| Brown Bridges Businesses In ING Restructuring
ING's Valerie Brown must be feeling pretty good these days. After more than three years as president of ING Advisior's Network, she's been promoted to executive vice president of annuity and wealth management. The news comes on the heels of ING's development of a new wealth management arm led by CEO, Kathleen Murphy. In this newly created role, Brown will be Murphy's right-hand woman in charge of developing strategies to grow and develop the new business. Brown will bridge the gap between the company's wealth management arm and the annuity business led by ING Annuities president, Harry Stout. As if her plate wasn't already full, Brown will also develop new retirement income products for the industry giant. It's a big job, but Brown finds the challenge exciting. "INGs wealth management strategy is all about creating road maps that connect defined contribution retirement plans with retail retirement plans," she said, adding that "the time has come for INGs wealth management approach to the marketplace.
North County FYI
Connections Academy will present "Is Virtual School Right For Your Children?" information session, 6:30 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at Lake San Marcos Resort, 1025 La Bonita Drive, San Marcos. A session also will be offered from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Ramada Inn, 1440 Mission Ave., Oceanside. (800) 382-6010. Naturalist Tom Lyon will lead an easy walk at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Daley Ranch in Escondido. Meet at the entrance on La Honda Drive. Free. (760) 839-4680. The Classical Ragas ensemble will present music of North India, noon Tuesday at Cal State San Marcos, 333 Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos. Free. Wendy Barker, director of the Escondido History Center, will lead the tour of The Boulevard, an artery that has served Escondido as a residential street, commercial district and transit corridor since 1886.
Pass on your pension
Last December the Chancellor closed a much-publicised loophole that allowed you to avoid buying an annuity at 75 and pass on your pension fund to your family or friends. That loophole, which involved the use of an "alternatively secured pension", was effectively closed when the death duties for anyone using the scheme were increased to a punishing 82 per cent, making it extremely unattractive as an estate planning solution. But while the compulsion to buy an annuity at 75 remains, the rules on the amount you can withdraw through an unsecured pension - the new name for income drawdown - have been relaxed so much that it is now possible to take almost all of your cash out of your pension before you have to buy an annuity. Since the introduction a year ago of new pension rules known as the A-Day reforms, it has been possible for anyone with an unsecured pension to draw down each year an amount roughly equal to 120 per cent of what they could have got from an annuity.
Former LA Social Security employee charged in ID theft scheme
A former Social Security Administration employee faces federal charges of allegedly passing along confidential information mined from a government computer to identity thieves who racked up some $2.5 million in illegal credit card purchases, prosecutors said. Jennifer Batiste, 45, surrendered to authorities Wednesday and was indicted on charges of conspiracy, accessing a protected computer to conduct fraud and disclosure of a social security number, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office. If convicted on all counts, Batiste could face up to 15 years in prison. Authorities said she took $20 bribes each time she provided accomplices with information taken from a government database that lists social security numbers, mothers' maiden names and birthdays.
SSA proposal would replace in-home hearing with teleconferences
The Social Security Administration is proposing to replace face-to-face conferences in Title II overpayment cases with telephonic or video teleconferencing when such conferences take place outside of the field office. Individuals who are charged with an overpayment would be given a choice to appear at a face-to-face conference in the field office or to participate via telephonic or video teleconferencing at a location of their choosing. This choice also would be provided to individuals charged with an overpayment in Title XVI cases. Comments on the proposal are due by May 4, 2007. Background Existing regulations in both Title II and Title XVI state that the SSA will waive recovery of an overpayment if the individual was without fault in causing it and if recovery would defeat the purpose of the Social Security Act or be against equity and good conscience.
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