important info about your 401 k plan dear enron employee ,
i am a retirement plan specialist with raymond james & associates
( rjf - nyse ) . i understand these are trying times at your company and i hope
that your are not too heavily affected by the current distressed financial
situation of your company . i once was employed by a company that filed
bankruptcy so i speak from experience and have previously been placed in
your precarious position . being a retirement plan specialist , and having
worked with associates that have enron clients , i want to share some
important information about your retirement plan benefits . should you have
any questions about retirement plans your queries are more than welcome .
i want to make you aware that you are allowed to rollover into an individual
ira any portion of your retirement benefit plan which you have contributed
to as an in service distribution provided you have met enron ' s vesting
requirement , which is either 2 or 5 years of participation . i would strongly
recommend that it is probably a good idea to think about doing so with th
exception of your enron stock . there are other factors to consider however
like the possibilty of forfeiting loan provisions should enron pull through
among others . keep in mind however , that although your current asset
holdings are protected by erisa , should the company file bankruptcy those
assets remaining in the company sponsored plan can be frozen for an
unspecified amount of time , denying you access to your funds .
an ira rollover gives you more flexibility and choices of investments and
seperates the assets from company control . if you have questions or need
assistance in rolling over your plan assets please call me at
1 - 800 - 523 - 3295 from 8 - 5 est or email me at
jsarlat @ 33 e . rjf . com . my personal and corporate website can be found at
www . raymondjames . com / johnsarlat should you require more information about
my personal or companies qualifications . please inform your co - workers
about their rights and options under the plan . obviously time is of the
essence ! i wish you the best of luck and hope that the challenging
environment changes for the better . i have included an article at the bottom
of this page . .
sincerely ,
john sarlat
>
john c . sarlat
financial advisor , investments
raymond james spread your
risks by diversifying your holdings .
traditional " defined benefit " retirement plans are subject to
a 10 percent limit on investments in employer stock , but there is
no such limit for " defined contribution " plans like the 401 ( k ) .
u . s . senator barbara boxer tried a few years ago to have the
same limit apply to 401 ( k ) plans , but the measure ran into
vigorous opposition from employers who wanted to retain the right
to make their matching contributions in their own stock .
as the rules stand companies are allowed to make all of their
matching contributions in their own stock and workers may also put
all of their own money into company stock too .
diversification is thwarted in many cases by regulations that
prevent employees from selling company stock before they reach a
certain age - - 50 in enron ' s case .
james delaplane of the american benefits council , an employer
group , said the 401 ( k ) system places great responsibility for
retirement savings on individual workers .
" there are people who think that ' s the greatest thing since
sliced bread and there are people who think that ' s the worst
thing , " he said .
delaplane said his organization wants to preserve employers '
right to contribute company stock to employee retirement plans but
also supports efforts to educate workers so that they can make
better informed investment decisions .
david certner , a pensions specialist with the american
association of retired persons ( aarp ) , said there is plenty of
work to be done in that area .
" many employees aren ' t aware of basic rules of investing , nor
of the meaning of diversification . some actually view employer
stock as a less risky investment than a mutual fund , " he said .
important info about your 401 k plan
dear enron employee ,
i am a retirement plan specialist with raymond james & associates
( rjf - nyse ) . i understand these are trying times at your company and i hope
that your are not too heavily affected by the current distressed financial
situation of your company . i once was employed by a company that filed
bankruptcy so i speak from experience and have previously been placed in
your precarious position . being a retirement plan specialist , and having
worked with associates that have enron clients , i want to share some
important information about your retirement plan benefits . should you have
any questions about retirement plans your queries are more than welcome .
i want to make you aware that you are allowed to rollover into an individual
ira any portion of your retirement benefit plan which you have contributed
to as an in service distribution provided you have met enron ' s vesting
requirement , which is either 2 or 5 years of participation . i would strongly
recommend that it is probably a good idea to think about doing so with th
exception of your enron stock . there are other factors to consider however
like the possibilty of forfeiting loan provisions should enron pull through
among others . keep in mind however , that although your current asset
holdings are protected by erisa , should the company file bankruptcy those
assets remaining in the company sponsored plan can be frozen for an
unspecified amount of time , denying you access to your funds .
an ira rollover gives you more flexibility and choices of investments and
seperates the assets from company control . if you have questions or need
assistance in rolling over your plan assets please call me at
1 - 800 - 523 - 3295 from 8 - 5 est or email me at
jsarlat @ 33 e . rjf . com . my personal and corporate website can be found at
www . raymondjames . com / johnsarlat should you require more information about
my personal or companies qualifications . please inform your co - workers
about their rights and options under the plan . obviously time is of the
essence ! i wish you the best of luck and hope that the challenging
environment changes for the better . i have included an article at the bottom
of this page . .
sincerely ,
john sarlat
>
john c . sarlat
financial advisor , investments
raymond james spread your
risks by diversifying your holdings .
traditional " defined benefit " retirement plans are subject to
a 10 percent limit on investments in employer stock , but there is
no such limit for " defined contribution " plans like the 401 ( k ) .
u . s . senator barbara boxer tried a few years ago to have the
same limit apply to 401 ( k ) plans , but the measure ran into
vigorous opposition from employers who wanted to retain the right
to make their matching contributions in their own stock .
as the rules stand companies are allowed to make all of their
matching contributions in their own stock and workers may also put
all of their own money into company stock too .
diversification is thwarted in many cases by regulations that
prevent employees from selling company stock before they reach a
certain age - - 50 in enron ' s case .
james delaplane of the american benefits council , an employer
group , said the 401 ( k ) system places great responsibility for
retirement savings on individual workers .
" there are people who think that ' s the greatest thing since
sliced bread and there are people who think that ' s the worst
thing , " he said .
delaplane said his organization wants to preserve employers '
right to contribute company stock to employee retirement plans but
also supports efforts to educate workers so that they can make
better informed investment decisions .
david certner , a pensions specialist with the american
association of retired persons ( aarp ) , said there is plenty of
work to be done in that area .
" many employees aren ' t aware of basic rules of investing , nor
of the meaning of diversification . some actually view employer
stock as a less risky investment than a mutual fund , " he said .