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November 23, 2005
Today's sponsor: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

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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)
Text of Rev. Proc. 2005-76 Extending Operational Compliance Deadline for Anti-Cutback Amendments (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this revenue procedure is to extend the date by which a qualified retirement plan must be in operational compliance with a reforming plan amendment in order to be eligible for the treatment described in section 3.02 of Revenue Procedure 2005-23, 2005-18 I.R.B. 991, relating to the Supreme Court decision in Central Laborers' Pension Fund v. Heinz, 541 U.S. 739 (2004)." (Internal Revenue Service)

Pension Reform Legislative Update as of November 16, 2005 (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "On November 16, the Senate approved the Pension Security and Transparency Act (PSTA). The version of PSTA approved by the full Senate was slightly different than the compromise version that had been developed by the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee." (Hewitt Associates)

Chart: Summary and Comparison of Defined Contribution Provisions in Pension Reform Bills (PDF)
13 pages. The chart compares current law with provisions in S.1783 and H.R.2830. (American Benefits Council)

The Total View: 2005 Retirement Plan Trends & Forecast
Excerpt: "Based on data for the 2004 calendar year, this report provides an in-depth look at retirement program trends among more than 35,000 retirement plan sponsors of The Principal and their approximately 2.3 million employee participants across four core retirement plan designs: defined contribution, including 401(k), defined benefit, nonqualified and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)." (Principal Financial Services, Inc.)

New Edition of Book on ESOP Valuation
The NCEO presents excerpts from the newly released third edition of its book ESOP Valuation, which has 13 chapters covering a multitude of issues related to valuation for an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), including S corporations, marketability discounts, fiduciary issues, accounting, multi-investor buyouts, and much more. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Comments on Proposed Regulations under Code Section 411(d)(6) (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "We realize that in drafting the regulations, the Service was forced to strike a balance between protecting the rights of participants, and allowing plan sponsors to eliminate various optional forms of benefit that create significant burdens and complexities for a qualified plan. However, we believe the regulations could be changed to allow relief for plan sponsors without any significant infringement on the rights of participants." (Hewitt Associates)

NCCMP Submits Comments to IRS on 411(d)(6) Regulations (PDF)
4 pages. The comments were submitted electronically on November 21, 2005. (National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans)

Letter to IRS on Proposed Rule on Dividends Paid Deduction for Stock Held in ESOP (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The Council is very concerned that the regulations, as proposed, would discourage employers with a foreign parent from establishing or maintaining an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), resulting in harm to their American employees." (American Benefits Council)

Small Firms Offer More Retirement Options
Excerpt: "Financial firms, including Charles Schwab & Co., Fidelity Investments and Wachovia Corp., are cutting fees and simplifying procedures to attract more small businesses to set up employee-retirement accounts, ranging from Simple IRAs to 401(k)s." (The Wall Street Journal via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Details Impede Disbursements of Mutual Fund Trading Settlement Cash
Excerpt: "The billions in mutual fund settlement cash that resulted from the fund trading scandals should make its way into investors' pockets by the summer, but not before a few wrinkles are ironed out with two federal agencies. The U.S. Department of Labor is trying to come up with guidelines to help retirement plans deal with settlement payouts, industry sources said. And the Internal Revenue Service is wrestling with how the payouts should be taxed, they said." (Investment News; registration or subscription required)

Issue in Brief: How Do Pensions Affect Replacement Rates? (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "This brief is the second in a series examining replacement rates for current retirees. The first one looked solely at Social Security, the single most important source of retirement income. This brief adds employer-sponsored pensions and household saving outside of employer plans to provide a more comprehensive picture of replacement rates.' (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Letter to the Editor from the President, United Auto Workers: The Pension Bill Is Bad for Workers
Excerpt: "The pension legislation being pushed by the Bush administration won't rescue anything. Instead, it will weaken the ability of responsible employers and unions to negotiate secure pension plans." (Ron Gettelfinger, President, United Auto Workers via The New York Times; one-time registration required)

DB/DC Bundling Can Simplify Administration Burdens and More
Excerpt: "Read about the state of the DB/DC bundling market, services offered in a typical arrangement, benefits, possible pitfalls and issues to raise with prospective vendors." (Aon Consulting)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Perspective: FAS 123(R) -- Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation -- A Year Later
Excerpt: "Contrary to the hopes of some, neither Congress nor the SEC has stepped in to provide broad relief from the major change wrought by FAS 123(R): that stock options must be expensed. Instead, during 2005, there's been a piecemeal approach to relief and clarification." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; one-time registration required)

Overview: FASB's November 10th Meeting -- Fair Value Accounting for Pension and OPRB Plans
Excerpt: "In this article [the authors] review the balance sheet issues related to pensions and OPRBs as well as the income statement issues under this new FASB project." (CCA Strategies)

Comments on Use of Electronic Media to Provide Employee Benefit Notices, Elections, and Consents (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Hewitt recommends that the option to print the applicable notice or confirmation of election satisfies the requirement to provide a paper copy upon request at no charge." (Hewitt Associates)

Mercer County, New Jersey Public Employees' Domestic Partners Can Now Share Benefits
Excerpt: "In a move toward extending rights to g.ays, the Mercer County freeholders unanimously adopted a resolution last night that allows domestic partners of county employees to share benefits. The resolution -- given to the freeholder board with a strong recommendation of approval from county executive Brian Hughes -- passed 6-0 and will take effect immediately." (The Trentonian)

Newly Posted Press Releases

New Great-West Healthcare Consultative Tools Aid Brokers and Employers in Making Benefits Choices
(Great-West Retirement Services)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Consultant, Health and Productivity Management
for Kindred Healthcare
in KY

Sr. Community Health Care Advisor
for NRECA
in VA

Defined Benefit Plan Administrator
for Tegra Financial Partners
in GA

Call Center Manager
for The Newport Group
in NC

Pension Administrator
for CAI Benefits, Inc.
in NY

Assistant to Senior Account Managers
for Corporate Plans & Services
in NC

Relationship Manager
for Fidelity Investments
in TX

Administrator
for Creative Plan Designs, Ltd.
in FL, NY



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