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=========================================================== BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter (Plain Text Format) September 7, 2004 =========================================================== We thank and invite your attention to today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation =========================================================== ASC - QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR THE PENSION INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS (Advert.) <URL:http://benefitslink.com/cgi/a_d.cgi?a_d=2004_09_07_retirement> http://benefitslink.com/cgi/a_d.cgi?a_d=2004_09_07_retirement (Click on above address, or copy and paste it into your web browser, to learn more.) ASC provides complete automation for the pension office, including: DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, sophisticated Compliance Testing, DV Direct Daily Valuation, Advanced Information Manager Database (AIM), and Single-Step Processing. All ASC Technical Support Members were experienced Pension Administrators or Actuaries before joining ASC-- and most have been with ASC for over 10 years. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) ---------------------------------------------------------- More 401(k) Plans Might Offer Exchange-Traded Funds <URL:http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/index.cfm?story=20040903113244> http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/index.cfm?story=20040903113244 Excerpt: "Corporate America is one step closer to offering exchange-traded funds to investors participating in 401(k) retirement plans, something that has until now been cost-prohibitive." (SmartMoney.com) ---------------------------------------------------------- US Airways Pilots Reject Wage and Benefit Cuts <URL:http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/business/07usair.html> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/business/07usair.html Excerpt: "Leaders of the US Airways pilots' union rejected a bid to have pilots vote on a proposal by the airline for $295 million in wage and benefit cuts, the union said early today." (The New York Times; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- Pilots Ponder US Airways' Latest Offer; Airline's Proposal Closer to Union's <URL:http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04249/373901.stm> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04249/373901.stm Excerpt: "With only a week remaining for US Airways to avoid another trip through bankrup.tcy, the pilots union prepared [Saturday] night to consider a new company cost-cutting proposal designed to save the airline $295 million." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) ---------------------------------------------------------- Continental to Skip Pension Payment; Recently Enacted Law Allows Airlines to Defer Funding Plans <URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60682-2004Sep3.html> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60682-2004Sep3.html Excerpt: "Continental Airlines Inc., the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, said it will skip contributions to employee pension plans this year, taking advantage of a law enacted in April to conserve cash." (Bloomberg News via The Washington Post; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- Timing Is Everything When Planning IRA Withdrawals <URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61097-2004Sep4.html> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61097-2004Sep4.html Excerpt: "Here's just what you need: another complication involving individual retirement accounts. Plenty of attention has been given to the problems of investing in IRAs (and 401(k)s, which is where a lot of the assets in IRAs originate), and about figuring out how much money you have to take out each year after you turn 70 1/2 to comply with the law." (Washington Post; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- Opinion: Swedish Pension Ideas Can Knead Global Retirement Woes <URL:http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_wasik&sid=aw1DyvPkg0no> http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_wasik&sid=aw1DyvPkg0no Excerpt: "Maybe what retirement plans need worldwide is a Swedish massage. I'm not referring to the body work, but a kneading based on the Scandinavian country's pension system, which was reformed in recent years to include individual investment accounts." (John Wasik on Bloomberg.com) ---------------------------------------------------------- Groups/Experts Unite On Pension Reform Proposals <URL:http://www.benefitnews.com/retire/detail.cfm?id=6378> http://www.benefitnews.com/retire/detail.cfm?id=6378 Excerpt: "A diverse coalition has proposed ways to expand employer-sponsored retirement benefits to the half of American workers who do not have it, with four suggestions targeting small businesses and low- and moderate-income employees." (Employee Benefit News) ---------------------------------------------------------- More Companies Restore 401(k) Matching Contributions <URL:http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/23/82/49/index.php> http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/23/82/49/index.php Excerpt: "Some companies are still cutting, but those that feel more certain about their future are putting match money back in play. Fears of competition for employees is also a factor." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- $1.1 Billion Sponsor Squeezes Vanguard Group on Participant Education Provision <URL:http://www.dcnews.com/default.asp?page=1&SID=433123&ISS=10948> http://www.dcnews.com/default.asp?page=1&SID=433123&ISS=10948 Excerpt: "Frustrated by The Vanguard Group's refusal to set aside a specific dollar amount for participant education, KeySpan Corp, the Brooklyn, N.Y., electric and natural gas utility, will likely issue a request for proposals for a bundled provider in the next quarter." (Defined Contribution News) ---------------------------------------------------------- Pension Pain for Multinationals: European Demographic Time Bomb May Increase Labor Costs <URL:http://www.workforce.com/section/02/feature/23/82/53/index.html> http://www.workforce.com/section/02/feature/23/82/53/index.html Excerpt: "Aggrieved workers are taking to the streets in Toulouse, Milan and Berlin to protest proposed reforms in Europe's troubled public pension systems. European governments, in turn, are looking to private employers, including U.S.-based multinationals, to assume more responsibility for retirement costs." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- China Warns of Strains on Its Pensions System <URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1837-2004Sep7.html> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1837-2004Sep7.html Excerpt: "BEIJING - China warned on Tuesday that the next two decades will be critical for the development of a universal pension and welfare system, as the 'cradle-to-grave' guarantees of the nation's planned economy fade away." (AP via The Washington Post; one-time registration required) ========================================================== Links To Items on Executive Comp, Benefits In General ---------------------------------------------------------- Department of Labor's FairPay Overtime Initiative Provides FairPay Resources on Web Site <URL:http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/main.htm> http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/main.htm Excerpt: "� the FairPay Web site. It's designed to help you understand the Department's new FairPay rules that strengthen overtime protections. Under the new FairPay rules, workers earning less than $23,660 per year -- or $455 per week -- are guaranteed overtime protection. This will strengthen overtime rights for 6.7 million American workers, including 1.3 million low-wage workers who were denied overtime under the old rules." (Department of Labor) ---------------------------------------------------------- Opinion: Corporate Middle Managers Position in the Economic Class War <URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62545-2004Sep4.html> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62545-2004Sep4.html Excerpt: "Politicians who complain about 'corporate bosses' gaining at the expense of 'American workers' are often accused of engaging in class warfare, which clashes with America's proud self-image as a classless society." (Paul Osterman in The Washington Post; one-time registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------- FASB Makes Progress on Stock Compensation Redeliberations: Delay May Not Be Necessary (PDF) <URL:http://www.fwcook.com/alert_letters/9-3-04%20FASB%20Makes%20Progress%20On%20Stock%20Compensation%20Redeliber..pdf> http://www.fwcook.com/alert_letters/9-3-04%20FASB%20Makes%20Progress%20On%20Stock%20Compensation%20Redeliber..pdf 3 pages. Excerpt: "� the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) earlier this year released an Exposure Draft (ED) that would require companies to expense stock options beginning in 2005 (2006 for nonpublic companies). Credible sources have speculated that the 2005 effective date may be delayed." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.) ---------------------------------------------------------- Labor and Benefits Expenses in Supermarkets <URL:http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/23/62/39/236244.php> http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/23/62/39/236244.php Excerpt: "Charts showing how much money is spent on labor and benefits in grocery stores, broken down by store size." (Food Marketing Institute via Workforce Management; one-time registration required) ========================================================== Newly Posted Events Fraud Prevention Institute in California on November 17, 2004 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans <URL:http://benefitslink.com/events/detail.php?id=38687> http://benefitslink.com/events/detail.php?id=38687 Health Care Management Conference in California on November 15, 2004 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans <URL:http://benefitslink.com/events/detail.php?id=38686> http://benefitslink.com/events/detail.php?id=38686 Trustees Training Program-Part II Nationwide on November 8, 2004 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans <URL:http://benefitslink.com/events/detail.php?id=38685> http://benefitslink.com/events/detail.php?id=38685 Post yours! http://benefitslink.com/events/eventmaint.php ========================================================== Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Health & Welfare Associate for Towers Perrin in IL, MA, NJ, NY, TX http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H36872 Defined Benefit Client Account Manager for New York Life Investment Management LLC in MA http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H39188 Pension Administrator for San Luis Pension Consultants, Inc. in CA http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H39622 Account Manager for Motivano in FL http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H40438 Benefits Analyst for R. L. Polk & Co. in MI http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H40441 Sr. Associate, Benefits Technical Support for NRECA in VA http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H40442 Employee Benefits Attorney for Entergy in LA http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H40443 Defined Benefit Administrator for Gucciardi Benefit Resources in WI http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H40444 Manager, Compliance Testing for Diversified Investment Advisors in NY http://benefitslink.com/modperl/show_a_job.cgi?database_id=H40451 Post yours! http://benefitslink.com/jobs/post_help_wanted.html =========================================================== Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter, Too Sign-up form is at: <URL:http://benefitslink.com/newsletter/> http://benefitslink.com/newsletter =========================================================== Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (if you also include this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (if you include this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission. 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