model for Disaster Relief
Excerpt: "Promoting Social Security in the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt often used the analogy of disaster relief to convince audiences of the wisdom of an old-age insurance program. Just as individuals needed relief from natural disasters, he argued, so too they needed insurance against the economic catastrophes of old age: losing a job, being unable to work, being cut off from family support." (The Century Foundation)

Republicans Seek Strategy to Abandon Social Security Overhaul
Excerpt: "Prospects that the U.S. Congress will pass an overhaul of Social Security this year have vanished, leaving Republicans to debate how best to walk away from the centerpiece of President George W. Bush's second-term domestic agenda. Lawmakers in the House and Senate said a comprehensive proposal had no chance of being acted on this year, ...." (Bloomberg L.P.)

Description of Private Sector Defined Contribution Provisions in NESTEG as of July 26, 2005 (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "NOTE- this summary is based on a description of the bill prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation and from the version of NESTEG (S219) introduced on January 31, 2005. Exact statutory language relating to the mark up is not yet available. Section references are from S 219 as introduced on 1/31/05. [The summary was published August 15, 2005.]" (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)

U.K. Pension Fund Managers More Wary of Stocks Than U.S. Counterparts, According to Aon Study
Excerpt: "The study of defined benefit pension plans revealed that British funds had cut equities to 58% of total assets by the end of 2004 from 60% at the end of 2002, while U.S. schemes had increased holdings to 62% from 59%." (Reuters Limited via Business Insurance)

CRS Report: Pension Sponsorship and Participation -- Summary of Recent Trends (PDF)
18 pages. Excerpt: "A CRS analysis of the Current Population Survey indicates that, among private sector workers 25 to 64 years old employed year-round, full-time: The percentage of workers whose employer sponsored a retirement plan fell from 62.7% in 2003 to 61.8% in 2004." (Congressional Research Service via The ERISA Industry Committee)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Overview of Lattice Models: Why and When to Use Them
Excerpt: "This closer look at Lattice Models overviews the arguments for them in FAS 123 valuation, their limitations, and explanations of binomial, trinomial and Hull-White models." (Chicago Consulting Actuaries, LLC)

As Enrollment Season Nears, Plan Sponsors Still Waiting for Clarity on Deferred Compensation Rules
Excerpt: "The concern that most practitioners and companies have is around the timing of the next round of guidance. The first notice indicated that companies have until December 31 of this year to amend their plans to bring them into compliance .... Until that point, they must operate their plans in compliance with the notice and the law. If there is no extension on the time to amend their plans and, if the second round of guidance comes out this September or October, ...." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)


Newly Posted Events

2005 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey
Nationwide on September 15, 2005
presented by Kaiser Family Foundation

Canadian HR & Corporate Benefits Summit
Nationwide on March 19, 2006
presented by marcus evans

Corporate Benefits Summit
in Florida on March 19, 2006
presented by marcus evans

Employee Benefits Program - 23rd Annual National CLE Conference
in Colorado on January 3, 2006
presented by Law Education Institute - Colorado Bar Assoc. CLE

Employees In a Disaster: What To Do After Katrina
Nationwide on September 22, 2005
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in Illinois on October 20, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in Pennsylvania on October 27, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of Qualified Plans
in Texas on October 6, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of Qualified Plans
in Kansas on October 20, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel

Fundamentals of Qualified Plans
in Massachusetts on October 27, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel

Medicare Part D is almost here. Are you ready?
in District of Columbia on September 22, 2005
presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS

National Healthcare Consumerism
in New Jersey on January 12, 2006
presented by marcus evans

New Guidance on Section 409A
Nationwide on September 28, 2005
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits


Newly Posted Press Releases

Statement by the U.S. Treasury Regarding Requests to Postpone Pension Payments Due on September 15
(U.S. Department of Treasury)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

HRIS Analyst
for Providence Health System
in WA

Account Executive - Client Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in MA

Business Development Bank Channel Management
for Transamerica
in ANY STATE

Benefits Professional
for Prestige Staffing
in CO

401(k) Plan Administrator
for ePlan Services, Inc.
in CO

Relationship Manager - Employee Benefits
for Reliance Trust Company
in GA

Benefit Administrator
for Independent Benefit Services
in MD




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