Hi all,

I have a plan where the Sponsor wants to allow participants to invest in managed accounts, but only to those who have an account balance of $300,000 or more. Has anyone seen this in a plan? Does anyone know of any guidance on this issue?

Thanks in advance for any help.

An existing ESOP is entertaining the idea of a 401(k). I would think a standalone 401(k) would be less costly administratively than a KSOP. Any opinions on pros n cons?

Thanks

Question of a small employer in TN:

We pay SSI and Medicare tax on regular income. If we offer an optional 401a with up to a 3% match, do we have to pay empoyee SSI and/or medicare tax on the 3% match?

Is anyone aware of whether an entire mutliemployer plan would lose its grandfathered status under the Affordable Care Act if only one employer changed its contribution rates by more than what is permitted under the Act's regulations? Alternatively, could each employer be viewed as a separate "plan" or "benefit package" such that only the affected employer would lose grandfathered status and be required to comply with all of the Act's various provisions, but the employers that did not change their contribution rates could maintain their grandfathered status under the original plan?

I was divorced in Oregon in 1995. I am just now filing a QDRO. I am a resident of New Jersey (6years). My ex-husband is a resident of Montana and Florida (6 months of a year each). The plan administrator is in Florida. In which State do I file the QDRO?

I have a fund client whose payroll auditor is also the auditor for the sponsoring union. This seems like a conflict of interest to me. Is anyone aware of any ethical/professional guidelines for auditors so I can look into this? Has anyone dealt with this kind of matter previously?

Have a client who has indicated their assertion that a participant can change their elected BCD in the middle of the election period, without requiring a new retirement kit to be sent. As the administrator, not sure we can or should support this.

An example would be:

-Participant contacts administrator on 3/15 and requests paperwork for a 4/1 BCD

-Administrator sends paperwork to participant at least 8 days prior to elected BCD, constituting a successful QJSA notice

-Participant decides not to retire, works two more months and contacts service center on 5/20 requesting a 6/1 BCD

-Administrator does not have enough time to generate and send kit to participant within 8 days of newly requested BCD

-Administrator sends paperwork, but pushes BCD to 7/1 instead of 6/1

Client believes 6/1 BCD should be honored and that no new paperwork is required, even though participant has materially changed original request based on the new BCD.

Is the original paperwork sent with the 4/1 BCD legally invalidated based on new BCD, or is paperwork on file still valid since was sent within last 180 days meaning participant could sign and return original retirement paperwork but use for the 6/1 BCD?

I'm confused as to exactly which entities must comply with this... Per the regs, it is the Covered Entity that has to comply - what if the CE utilizes TPAs? We have an eligibility TPA sending files to our insurance carrier. Do the eligibility files from the eligibility TPA to the carrier have to be in the 5010 format? The carrier has indicated that it is okay with continuing to receive the file as is and the eligibility TPA will charge an arm and a leg to switch formats...

Is there any way to limit the number of key ees in the top heavy test? I've heard conflicting information regarding possibly limiting the number of officers counted as key for testing purposes.

Thanks in advance.

Participant is beyond NRD (1/1/2004) and there are excess assets in the plan. It is possible to have the the participant make an election (with spousal consent) to pay retroactive monthly payments (back to some date) to use up the excess assets?

For example, assume the monthly benefit is $16,666.67 (payable as a life annuity) and the corresponding lump sum is $2,078,000 (maximum). Assume the market value of the plan assets is $2,400,000. Assume he elects the joint and 100% survivor annuity of $14,000 per month, this would result in retroactive payments of 23 months to use up the excess assets (so retroactive to around 7/1/2009). He would continue to receive the joint and 100% survivor annuity benefit and would have the option to receive the benefit in a lump sum at plan termination (sometime at the end of this year, I think).

PPA allows for in-service distributions so I'm wondering if it can be retroactive.

His accrued benefit will not increase in the future (stuck at highest 3 consecutive years from way back).

I am putting together a powerpoint for a prospect and am looking for information on underfunded government pensions. I am assuming that this is all public information and I use Millimen for the same info on corporate data. Does anyone know of a website or resource that is available to access this information?

Thanks in advance

Small PS Dr. plan. Just found out that 20+ years ago one of the Dr.'s made after-tax voluntary contributions which have never been included in the allocation or 5500 reporting. Assets are titled in the Plan's name in a separate brokerage account. How should this be reported on the 5500 as beginning balance will not match ending balance from prior year, etc.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

If a 401(k) plan that currently has the NRA set to 59 1/2 wanted to change NRA to age 65 and add an early retirement age of 59 1/2, would that constitute a cutback in benefits? There are no ISW provisions tied to NRA. The reason for the change is tied to a change from a pro-rata profit sharing allocation to a cross tested one.

Re: NYC Deferred Compensation 457(b) and 401(k) Plans

Currently, the Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Labor Relations is the Plan Administrator.

The Mayor has recently proposed that he would like the Commissioner of the Department of Finance to assume the duties of Plan Administrator.

Q.: On a national level which governmental department generally assumes the duties of Plan Administrator?

Looking at the new "compensation disclosure" rule and considering its definitions that provide many ways that one can be treated as a covered service provider, I'm wondering whether much of anybody is not so covered. Thinking about the usual players that serve a 401(k)-style retirement plan, is there anyone that (leaving aside the possibility of compensation less than $1,000) is NOT a covered service provider?

Employer didn't implement employees' deferral elections for one of its locations from January - May 2011. We know we have to make a QNEC to correct the missed deferral, but I'm trying to decipher the Rev. Proc. 2008-50 instructions for calculating the QNEC where the employees might still reach or come close to the 402(g) limit over the remainder of the year. I thought I understood the calculation until I read Example 6 of Appendix B. Example 6 reads as follows:

Can anyone tell me where the IRS is getting the $10,000 here? It seems to me that they subtracted the $3,000 twice, and I'm not sure whether this was a mistake or if I'm missing something.

Help!

What are people doing out there for engagement letters? Are you hiring attorneys? Is there a good engagement letter template out there from someone? We're planning on going full-steam ahead soon, and wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas...

We have inherited a large plan that uses individual brokerage accounts for the plan's investment. That is, every participant has his or her own brokerage account. Several of the accounts of terminated participants have balances below $10. One of them has $0.83.

Is there a de minimus balance at which the participant does not have to be paid out, but the funds can be forfeited? It is clearly going to cost more than $0.83 to distribute that balance.

Thank you.

Kate Smith

A 401(k) requires the owners of the company (S corporation) to fund their own employer discretionary contribution, based on a cross-tested allocation. One of the owners terminates employment June 1, 2011, and to date has not funded his/her contribution. They want to know if they can revoke their 2010 election, based on the fact that they will not be paid any future compensation with which to fund the contribution. Or do they have to come up with the funding based on the 2010 election? Thanks for any replies.

If aan employee fails to return to work after qualified military service and has not provided notice of intend not to return to work to the employer, at what point can the employer terminate the employee from the plan? and stop years of service?