It seems that there were these 2,500 traders surveyed by Traders Monthly who were asked whether they would parlay some insider information into a guaranteed $10 million trade. If they had a 50% chance of getting arrested, 93% said no; if they had only a 10% chance of getting arrested, 72% said no; and if … Continue Reading
In volatile markets, investment managers go to cash. That’s happening right now because of the prime mortgage meltdown. But not all money market funds are the same. Just as there are enhanced index funds, there are also enhanced money market funds. "Enhanced" meaning the fund manager seeks higher returns by taking slightly more risk. And … Continue Reading
They’re called "vulture funds". They’re financial organizations that specialize in buying securities in distressed environments, such as high-yield bonds in or near default, or equities that are in or near bankruptcy. Take for example, Argentina whose external public debt was bought up in substantial measure by vulture funds at very low prices. Or in this … Continue Reading
Baby boomers apparently are thinking about retiring to exotic locations. I saw an article about this in one of our trade publications in which an investment advisor was quoted as saying that retiring to Cancun was no different than retiring to Arizona. Well, not exactly. Hurricane Dean aside, what about cultural, political, and legal differences … Continue Reading
Employee or independent contractor? Attorney Rush Nigot warns us about making the mistake of treating employees as independent contractors. It’s an issue about which the IRS has sacked the NFL and caused Microsoft to reboot. Penalties and interest can pile up if someone is incorrectly treated as an independent contractor. And in the case of … Continue Reading
One of the most commonly used expressions in articles about taxes is this one: “tax trap for the unwary”. While I would like to be more creative than that, that expression effectively sums up a common situation we’ve seen involving the compensation of shareholder-employees of S corporations. The objective of an S corporation is, of … Continue Reading
We are in the midst of a robust merger and acquisiton environment. Much of it is being fueled by private equity firms flush with cash. The other part of the equation has to do with demographics – those Boomer business owners looking to cash out. Two sets of issues can slow down or even derail … Continue Reading
That’s the metaphorical objective of any regulatory agency whose responsibility is to interpret and administer laws passed by Congress- to translate those laws into regulations, rules, and produres. Mitchell Port on his California Tax Attorney Blog gives us an initiation to understanding IRS guidance, excellent background for anyone who is involved with retirement plans, and especially the Pension … Continue Reading
Attorney Rush Nigot blogging about Document Retention and Electronic Discovery on his new Blog, Rush on Business, tells us that in today’s business environment, organizations need to respond to an increasing number of document requests, from regulatory compliance issues to internal investigations to full-scale litigation. And there’s certainly an ERISA component to that. So in … Continue Reading
Normal retirement age is not just a state of mind. For ERISA purposes, it’s the lowest age specified in a pension plan at which a participant may retire without the consent of the employer and still receive retirement benefits. The IRS has something to say about it since a lower age than the traditional age … Continue Reading
If dealing with pension and fiduciary issues are getting you down, then you’ve got the Pension Tension Blues. Dr. Susan Mangiero, founder and President of Pension Governance, and Steve Zelin, the Singing CPA, have co-written a satirical song on the current state of affairs for retirement plan sponsors and participants. I’ll never see them on … Continue Reading
A few months ago, I wrote about the possibility that a class action law suit might be filed against the National Education Association (NEA). Well, now it’s happened. The law suit claims that the NEA accepted payments from the 403(b) providers to endorse those retirement plans, and that the fees and expenses charged by the … Continue Reading
No, it’s not a David Letterman list. It’s more akin to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. The list that "investment seminars" made for the first time is the annual list of Top 10 Traps for Investors put out by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the oldest international organization devoted to investor protection. … Continue Reading
Here’s some financial juxtaposition to consider. As the stock market reached a new high which makes 401(k) participants happy, a survey released this week shows a speed-up in the decline of defined benefit pension plans. The survey (32 pages, PDF) by industry-supported Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mercer Human Resources Consulting of 162 employers, … Continue Reading
401(k) plan focus is shifting from the accumulation phase to the distribution phase. The why is obvious. The first wave of Baby Boomers are reaching age 60 who have significant concerns about running out of money. The how is being provided by 401(k) providers – insurance companies and mutual funds – who are beginning to … Continue Reading
It’s not just the environmental groups that are actively participating in the debate – and politics – of climate change. Now the institutional investors that are entering the arena. This past Earth Day I wrote about institutional investors in the U.S. becoming vocal. Now as leaders of G8 most industrialized nations are to meet in … Continue Reading
Earlier this month I asked the question Technical Corrections to the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Another bite of the apple? Would special interest groups be able to accomplish now what they couldn’t accomplish in the PPA? Right question, wrong bill. The just passed Iraq spending bill included a provision giving funding relief to American … Continue Reading
Diehard Cubs fans will know who this is. It’s Pat Pieper, the legendary Cubs’ field announcer, who for 59 years started each game with the announcement above. But that was back in the day when you could look at the number on the back of the uniform and know who that was and what position … Continue Reading
On May 3, 2007, the House of Representative’s Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health Employment, Labor, and Pension held a hearing to consider technical corrections to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). Technical corrections are designed to fix mistakes and inconsistencies that were inadvertently included in original legislation. Subcommittee Chairman Rob Andrews (D-NJ) indicated … Continue Reading
All too often we hear about another laptop stolen with sensitive information on it. And all too often it’s personal data about employees. The latest is the retailing giant Neiman Marcus. The Company recently announced that a notebook computer containing personal information on 160,000 current and former employees was stolen. The stolen notebook belonged to … Continue Reading
Here is another example about the importance of properly classifying your employees. Frank Steinberg in his New Jersey Law Blog tells us that the NFL Loses to IRS regarding how the League had been treating their 70-plus Drug Program Agents [DPA’s], who collect urine samples for the drug testing program. The IRS recently ruled that … Continue Reading
Last month a group of more than 60 institutional investors and asset managers with collective assets totaling more than $4 trillion, and leading publicly traded corporations, issued a climate policy call to action requesting Congress and the Federal government to take prompt action on global climate change. The coalition, called Investors and Business for U.S. … Continue Reading
Just one week after reports that the largest investor in Bell Canada was putting together a consortium to take the company over, BCE, Bell Canada’s parent, announced that it was talking about going private with another investor group. BCE, which is widely held, has a market value of about US$26.5 billion. A buyout of the … Continue Reading
