BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter November 16, 2005 Today's sponsor: www.ftwilliam.com (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) Register for our free on-line demo! www.ftwilliam.com offers the employee benefits professional the highest quality plan documents and forms at highly competitive prices. Plan documents on a per document basis are only $50/adoption agreement, or $100/volume submitter document (including cross testing). An annual subscription to all documents is only $1,500. The Form 5500 package and the IRS/PBGC form package are only $250 each. Prices include access for five concurrent users. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Overview: Roth 401(k) Accounts Offer New Savings Option in 2006 Excerpt: "Employers that haven't already done so should take a close look at the idea of allowing employees to make Roth contributions to existing 401(k) plans. The new accounts, which become available in 2006, are expected to have special appeal to company managers and other highly compensated employees." (Towers Perrin) Roth 401(k) Final Regulations by Thanksgiving? Excerpt: "The final regulations for plans that adopt a Roth 401(k) feature may be issued prior to Thanksgiving. The source of this unofficial rumored information, devoid of further details, was a conversation with a government official at the ASPPA conference last week." (ERISA Expertise LLC) 2004/2005 Survey for Hong Kong Defined Benefit Retirement Schemes (PDF) 19 pages. Excerpt: "[The survey] reviews how Hong Kong Companies account for the cost of providing retirement benefit scheme benefits under HKAS 19. It focuses on defined benefit schemes provided by companies under the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance, the legislation governing the operation of voluntary retirement schemes in Hong Kong." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide) A Savvy Way to Trim Pensions -- United Gets Around Bankrup.tcy Laws Excerpt: "With bankrup.tcy reorganization strategies in the auto and airline industries seeking elimination of decades-old employee pension and health care obligations, firms could be expected to beat a path to the door of the bankrup.tcy court of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals." (The National Law Journal via Law.com) Letter to the PBGC Board and the 2005 Independent Auditor's Report of the PBGC (PDF) 3 pages. (U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation) Text: 2005 PBGC Performance and Accountability Report (PDF) 62 pages. (U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation) Pension Agency Reports $22.8B Shortfall Excerpt: "News of a $22.8 billion deficit at the federal agency that insures the private pensions of more than 40 million workers increases the pressure on Congress to overhaul the pension system." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required) The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Says Deficit Is Steady for Now Excerpt: "The federal agency that insures pensions reported yesterday that its financial position stayed roughly constant over the last fiscal year, after three years of record losses. But its executive director warned that the pension system's troubles, and the risk to the agency, were not over." (The New York Times; one-time registration required) U.K. Regulator Sets Approach to E.U. Pension Rules Excerpt: "The U.K. Pensions Regulator set out its proposed approach to implementing E.U. requirements for cross-border pension plans in a consultation document published Monday." (Business Insurance) Bush Social Security Plan Laid to Rest Excerpt: "The Senate staged sparsely attended burial services Tuesday for President Bush's long-dead plan to remake Social Security through creation of personal accounts. Metaphors outnumbered mourners." (AP via Yahoo! News) Benefits Bulletin Offers Information for Employers (PDF) 4 pages. The bulletin covers: Comparing Retirement Plan Choices; New Hardship Distribution Regulations; the provision of plan documents; Using Severance Compensation for a Qualified Plan; Communication Issues; and, Recent Developments. (July Business Services) Commentary: It's a Slow Road to Pension Reform Excerpt: "The debate on how to set up a healthy future pension system has barely begun. Congress may decide that the US should build a generous Social Security system, such as that of France, Italy, or Germany. Or perhaps require workers to save for their own pensions, as do many Asian and South American nations." (The Christian Science Monitor) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Hong Kong: Accounting for Employee Benefits under HKAS 19 Excerpt: "The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued HKAS 19 in December 2001. This essentially is International Accounting Standard 19 (IAS 19) adapted as applicable to Hong Kong companies." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide) HR Technology Lacking Total Compensation Information, According to Survey Excerpt: "A Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey found growing use of the Internet for HR transactions and widespread availability of customized information on health care and retirement benefits, but limited online access to information about total compensation for employees." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required) Overview: New Rules for Deferred Compensation Plans Excerpt: "Employers can't waste any time if they wish to take full advantage of the long-awaited guidance on deferred compensation rules issued recently by the IRS. The guidance, in the form of proposed regulations covering the types of permissible arrangements, operational requirements for deferral elections and timing of payments, marks a comprehensive revision of the deferred comp rules under IRC section 409A that were enacted in 2004 as part of the American Jobs Creation Act." (Towers Perrin) Opinion: AARP's America Is a Mirage Excerpt: "[AARP] has become America's most dangerous lobby. If left unchecked, its agenda will plunder our children and grandchildren. Massive outlays for the elderly threaten huge tax increases and other government spending. Both may weaken the economy and the social fabric." (Robert J. Samuelson via The Washington Post; one-time registration required) Newly Posted Events Difficult Health FSA Expenses--To Reimburse or Not to Reimburse? Nationwide on November 10, 2005 presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA) Ready for Roth? in Massachusetts on December 14, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Ready for Roth? in Florida on December 14, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Ready for Roth? in California on December 14, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Ready for Roth? in Pennsylvania on December 15, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Ready for Roth? in California on December 15, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Ready for Roth? in Florida on December 15, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Ready for Roth? in Washington on December 15, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Results of National Consumer Survey on Health Privacy in District of Columbia on November 9, 2005 presented by Kaiser Family Foundation Newly Posted Press Releases Few Companies Offer Workers Online Access To Total Compensation Information (Watson Wyatt) PBGC Releases Fiscal Year 2005 Financial Results (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)) New PBGC Deficit Should Not Drive Pension Debate; Congress Should Remain Focused On Preserving Healthy Plans (American Benefits Council) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Plan Consultant Opportunity for Weaver Partners, Inc. in ANY STATE Marketing Coordinator - Pension Consulting Services for RSM McGladrey Inc. in AZ External Regional Retirement Plan Sales Consultant for Waddell & Reed, Inc. in AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, TX, UT, WY 401(k) Plan Benefits Administrator for Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation in NJ Director of Corporate Benefit Plans for Shelter Insurance Companies in MO 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: How to Sponsor an Issue Subscribe to a Daily Email Announcing Publication of Each Day's Newsletter Privacy Policy Archive of Previous Newsletters