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Jakyasar: As a Defined Benefit Plan, Fully Insured Plans under Section 412(e)(3) are subject to the same RMD rules with the exception of the RMD is based only on the vested portion of the account balance. These Plans also usually use the annuity mentod and the terms and conditions of the annuity (or annuity and life insurnace) contracts would dictate the payout. Another method I've experienced, which is the norm, is either the contracts are surrender, the first RMD taken, and the remainder transferred to an IRA, or in some cases the annuity contract is "non-transferrable" (or some Carriers have IRA amendments written into their contracts) and removed from the Plan then annuitized.

It’s with sadness that I learned about Mike Preston’s passing when Linda called me yesterday. Anyone who was fortunate to spend any time with Mike, knew he was truly a unicorn. Technically brilliant, razor sharp intellect, generous, open and honest (even on uncomfortable subjects), always supportive, witty (very dry). I always enjoyed hearing him laugh! As I look at the comments on Benefitslink, and having shared news with other colleagues, I heard the comment over and over again “Mike saved my bacon!” Rather than repeat his expertise and prowness to which all have provided testimonials, I wanted to share some stories of Mike. Mike, always a fan of the keyboard shortcuts, would do his best to get me to follow his lead. As an exercise, he gave me an excel spreadsheet to do some calculations on. I was so slow using the mouse instead of the keyboard strokes, that he never asked me to do that calculation again. He never gave me any grief about this and I continued to work with him for the next 9 years. Looking back on that, he was fully supportive and allowed me the freedom to show my abilities, even though they differed from his. When Sal Tripodi was touring, a group of us would gather together to socialize, enjoy an adult beverage and have discussions about movies. When Mike joined us, he would initially try to engage Sal in more shop talk. We would tease him and ask him what movies he’s seen. We finally got him to engage on the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. That was a pretty fun moment when he was describing the fighting scenes to us. Mike was also a fan of the Sopranos. Mike would start grooving and moving to “Woke Up This Morning.” While they were traveling they asked me if I would record an episode for them. I remember Linda telling me that the tape also included some of my girls tv shows that included the Bernstein Bears, etc. She said Mike was wondering if I was trying to send him a message. We laughed at that. When my wife and I started our journey to begin a family, Mike and Linda were fully supportive. As I would later find out, Mike and Linda went down a similar journey without success. Without Mike and Linda’s full support, we would not be parents of twin girls. I feel fortunate that Mike and Linda have met my girls and know how much their support means to us. Mike, you will always be in our hearts. I’m thankful for our time together. Frank Suzuki