UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

College of Commerce and Business Administration

D E P A R T M E N T O F F I N A N C E
Finance/LIR 360 - Employee Benefit Plans Professor Stephen D'Arcy
M W F 2-2:50 pm 311 Wohlers Hall
131 Animal Science Lab Tel: 333-0772
Fall, 2002 email: s-darcy@uiuc.edu
Office Hours:
Friday 1:00-1:50 pm
and by appointment

Textbook: Employee Benefits, Burton Beam, Jr. and John McFadden, Sixth
Edition, Dearborn Financial Publishing, 2001.

Course Web Site: http://www.cba.uiuc.edu/~s-darcy/fin360/index.html

Course Objective

The objective of this course is to provide students with an

understanding of the basic terminology, practices and current issues in
employee benefits. This field is rapidly growing in importance for both
employers and employees, as well as undergoing significant changes as the
result of new legislation. Students completing this course should be able to
utilize their own future employee benefit plans more wisely and be in a
position to help employers or insurers adapt such plans to meet changing
conditions.

Accessibility Statement

To insure that disability-related concerns are properly addressed

throughout the semester, students with disabilities who require reasonable
accommodations to participate in this class are asked to see me within the
first two weeks of class.

Date Topic Reading Assignment

Aug 28 Course Overview --

30 Introduction to Employee Benefits Chapter 1
Sept 4 Employee Benefit Planning and Management Chapter 2
6 Social Security Benefits Chapter 3
9 Other Social Insurance Programs Chapter 4
11 The Group Insurance Environment Chapter 5
13 To be announced
16 Group Life Insurance: Term Coverage Chapter 6
18 Group Life Insurance: Lifetime Coverage Chapter 7
20 Group Disability Income Coverage Chapter 8
23 Medical Benefits: The Changing Environment Chapter 9
25 Medical Benefits: Traditional Plans Chapter 10
27 Medical Benefits: Managed Care Plans Chapter 11
30 Medical Benefits: Plan Provisions and Taxation Chapter 12
Oct 2 Dental and Other Group Insurance Benefits Chapter 13
4 Alternative Funding Methods Chapter 14
7 Group Insurance Ratemaking Chapter 15
9 Other Nonretirement Benefits Chapter 16
11 Cafeteria Plans Chapter 17
14 Student Paper Presentations Handouts
16 Student Paper Presentations Handouts
 18 Review for Midterm --
21 Midterm Exam --
23 Introduction to Qualified Retirement Plans Chapter 18
25 To be announced
28 Plan Qualification Requirements Chapter 19
30 Pension Benefit Formulas Chapter 20
Nov 1 Pension Plan Funding Chapter 21
4 Profit-Sharing and Similar Plans Chapter 22
 Date Topic Reading Assignment

6 401(k) and Other Salary Savings Plans Chapter 23

8 Illinois State Universities Retirement Plan Handouts
11 Illinois State Universities Retirement Plan Handouts
13 To be announced
15 Student Paper Presentations Handouts
18 Student Paper Presentations Handouts
20 Qualified Plan Distributions and Loans Chapter 24
22 Plan Restrictions Aimed at HCEs Chapter 25
Dec 2 Administration of Retirement Plans Chapter 26
4 Individual Retirement Plans and SEPs Chapter 27
6 Executive Benefits and Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Chapter 28
9 Student Paper Presentations Handouts
11 Student Paper Presentations Handouts
13 Review for Final

Final Exam Thursday, December 19, 2002 1:30-4:30 pm

Students will write three short papers on current issues in employee

benefits and present one of the topics to the class. The papers will be due
on October 7, November 8 and December 2. Lists of possible topics for each
paper will be distributed approximately one month prior to the due date. In
addition to the papers, there will be five problem sets assigned as follows:

Subject Handed Out Due Date

Taxation of Employee Benefits 9/20/02 9/27/02

Health Insurance 10/4/02 10/11/02
Deferred Compensation 11/8/02 11/15/02
SURS 11/15/02 11/22/02
Overview of Employee Benefits 12/4/02 12/11/01

The maximum number of points for each aspect of the course will be:

Assignments 50
In Class Exercises 20
Papers and Presentations 40
Midterm Exam 30
Final Exam 60
Total 200

The exams will be open book, open note. Calculators can be used, but
not shared. The final exam is based on all the material covered during the
semester.