On February 28, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released notice 97-24 allowing employers to offer active employees who turn age 70-1/2 after 1995 the option to defer receiving in-service pension plan distributions even if employers have not amended their plans to provide such a choice, the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) reports. In the announcement, the IRS provided guidance to employers on the recently enacted Small Business Job Protection Act (SBJPA) which repealed Code Section 401(a)(9) requiring employer pension plan distributions to employees turning age 70-1/2, even if they are still active employees. (The repeal applies only to employees who are not 5 percent owners.) Yet, while the SBJPA repeal of Section 401(a)(9) provided employers with some relief, they were still bound by the Section 411(d)(6) obligation to continue offering promised benefits.Notice 97-24 clarifies that, in order for employers to take advantage of the 401(a)(9) repeal and not run afoul of 411(d)(6) rules, they should give active participants turning 70-1/2 the option of delaying distributions until they retire. The notice also clarifies that employers can provide such an option even if their plans contain distribution provisions consistent with the law prior to the passage of the SBJPA in August 1996. The IRS indicated that it soon will be issuing additional guidance providing that employers offering the delay distribution option must amend their plans retroactively if they have not already been amended and specifying a date by which such retroactive amendments must be made. The announcement will appear in Internal Revenue Bulletin 1997-11 on March 17.
"This article provides employer plan sponsors with insights into the dynamics of the group LTD market. It illustrates the latest, most effective strategic approaches for designing or redesigning an effective long term disability program."
There is no more often discussed topic in the world of employee ownership than the obligation to repurchase shares from participants after they leave the company. This is usually referred to as ESOP Repurchase Liability (which has, by dint of fearful and constant usage, earned a set of initial capital letters of its own). Some of us, though, prefer to use the more accurate (less lethal sounding and definitely lower case) phrase "repurchase obligation" instead.
In summary, a significant portion of inpatient utilization appears to be medically unnecessary, or at least provided in an inpatient setting when it could or should be provided in an ambulatory setting. As national policymakers consider healthcare reform alternatives, it is important that proposed healthcare reform options focus their efforts towards minimizing the unnecessary expenditure of resources to maximize the effectiveness of available healthcare resources. Healthcare costs can be significantly reduced by first eliminating unnecessary care.
If you are in an employee ownership program, you own stock. But what exactly is it that you own? Where does it come from? How is it valued? Is all stock the same? There's a lot of confusion about stock, even among some financial people. One business reporter for a cattle feedlot operator magazine thought employee stock ownership referred to owning cows. So if you are not so sure what stock is, join the party.
On April 29, 1996, a national town meeting was held, sponsored by TIAA-CREF, on the issues of pensions, social security, and personal saving. This program is part of a national campaign, led by the U.S. Department of Labor, and joined by a number of private organizations, to increase awareness among workers of the need to save for retirement. You can participate in this important campaign by listening to this program.
- Sylvia Chase introduces "Pensions, Social Security, and Personal Saving."
- Pensions, Social Security and Personal Saving: A Panel of Experts.
- Sylvia Chase introduces "Retirement Planning: A Personal Perspective."
- Retirement Planning: a Personal Perspective: A Panel of Experts