Fines Against Defunct Indiana MEWA Increased to
$4.1M
July 21, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Federal officials
said Thursday that they have obtained a court order from an
Indianapolis federal judge increasing the amount that
executives of a defunct Indiana multiple employer welfare
arrangement (MEWA) have to pay.
A US Department of Labor (DoL) news release said the new
court-ordered restitution amount is $4.1 million – up
from the $3.4 million originally set in
a January 2005 ruling
. The orders were aimed at William Crouse and Carmelo
Zanfei of TRG Marketing LLC of Indianapolis. The difference
between the two amounts was an additional $678, 817 in
interest.
The latest court order also named Jeanne Barnes Bryant
as an independent fiduciary to receive and place in trust
money restored to the plan by Crouse and Zanfei. When
terminated in 2001, the TRG plan had approximately 11,000
participants nationwide.
Crouse and Zanfei were charged with illegally diverting
health plan assets to pay for personal expenses for
themselves and family members.
The court found that the defendants used health
premiums collected from employers to pay for commissions
to TRG’s enrollment brokers, trips overseas,
expensive glassware, personal expenses, charitable
contributions, and a corporate line of credit.
AARP Report Finds Low Global Retirement, Health Care
Confidence Level
July 20, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The AARP's
International Retirement Security Survey found optimism about
retirement and confidence in government retirement programs
is low.
Only 16% of the approximate 4,000 respondents
reported being very optimistic, while 41% reported being
somewhat optimistic.
Thirty nine percent reported being somewhat or very
pessimistic, according to AARP’s report on the survey.
Respondents who were already retired showed the most
optimism (65% somewhat or very), and 41% of those who are
employed report being somewhat or very optimistic.
Not surprisingly, respondents with higher incomes (greater
than $40,000) are more optimistic than those with lower
incomes (67% v. 55%).
The survey also found that optimism is greater among those
who are married than single (60% v. 50%) and greater for
the 45 to 65 age group than those 30 to 44 (59% v.
53%).
By country, the study found that Australians and
Canadians are the most optimistic (77%) and the Germans,
French, and Italians are the least, with only a little over
a third of respondents from those countries reporting being
somewhat or very optimistic.
Interestingly, the survey found that the Germans, whose
optimism is low, have given the most thought to their
retirement along with Americans.
Retirement Income
In spite of current pension system woes, public
pension systems were rated as a major source of retirement
income by 42% of respondents.
Other sources of income were rated as major as follows:
employer-provided/occupational pensions-28%, earnings from
employment-26%, workplace retirement savings programs-26%,
and personal savings-25%.
Not surprisingly, the public pension systems were expected
to be the primary source of income for more non-American
respondents.
Americans rated workplace savings programs (such as 401k’s)
as the expected primary source of income in retirement.
The AARP report shows confidence in retirement income
in general is low.
Forty three percent of respondents are not confident they
will have sufficient income in retirement.
Only 15% reported they are very confident they will have
adequate retirement income.
Health Care in Retirement
All ten countries included in the AARP study have a
national health care system for retirees.
Respondents reported “some confidence” in having access to
health care during retirement (64%), being able to pay for
medical expenses (70%), being able to pay for prescriptions
( 71%), and expecting good health throughout retirement
(65%).
Only 55% expect to be able to pay for long term-care such
as a nursing home or home health care if they need it in
retirement.
Overall, 47% of respondents believe government
programs will pay for all or most of their health care in
retirement.
Italians and Germans most expect government to pay for
health care, while only 29% of Americans expect so.
Thirty one percent of Americans say government sponsored
health care will pay none of their health care costs in
retirement, according to the report.
Trust in the Government
All countries report a lack of confidence in their
governments’ abilities to fund public pensions or pay
health care benefits.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the overall rating of trust in
the government’s ability to pay current retiree health care
obligations was only 4.5.
It was even lower (3.8) for the ability to pay for future
retiree health care benefits.
The overall rating for trust in the government’s
ability to pay current public pension obligations is 5,
while trust in its ability to pay future benefits is only
3.9.
All countries reported less trust in the government’s
ability to pay future obligations than currently.