If this message looks garbled to you or if the headlines in this message don't connect you to Web pages when you click on them, please request the "plain text" version of this newsletter ("Retirement Plans Edition") by emailing your request to publisher Dave Baker
Jobs | Today's Messages | Topical News | Q&A Columns | Services & Products | Search | Reference
November 6, 2001 - 12,418 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
2002 Indexed Limits for Employee Benefit Plans (Unofficial)
Excerpt: "Pay threshold for highly compensated employees: $90,000 (2001: $85,000)" (Hewitt Associates)
Benna Calls for Fiduciary Safe Harbor for Sponsors; Salisbury Says No Way
Excerpt: "In a blueprint to give DC plan participants more control over their assets, and to lessen the role of plan sponsors, 401(k) guru Theodore Benna has proposed creating a safe harbor for sponsors and providers so they are freed of the fiduciary burden of investment responsibility.... While Benna's proposal has some support, it also generates stiff critiques. Some of the opposition was sounded by Dallas Salisbury, president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute." (IOMA's DC Plan Investing)
Hewitt Releases Results of 2001 "Trends and Experience in 401(k) Plans" Study
Excerpt: "Hewitt found that employees with tenures of two years or less participate at a rate of 45.8 percent, considerably below the average participation rate of 74 percent." (Hewitt Associates)
Most Plan Sponsors Unaware of "Hidden" Plan Fees, Says Invesmart
Press release. Excerpt: "The components of ongoing fees for retirement plans include: recordkeeping / custodial fees, costs associated with an investment advisor and charges inherent in an investment vehicle such as a mutual fund expense ratio or an annuity charge.... 'What most sponsors do not realize,' said Erik Daley ... 'is that mutual fund revenue sharing can be utilized to offset costs of the plan.'" (PR Newswire via Excite News)
Overview: EGTRRA Increases Plan Contribution and Benefit Limits
Excerpt: "Recent legislation has substantially increased possible retirement plan contributions.... Beginning in 2002, small companies which offer only a profit sharing or money purchase pension plan should consider adding a 401(k) employee deferral feature to the plan, since the deferrals will not count against the 25 percent deduction limit." (Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher)
New Opportunities for Employers Sponsoring Both DB and DC Plans
Excerpt: "[W]ith the repeal of the limits on the benefits of employees who participate in both a pension plan and a 401(k) plan and the greatly increased benefits and contributions that are now available to owners and executives, we are seeing new defined benefit pension plans being established-- particularly by professional firms of any size and successful small businesses (for example, 25 to 250 employees)." (Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher)
(Following items are in both editions of the BenefitsLink Newsletter)
ERISA Industry Committee Cautions Legislators on Prohibitions on Use of Social Security Numbers
Excerpt: "H.R.2036 as currently drafted would substantially interfere with the legitimate administration of employee benefit plans and seriously compromise the ability of employers to offer defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) accounts, prescription drug and other health and welfare benefits safely and efficiently to their employees and those employees' families." (ERISA Industry Committee)
A "How-To" for Online Benefits Management
Excerpt: "Savvy companies are increasingly conducting their benefits enrollment electronically. By one estimate, 80% of organizations with over 1,000 employees will have some form of online enrollment by 2003. In preparing your organization for online enrollment, you will need to evaluate various Web options and then take the steps needed to achieve an efficient, effective enrollment process." (Workforce.com)
2001 Top 250: Long-Term and Stock-Based Grant Practices for Executives and Directors (PDF) (PDF)
26 pages. Excerpt: "This report presents information on long-term incentive and stock-based grant types currently in use for executives and non-employee directors of the 250 largest companies having one or more class of common stock included in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Stock Option Grant Guidelines: the Allocation Method as an Alternative (PDF)
Excerpt: "Many companies use option-pricing models (e.g., Black-Scholes, binomial) to determine benchmark option grant values in developing their company's executive grant guidelines.... In order to mitigate the impact of stock price fluctuations, an alternative ... method is based on (1) share usage as a percent of total shares outstanding and (2) stock options allocated to named executive officers ... expressed as a percentage of total options granted to all employees." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings ( Post Yours! )
Newly Posted Conferences ( Post Yours! )
Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Jobs | Today's Messages | Topical News | Q&A Columns | Services & Products | Search | Reference
The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Retirement Plans Edition
Retirement Plans Edition
November 6, 2001 - 12,418 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
The PENSION PLAN FIX-IT HANDBOOK is a powerful "self-audit" tool for spotting problems BEFORE they get out of hand. The HANDBOOK covers every aspect of pension plan responsibilities-- and includes extensive explanations on how to use the IRS and DOL voluntary correction programs. Save yourself time and avoid expensive legal fees! Just click on this link: http://www.thompson.com/libraries/retirement/mend/index.html
(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
2002 Indexed Limits for Employee Benefit Plans (Unofficial)
Excerpt: "Pay threshold for highly compensated employees: $90,000 (2001: $85,000)" (Hewitt Associates)
Benna Calls for Fiduciary Safe Harbor for Sponsors; Salisbury Says No Way
Excerpt: "In a blueprint to give DC plan participants more control over their assets, and to lessen the role of plan sponsors, 401(k) guru Theodore Benna has proposed creating a safe harbor for sponsors and providers so they are freed of the fiduciary burden of investment responsibility.... While Benna's proposal has some support, it also generates stiff critiques. Some of the opposition was sounded by Dallas Salisbury, president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute." (IOMA's DC Plan Investing)
Hewitt Releases Results of 2001 "Trends and Experience in 401(k) Plans" Study
Excerpt: "Hewitt found that employees with tenures of two years or less participate at a rate of 45.8 percent, considerably below the average participation rate of 74 percent." (Hewitt Associates)
Most Plan Sponsors Unaware of "Hidden" Plan Fees, Says Invesmart
Press release. Excerpt: "The components of ongoing fees for retirement plans include: recordkeeping / custodial fees, costs associated with an investment advisor and charges inherent in an investment vehicle such as a mutual fund expense ratio or an annuity charge.... 'What most sponsors do not realize,' said Erik Daley ... 'is that mutual fund revenue sharing can be utilized to offset costs of the plan.'" (PR Newswire via Excite News)
Overview: EGTRRA Increases Plan Contribution and Benefit Limits
Excerpt: "Recent legislation has substantially increased possible retirement plan contributions.... Beginning in 2002, small companies which offer only a profit sharing or money purchase pension plan should consider adding a 401(k) employee deferral feature to the plan, since the deferrals will not count against the 25 percent deduction limit." (Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher)
New Opportunities for Employers Sponsoring Both DB and DC Plans
Excerpt: "[W]ith the repeal of the limits on the benefits of employees who participate in both a pension plan and a 401(k) plan and the greatly increased benefits and contributions that are now available to owners and executives, we are seeing new defined benefit pension plans being established-- particularly by professional firms of any size and successful small businesses (for example, 25 to 250 employees)." (Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher)
ERISA Industry Committee Cautions Legislators on Prohibitions on Use of Social Security Numbers
Excerpt: "H.R.2036 as currently drafted would substantially interfere with the legitimate administration of employee benefit plans and seriously compromise the ability of employers to offer defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) accounts, prescription drug and other health and welfare benefits safely and efficiently to their employees and those employees' families." (ERISA Industry Committee)
A "How-To" for Online Benefits Management
Excerpt: "Savvy companies are increasingly conducting their benefits enrollment electronically. By one estimate, 80% of organizations with over 1,000 employees will have some form of online enrollment by 2003. In preparing your organization for online enrollment, you will need to evaluate various Web options and then take the steps needed to achieve an efficient, effective enrollment process." (Workforce.com)
2001 Top 250: Long-Term and Stock-Based Grant Practices for Executives and Directors (PDF) (PDF)
26 pages. Excerpt: "This report presents information on long-term incentive and stock-based grant types currently in use for executives and non-employee directors of the 250 largest companies having one or more class of common stock included in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Stock Option Grant Guidelines: the Allocation Method as an Alternative (PDF)
Excerpt: "Many companies use option-pricing models (e.g., Black-Scholes, binomial) to determine benchmark option grant values in developing their company's executive grant guidelines.... In order to mitigate the impact of stock price fluctuations, an alternative ... method is based on (1) share usage as a percent of total shares outstanding and (2) stock options allocated to named executive officers ... expressed as a percentage of total options granted to all employees." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings ( Post Yours! )
for Stanley Associates, Inc.
in VA
in VA
for Milgard Manufacturing
in WA
in WA
Newly Posted Conferences ( Post Yours! )
in
NY
on November 27, 2001
presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS
presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS
in
NY
on November 15, 2001
presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS
presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS
in
on November 15, 2001
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Subscribe to the Welfare Plans Edition, too (click)
Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.
- How to Sponsor an Issue : reach 12,418 benefits professionals!
- How to Subscribe
- Privacy Policy
- Archive of Prior Issues