The cash out option was offered as part of the plan to revitalize the fund which was severely impacted by the economic downturn that began in 2008.

Carol Gustavson, the archdiocese’s executive director for human resources, benefits and administration, said her office is currently sending information outlining the options to eligible former employees of various Catholic entities of the Archdiocese of Boston including the chancery, parishes and schools with vested benefits.

Active employees over 55, who will also have the option of cashing out their pension, are expected to receive their personalized information this fall.

Options include immediately cashing out of the archdiocese’s pension fund by taking accrued benefits in one lump sum, an early annuity paid monthly or simply waiting until retirement age to collect benefits.

The archdiocese announced changes to its retirement benefit system last year, but the plan is just now able to provide each eligible former employee with his or her specific financial information.

Those former employees will have until April 30 to make this one-time, optional decision.

The lump sum would equal the amount the employee has now accrued reduced according to the pension plan’s 2010 funded status, and the monthly annuity plan for former employees under age 55 would reflect early payout reductions and funded status.

Vested former employees age 55 or over will keep their option for monthly annuity payments reduced for early payout before age 65. However, these payments will not be reduced by the plan’s funded status.

While nothing will happen to the existing accrued benefit for former employees who remain in the pension fund, trustees cannot guarantee full-value payments for one’s entire life expectancy.

However, Gustavson said, “I think we are committed to meet our obligations. That’s a firm commitment.”

Fund trustees opted to freeze the plan last year because they deemed employer contributions and market performance could not guarantee to bridge the funding gap in future years.

Recent economic forecasts have projected further market volatility and “modest investment returns,” for the plan Gustavson said.

“Any time you’re in a defined benefit plan you need to have some or all of your assets in investment markets,” Gustavson said.

Just 9.8% of the employers surveyed by GRiD will put a salary cap back into their scheme from this April, while 9.2% plan to remove the earnings cap. Within companies that plan to take no action, the percentage gets smaller with larger companies.

What is legal lump sum debt repayment and what are its beneficial points. Legal lump sum debt repayment has both pros and cons. For instance, you have to tolerate pending payables for a shorter time period. Thinking about unpaid liabilities gives shivers. Loan takers get highly frustrated when collection agents visit them at odd hours without permission. You can get rid of your dues quickly by making a legal lump sum debt repayment.

As I mentioned before, the debt settlement industry has both positive and negative points. However, the recent rules have minimized the negative effect to a certain extent. How is that possible? You can look at the following factors for a better understanding.

How are these new rules different from the old ones? How are they more beneficial for the disturbed American debtors? Now, a company cannot demand any advance payments. You don’t even have to pay a single dollar before the firm produces desirable results. Someone illegal firms are still trying to extract upfront money from the customers. Most of them are counterfeiters. However, some of these firms are new and have not established themselves completely. As a credit card holder who wants to improve his monetary conditions, you should think intelligently and ignore these firms.
You will notice that a lot of relief firms are leaving the market. This is due to updated settlement principles. Now, a company needs to have sufficient monetary resources to survive. Initially, a lot of amateur firms were selling relief services. These services were cheap but did not have a very high level of quality. In addition to that, new companies do not have enough financial resources. Hence, they demand money from the customer before they start working on his case. This option does not exist now. A relief firm cannot demand upfront payments from a debtor. Presently, you will only find experienced organizations.

For successful legal lump sum debt repayment, hire a firm which has a good track chart. You can go online and look at some of the firms. You don’t need to spend so much time because the best firms work with settlement networks. Hence, go online and search for the nearest liability reduction network. This is easiest way to make a successful legal lump sum debt repayment.

Getting out of debt through a debt settlement process is currently very popular but you need to know where to locate the best performing programs in order to get the best deals.

Debt settlement is a legitimate alternative to filing bankruptcy. If a consumer has over $10k in unsecured debt and is currently experiencing a financial hardship then debt settlement can make financial sense. To find legitimate debt settlement companies in your state that have proven track records of settling consumer debts then check out the following link:

Free Debt Advice(http://www.CreditCardDebtNegotiations.com )Or Call – 877-853-6466

As the Arizona Legislature considers eliminating the program for public safety officers, many Chandler and Tempe police and fire officials are wondering the same thing: Should they retire now before new pension legislation is approved and goes into effect?

“Anybody who has 20 years or more in the department is considering (it),” said Chandler Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a police spokesman. “It is definitely something I am looking at.”

In Chandler, 24 police officers and nine firefighters have looked into retiring, said Stacie Finkelstein, employee services supervisor. That is far more than usual, officials said.

Tempe hasn’t had a large bump in requests from public safety employees yet, but “we have heard that we may see an influx of employees who elect the DROP (deferred retirement option package),” said Jon O’Connor, Tempe’s human resources deputy director.

DROP allows officers with 20 or more years on the force to retire, then work for a maximum of five more years.

Instead of receiving a weekly pension check during that period, the pension dollars are invested and earn interest. The employee continues to receive regular paychecks.

When the employee leaves for good, he or she is awarded a sizeable lump sum of five-years’ worth of pension dollars. In addition, retirees draw pension checks until death. Average DROP annual pension benefits have risen to $44,025.

Arizona legislators are taking aim at pension reform following an investigation by The Arizona Republic. The probe into six public pension plans in Arizona revealed that over the past 10 years, total costs soared 448 percent, to $1.39 billion in 2009.

In 2007, DROP benefits totaled $151.9 million, a 566 percent increase from the previous year, when $22.8 million was paid. Many of the first participants in the program collected payouts in 2007 after participating for the maximum five years.

The public safety pension trust is poorly funded at only 65.8 percent. Union leaders blame faulty stock investments, the federal government’s refusal to bail out pension funds and mismanagement.

Others suggest the large lump sum payments gut the system. When an employee enters DROP, neither he nor the employer contribute any more to the pension fund.

The House bill discussed Thursday in committee would eliminate DROP, among

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2011/02/18/20110218chandler-tempe-public-safety-pension0218.html#ixzz1EJO5BDhE

Air Malta will shed half its workforce to be able to operate profitably and the government is in discussions to absorb the redundant employees within the public service. What is best for the country? Matthew Xuereb gets expert views on whether redeployment or giving a lump sum payment to laid off workers is the way forward.

Redeploying redundant Air Malta employees within the public service does not make economic or financial sense because it will cost the country more than a simple golden handshake, economist Karm Farrugia believes.

This opinion is not shared by financial analyst John Cassar White who insists the country is better off with more active workers because that is more beneficial to the economy.

The differing opinions follow in the wake of government plans to slash the national airline’s 1,200-strong workforce by half in the hope Air Malta will become economically stable and operate profitably.

Although talks are still under way, the government’s intentions are clear and the unions involved in discussing the company’s restructuring programme have already been informed.

The national carrier experienced severe losses over the past two years and the prospects for this financial year, which ends in March, look bleak.

Late last year, the European Commission gave the government the go-ahead to pump ?52 million in emergency aid into the airline. Approval was given on condition the airline was restructured.

The restructuring plan is at “an advanced stage” and the government has embarked on one-to-one meetings with union representatives to discuss the airline’s future in more detail. Meetings were held with the General Workers’ Union and the unions representing cabin crew, pilots and engineers.

Mr Farrugia believes it “made more economic and financial sense” to give redundant workers a golden handshake and get on with the airline’s restructuring than “absorb them into a public service that does not need them”.

“Redeployment within the public sector takes place every year with workers moved from one government department to another. But here you will be transferring excess baggage from Air Malta to the government. I would much prefer a payout as these workers will pro­bably end up being unproductive and inefficient and cost taxpayers a lot of money,” he said.

Mr Farrugia said that, if redundant employees were redeployed as planned, they would simply be transferring “unutilised workers from one section to another”.

“If there was proof the public sector was yearning for more people, then I would understand it. But our public sector is bulging at the seams. Only hospitals have staff shortages, especially nurses. If redeployed, these people will cost the country more,” he said.

He referred to the payouts to former Malta Shipyards Limited employees when the company was being downsized to be more attractive to possible investors when it was being privatised.

In September 2008, the government had offered lump sum settlements to the shipyard’s 1,627-strong workforce at a cost to public coffers of ?58 million. At the time, the government had offered them a golden handshake or alternative employment with Industrial Projects and Services Ltd. IPSL is a public company that absorbed workers from the restructuring of Malta Drydocks and Malta Shipbuilding prior to EU membership. These workers perform services in the public sector, such as embellishment works for local councils.

“Redeployment is not good economics and not good financing. Economically speaking, it pays more to offer them a payout than a job for life with the public service which does not need them,” Mr Farrugia said.

But Mr Cassar White disag-reed saying redeployment was “definitely better” for the economy.

“Our economy needs more active workers. A good number of the people who will be redundant are in their 40s or early 50s, so it’s going to be practically impossible for them to find a job. Although it would mean a great strain on taxpayers’ money, it makes more sense to redeploy.”

He insisted his argument was purely of an economic nature, although the social aspect should also be taken into account.

Mr Cassar White argued for a skills matching exercise for the abilities of redundant workers to fit the needs of the different departments where they would be redeployed. “We have to maximise their output because the economy needs more people in employment.”

Moreover, he said the government should launch incentives for employers in the private sector to take on former Air Malta workers.

The US attorney in Massachusetts alleged that Joseph Gennaco, 67, stole the money over six years, during which he promised people he was investing in life insurance policies on their behalf.

1. An employee dies over the weekend and his family are left without their sole bread winner. The deceased could not afford to take the time off work to sort out his or her own affairs.

2. An employee is in a car accident and never took the time off work to take up disability cover. You, as the employer, have to make a very uncomfortable hospital visit and give a farewell handshake and a company card from Hallmark.

3. After 20 years of loyal service, an employee retires or resigns and knocks on the employer’s door to say “thank you” and collect a cheque. It doesn’t take long to realise that he just gave 20 years of service and has nothing to show for it. Granted he could have invested a portion of his salary but he was too fixated on the task at hand.

So with the above in mind, please note the following options that are available to companies or groups whereby both the employer and employee would contribute.

1. Group Insurance cover – whether through a pension, provident or without an investment portion. Your company’s personnel can get decent rates by applying for cover as a group. Insurers will also offer what is called free cover which means that personnel can get cover up to certain limits without the need of a medical.

2. Investment. Without being too technical, I will highlight the most salient features

a. Pension –At retirement the member can only take one third as a cash lump sum and two thirds must be invested in a compulsory annuity, similar to a RA.  Upon resignation, although not advised, the member can access funds.  Individual members need not be assessed for their risk profile.

b. Provident – At retirement, member can access full amount as a lump sum but tax implications must be borne in mind.  Upon resignation, although not advised, the member can access funds.  Individual members need not be assessed for their risk profile.

c. Group retirement annuities – This is a relatively new addition to the group benefit offering and one which I am particularly fond of.

The structure has very similar tax benefits, but group RAs can be substantially cheaper and there is a real benefit in being locked in to age 55, which means that upon resignation the member cannot access their funds which is the point of saving for retirement. In order to execute a group RA each member will have to be interviewed for his/her risk profile and hence can get a customised solution. Please note that a group can apply for group RAs and group insurance cover with different companies.

Finally, realising that nobody really likes sacrificing a portion of their income, the opportune time to consider group benefits is while future increases are being considered.  Such structures/ benefits provide a foundation (or the bare minimum) of financial planning but at least it offers the committed employee and responsible employer some peace of mind.

*Stuart Kantor (BBuSc Finance Hons and CFP) is an independent financial adviser and member of Kanan Wealth CC.

BTA will be executed between the Company and PI only after the approval of the shareholders of the Company under Section 293(1)(a) of the Companies Act, 1956, pursuant to a postal ballot under Section 192A of the said Act.

The Board of Directors have also consented to the conduct of a postal ballot for seeking approval of the shareholders for the aforesaid disposal of BBD, as per the provisions of Section 293(1)(a) read with Section 192A of the Companies Act, 1956.

On the NSW Country Hour today, federal water minister Tony Burke announces changes to the water buy back program and to tax rules so farmers who sell water and get a lump sum payment won’t be disadvantaged, we take you to Little Llangothlin wetlands which is flourishing after the floods, the copper and gold producer NorthParkes mine has announced a 90 million dollar pre-feasibility study into expanding it operations beyond 2024, plus livestock markets and weather information.

Three different banks told the publication that home equity lending is up at least 20% across the board. At Associated Bank, the average home equity loan, taken once as a lump sum, is around $75,000; at Citizens, the average credit line on a HELOC, which borrowers can tap over time, is around $100,000.

That’s enough for cash-strapped homeowners to pay for renovations or home repairs – especially if they’ve decided to stay in a house they can’t, or don’t want, to sell in the current market. “We found an opportunity that we can take advantage of,” says Val Glytas, director of consumer lending at Associated Bank.

However, not all borrowers will have access to the loans.  In order to qualify, borrowers need at least a 720 FICO score, a minimum of 20% equity in the home, and income verification for the last two years.  One requirement some borrowers not prefer is the HECM Counseling, but the new product has plenty advantages and is easier to qualify compared to a traditional home equity line of credit.

However, not all borrowers will have access to the loans.  In order to qualify, borrowers need at least a 720 FICO score, a minimum of 20% equity in the home, and income verification for the last two years.  One requirement some borrowers not prefer is the HECM Counseling, but the new product has plenty advantages and is easier to qualify compared to a traditional home equity line of credit.