Benefits November 30, 2005

Lifecycle Funds Still On Fire at TSP

November 30, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The lifecycle funds added to the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) four months ago are proving even more popular than officials had predicted.
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About 200,000 government employees, or 5.5% of TSP participants, have put $6.8 billion into the L Funds, which represents about 4% of the TSP’s assets, the officials said, according to a Washington Post report. Government employees continue to move all or some of their retirement savings into the L Funds at a steady rate, and TSP officials noted that the funds picked up new investors at a rate of 10,000 a week at the start of November (See Special Report: LIFESTYLE FUNDS: “Letter” Perfect ).

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The percentages may seem small, but Gary Amelio, executive director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, said consultants had estimated that the L Funds would not achieve a 5% participation rate until after a year of operation.

The most popular L Funds by retirement group are:

  • The 2010 Fund, attracting employees in the old Civil Service Retirement System, probably the longest-serving government workers.
  • The 2020 Fund, drawing participants covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System, created in the mid-1980s.
  • The 2030 Fund, attracting the military and other uniformed services, who were allowed into the TSP in 2002.

Since their start August 1 and extending through Monday, the five L Funds have provided returns of 1.6% to 2.9%.

Pamela-Jeanne Moran, director of TSP benefit services, told the board that vendors have finished mailing DVDs that explain the L Funds to civil service participants and that distribution of DVDs to members of the armed forces would conclude within weeks.

Benefits November 29, 2005

Conversation About Hitler Sparks Lawsuit

November 29, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A former worker is suing the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute alleging retaliation after she complained of an insulting conversation with a co-worker.
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The Associated Press reports that Aliana Brodmann von Richthofen testified that a co-worker, who knew much of her family had been killed in the Holocaust, said she admired Adolf Hitler and that ‘He was an admirable leader.’ Von Richthofen alleges that when she complained to supervisors about the conversation, she was demoted and eventually forced to resign.

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Von Richthofen is suing the institute, two former supervisors and a human resources executive, according to the AP. She is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as back pay and forward pay against the cancer institute.

An attorney for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute said that the institute moved the two women out of the small office they shared and gave them separate workspaces so they would not have to interact with one another. ”They were conscientious, effective, and responsive to Miss von Richthofen’s complaint,” James Horgan said.

A trial in the case opened this week in Norfolk (Massachusetts) Superior Court.

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