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It seems to me - if it is reasonable to retain this trustee - the trustee will not accept a contribution during a black-out period and - the length of the black-out period is reasonably short, then "the earliest date on which such contributions or repayments can reasonably be segregated from the employer's general assets" and transmitted to the trustee is the first full business day after the black-out period ends regardless of the employer's previous history of being about to transmit contributions sooner under a different set of circumstances. Whether the plan auditor will accept that argument, I do not know.

With the current rules, I don't see that working. What you describe is effectively the same situation as adding an ADP safe harbor to an existing profit sharing plan. 1.401(k)-3(e)(2) says: That's more clear than the 3 month plan year requirement.

I found my answer in some presentation material that Sal Tripodi provided in a webinar that he did, I think for FT William, on the SECURE Act. He provides an example of a new calendar year end plan adopted 11/1/2021 with a retroactive date to 1/1/2021 (401(k) portion effective 11/1/2021). Sal offers that the plan could not be a safe harbor plan for 2021 since the 401(k) portion is less than 3 months, regardless of whether the safe harbor is a match or nonelective. Makes sense. The intention of the 3 months is to allow everyone the chance to make 3 months of deferrals regardless of a match or 3% non-elective. Without the 3 month requirement I guess an owner could set up the plan for 12/31 and give himself a bonus to defer from and no one else gets that opportunity.

What do BenefitsLink people think about these questions: 1. Which recordkeeper/custodians accept a pending-blackout deposit? Which don’t? 2. How much about this point should a plan’s fiduciary check before selecting a recordkeeper? 3. Is there a plan size so small that even a prudent fiduciary would be unlikely to find a recordkeeper willing to accept the pending-blackout deposits?

There was an ARA write up early this year that said further IRS guidance needed, but assume that the 3 month requirement is still there. The 3 month policy is meant to give all participants an opportunity to make meaningful deferrals, I don't think that changes with SECURE. The have started to address SECURE issues, so we might get something closer to the 3 month deadline.

All, what if the plan starts/is adopted December 1 and deferrals are only available for that month of the year. However, the plan is retroactively effective 1/1 and allows PS and SHNEC to be made for the entire 12 month period. Would that check all the boxes?

The SECURE Act changed the timing requirements for retroactive adoption of the safe harbor non-elective provisions. I don't see anything in it that changed the rules for the initial plan year. So, I think the initial plan year must be at least 3 months long, unless it is a newly established employer that qualifies for a shorter initial plan year under 1.401(k)-3(e)(2). Note that the definition of "employer" used includes members of controlled groups and affiliated service groups.

We had to go back and amend a 2015 filing for a Plan. FT automatically: 1) Converted the filing to the 2019 form (per the DOL's requirements). 2) Converted the 2015 Schedule R to a pdf and added it as an attachment (again the per DOL's requirements). Myself and another consultant were absolutely in shock that they did that. We thought we were going to spend an hour rekeying everyhing. I'm telling you, FT William is one of my favorite companies to work with. OK maybe other vendors software would do the same thing, I don't know. If they do, then kudos to them as well.

Choice of a vendor or a secure place to timely deposit this money is the plan sponsor's responsibility. Setting up all the details of this conversion should have included this issue. The vendor is pushing your client around because no one went over this with them when the deal was done (before they were hired). PNJ

True dat.

We have been using FT Williams for years for documents and Form 5500s. We are very happy both with their products and their service. Mike