Social Security Moves To the Front Burner -- And the Heat Is On!
The Social Security Advisory Council has issued its much talked about report that offers three options for restoring Social Security to financial health. Some reviewers, quite naturally, have favored one option over another, while a few have been critical of all three.

Phased Retirement Gradually Makes Its Way into the Workplace
Continuing efforts on the part of companies to restructure their operations to gain the sharpest competitive edge -- whether through reorganization, downsizing, merger and acquisition activity, outsourcing, divestiture or a combination of strategies (see April 1996 Watson Wyatt Insider) -- remain prominent features of the American workplace. Still further restructuring is afoot, involving a gradual transformation of how, when and where people do their jobs and wind down their careers.

Courts Split on Forced Disclosure of Actuarial Reports
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that plan sponsors do not have to disclose a plan's actuarial report upon participant request. The decision continues a split in the courts on the issue, with the Fourth Circuit agreeing with the Second Circuit, but the Sixth Circuit holding that actuarial reports are disclosable.

Excess Benefit Transactions a Potential Pitfall for SERPs
It is not uncommon for tax-exempt organizations to substantially increase a key executive's retirement benefit shortly before retirement. For instance, an executive with 10 years of service may be granted 10 extra years of service credit, so his or her retirement benefit will be for 20 years of service.

Employers Can Follow New Minimum Distribution Rules Before Amending Their Plans
The IRS has released guidance allowing retirement plans to offer affected employees the opportunity to defer minimum distributions in accordance with the Small Business Job Protection Act (SBJPA), even though such deferrals are not currently permitted by their plan document.

June 1: Don't Forget To Certify!
Beginning June 1, 1997, all health plan sponsors (regardless of their health plan year) must certify periods of "creditable coverage" as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).* That leaves just a few weeks to establish administrative procedures for tracking coverage and deciding how to report it.

IRS Releases 1997 Guidance Priorities List
The 1997 Guidance Priorities list is out, indicating guidance the IRS intends to focus on this year (although other guidance may also be released).

Corporate citizenship is about treating employees as important assets to be developed and as partners on the road to profitability. It is an idea that business leaders, investors, academics, and government representatives believe will lead to bottom-line success for America - its businesses, its workers, their families, and their communities.

The Department of Labor maintains this resource center to enhance public access to information on workplace practices that embody a commitment to this notion of corporate citizenship. The information currently available to you is just the starting point. With your help, this is a service that will be continually revised, updated, and improved. It is designed to appeal to and serve the needs of a diverse audience - businesses, workers, unions, researchers, and public officials. For example,

Do you represent a company that is committed to corporate citizenship in principle but worries about the cost? Select a research menu option for studies that demonstrate that you can't afford not to implement these practices. Then select the list of not-for-profit service providers to identify organizations that can assist you in making the changes.

Are you a union contract negotiator who wants to improve the work life of your members? Then select the company profiles option and learn of workplace practices that have already benefitted others, management, and front-line workers alike.

Do you have a story to share about a company that embodies one or more of these principles in its day to day operations? Then select the online feedback option and tell us about it.

Do you want to work for a company that values its employees and does right by them? Select the company profiles option and identify some possibilities.

Are you researching innovative workplace practices? the impact of education and training on productivity? labor-management cooperation? the effects of employee benefits on job performance? Select the research menu option for a bibliography of sources.

Welcome. This is the 6th major revision of this site. It has been reformatted as a home page and is greatly expanded in scope and number of links. It includes metasites, web sites, e-mail discussion groups/listservs, freenets, the commercial online services, and USENET Newsgroups. Other standard categories of information in this directory are: associations and conferences, educational programs, government agencies and organizations, news sources, online and regular publications, research, and subdivisions by country or smaller geographic breakdowns, where appropriate. It includes 1,295 links.

Retirement: Money is everything

If money is the key to a worry-free retirement, good planning is the key to building and maintaining your wealth, and avoiding unpleasant surprises. On this page, USA TODAY personal finance reporter Anne Willette tells how planning paid off for Tracy and Willarena Williams -- and tells you step by step how to figure out where your money comes from and where it goes. And USA TODAY's Sandra Block tells you why it could be a financial mistake to retire too early.

• Answers to reader questions.
• Retirement: Wealth of worries
• Cashing in on retirement requires careful steps
• Rosy retirement takes planning, luck
• Proper planning paves golden years
• Planning pros could relieve some anxiety
• Retirement takes advice to new level
• Early retirement may crimp benefits

• Medicaid Fraud and Abuse: Stronger Action Needed to Remove Excluded Providers From Federal Health Programs. HEHS-97-63. 25 pp. plus 4 appendices (14 pp.) March 31, 1997.
  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/he97063.pdf

Although some issues remain unresolved, several concerns about administering provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) were addressed in interim regulations released April 1. For the most part, the new guidance favors plan sponsors.

The regulations, which cover only a limited portion of HIPAA, are among the most detailed of welfare benefits rules, and give realistic and relevant examples of how to apply the rules. The rules primarily focus on portability issues such as pre-existing condition exclusions, certification of prior coverage and nondiscrimination. Also included is guidance on the use of electronic transmissions to meet ERISA's reporting requirements.

We represent over 15 top-rated annuity carriers for both deferred and immediate payout annuities.

As a national marketing organization, we work with insurance agents and consultants to provide the best annuity for the situation.

Visit us on our Web site! http://home.earthlink.net/~fsdfinancial

Question 27: A reader asks: An employer adopted an insurance company prototype profit sharing plan in 1987. The employer was advised by the insurance company on numerous occasions that it needed to adopt a restatement of the plan for TRA '86 and subsequent law changes, but took no action. Now, the plan is being audited by the IRS. Are any of the IRS remedial programs available for correcting the plan's nonamender defect? Are there any defenses which can be asserted? If the defect is corrected under the IRS Closing Agreement Program (CAP), what are the likely IRS sanctions?

Answer (click here).