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The answer boils down to "yes", at least as we would handle it. All contributions for a self-employed are treated the same on his/her 1040, so then it is a matter of deciding how to allocate on the admin side. The way I see it, a self-employed cannot exceed 402(g) if things are done properly - and by that, I mean having an election in place before the end of the year, and that election cannot or at least should not elect greater than the 402(g) limit. So if s/he is just throwing money at the plan, which is not uncommon, then the amount received up to the 402(g) limit is deferrals, and anything else is...something else. Whether that something else is within those limits is another matter, but likely no problem at all.

@my2greenize Yes, have no fear there. When you enroll in active coverage again as a rehire, your COBRA continuation coverage will terminate. When you subsequently lose active coverage again because of termination of employment or reduction of hours, you will experience a new COBRA qualifying event with a new 18-month maximum coverage period. There is no limit on the number of COBRA qualifying events you may experience with the same employer/plan. A couple posts that may be helpful in case you're near Medicare age (65): https://www.theabdteam.com/blog/early-termination-of-cobra-upon-enrollment-in-other-group-health-plan-or-medicare/ https://www.theabdteam.com/blog/how-cobra-and-medicare-interact-for-retirees/

Thanks, John! All now posted at https://benefitsattorney.com/charts/maximums/

Give credit to Tom. CPI-U for September was 260.280. Based on Tom's spreadsheet, the projections for 2021: Increased: Compensation Limit: $290,000 (was $285,000) Annual Addition Limit: $58,000 (was $57,000) Unchanged: Deferral limit: $19,500 Catchup: $6,500 DB Limit: $230,000 Key Employee: $185,000 HCE: $130,000

That bigger and smaller plans are different markets, and perhaps in some ways different worlds, is often a reason I read BenefitsLink. My learning about small plans and services for them is indirect. A little bit is from volunteer work for charities. WCC and austin3515 and Bill Presson, thank you for your observations about why a recordkeeper might be reluctant to serve a plan that lacks an advisor.

Cost of living increase this year is only around 1.18%, so most plan limits will not increase in 2021. The only expected increases for 2021 are: DC limit $58,000 Compensation limit $290,000 The September 2020 CPI report will be issued by DOL early tomorrow morning, which will "finalize" my projections, but I don't expect a large enough change (up or down) in the CPI-U index to affect any other limit. ..... Jeff

The CPI-U for September is scheduled to be released tomorrow morning at 8:30am. I have a copy of Tom's file from days of yore and can provide the updated figures shortly after the release based on his file.

Austin, we've done some of these before. We usually use the Vanguard/Ascensus plan set up. Just be careful you don't get pulled into doing things the advisor would do. We consistently had to push back on the sponsor about employee education and answering participant questions, etc. They tend to lean on you as the expert in all things without that additional body around.

We've seen this on occasion and have always taken the position that the employment agreement has no impact on the plan. We'll help them get to where they want to go if possible, with an actual amendment or creative ideas.

alexa, generally a lump sum vacation pay cashout is "good" compensation (for deferral and matching, and other contribution purposes) under the Code and regs, as long as paid within the later of the end of the plan year in which the employee terminated or 2-1/2 months after termination. See Treas. reg. sec. 1.415(c)-2(e)(3)(iii)(A). As for whether it is compensation for purposes of your particular plan, that will depend on the plan document. If it was compensation for deferral purposes under your plan, it was probably supposed to be match, but that could only be determined for sure by reviewing your plan document.