We only have a few ESOP plans in our practice. We are filing our first ESOP 2009 Form 5500 of the year. The plan is a Stock Bonus - a money purchase provision along with a stock bonus.

1. Is the only applicable code on the new form the 2C? There is no ESOP code anymore.

2. On the Schedule R Section IV, we assume we answer all the questions 10, 11 and 12. This is not a leveraged plan. It is also a non-public firm.

Any insights??? Thank you.

We have a client who has received a compliance statement from the IRS agreeing to waive the 50% excise tax on previously missed RMDs, some of which were already rolled over into IRAs.

Question is, how does the participant (after taking the correction distribution) report to the IRS that his excise tax was waived? Do he simply file a 1099 and say nothing of it. Does he have to attach a copy of the Plan's compliance statement? The company would rather not provide the compliance statement to the participant, would a signed statement from the company work?

I am curious to know what others are doing for these types of situations...If a one person DB plan does not get the AFTAP certified until after the 10/1/ deadline, are you preparing a notice of benefit restriction and then another notice when the AFTAP is certified (say 10/15) letting it be known that the restrictions are lifted? Are there specific rules about wheher these notice requirements apply to one person plans?

For more information, find us on Twitter @BestDoctorsUS, Facebook and LinkedIn or Contact:

Lisa Astor or Mariana Pinner

PAN Communications

978-474-1900

bestdoctors@pancomm.com

Best Doctors Announces Physician Selection Service That Matches Members with Expert Specialists

Service Provides Access to the Right Resources to Improve Medical Outcomes and Lower Healthcare Costs

Boston, MA – September 29, 2010 – Best Doctors, Inc., the trusted expert medical resource that helps members take control of their healthcare, today announced the process behind its physician selection service, “FindBestDocTM”. The service matches members to a physician specialist who has the specific expertise needed for their medical condition, ensuring the most accurate assessment and treatment options.

Better than physician referral services offered through most health plans, Best Doctors FindBestDoc team delivers personalized guidance, addressing each individual’s unique needs. Members are matched to the expert specialist or sub-specialist best suited for their medical condition the first time, and are also properly prepared for their doctor visit. The service takes advantage of Best Doctors’ highly specialized registry of physicians that tracks areas of special interest, published research and other data that qualifies each doctor as an undisputed expert in a particular area.

“Best Doctors truly led me in the right direction to address my healthcare needs and eased my mind about my medical situation,” said Tom Galluze, Best Doctors member through Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium. “Matched with the right specialist who closely reviewed my medical history, I got the right cardiac surgeon for my situation and avoided unnecessary and painful procedures. Best Doctors is truly an invaluable resource that helps people get the right medical care.”

Targeted Physician Selection for Better Care and Outcomes

By getting members better, faster access to the physician with the right expertise, the FindBestDoc physician selection service results in better decisions and diagnoses while reducing healthcare costs associated with unnecessary appointments. The Best Doctors register of 46,000 U.S. expert physicians is the core of the Best Doctors physician selection service and is the result of 20 years of polling and research. It entails the largest, continuous, peer-to-peer survey of the medical profession ever conducted, and represents the top 5% of physician specialists and sub-specialists recognized as the highest caliber doctors in the nation. The comprehensive nature of the Best Doctors physician register allows the FindBestDoc team to match members with the right expert doctor in their geographic area and within their health plan network.

“At Best Doctors, our goal is to help our members take control of their own healthcare. We differentiate ourselves in that we do not rely on a limited network of specialists or a set ’panel‘ of doctors,” said David Seligman, CEO of Best Doctors. “Instead, we tap our carefully vetted physician register to zero-in on the most specialized expert for our member. This is invaluable to members and employers as it prevents misdiagnoses, improves patient outcomes and drives down healthcare costs.”

To learn more about the FindBestDoc service, please visit http://www.bestdoctors.com/us/What-We-Do/F...indBestDoc.aspx.

About Best Doctors

Best Doctors, Inc. is the trusted medical resource that helps members take control of their healthcare. By connecting members and their treating physicians with world renowned experts, Best Doctors has a dramatic impact on the quality and cost of healthcare. Founded in 1989 by two Harvard Medical School professors, Best Doctors serves insurers, employers and health plans worldwide, touching 20 million lives in 40 countries. For more information, visit www.bestdoctors.com or call 800-223-5003.

FBD_FINAL_for_wire.doc

For more information, find us on Twitter @BestDoctorsUS, Facebook and LinkedIn or Contact:

Lisa Astor or Mariana Pinner

PAN Communications

978-474-1900

bestdoctors@pancomm.com

Best Doctors Announces Physician Selection Service That Matches Members with Expert Specialists

Service Provides Access to the Right Resources to Improve Medical Outcomes and Lower Healthcare Costs

Boston, MA – September 29, 2010 – Best Doctors, Inc., the trusted expert medical resource that helps members take control of their healthcare, today announced the process behind its physician selection service, “FindBestDocTM”. The service matches members to a physician specialist who has the specific expertise needed for their medical condition, ensuring the most accurate assessment and treatment options.

Better than physician referral services offered through most health plans, Best Doctors FindBestDoc team delivers personalized guidance, addressing each individual’s unique needs. Members are matched to the expert specialist or sub-specialist best suited for their medical condition the first time, and are also properly prepared for their doctor visit. The service takes advantage of Best Doctors’ highly specialized registry of physicians that tracks areas of special interest, published research and other data that qualifies each doctor as an undisputed expert in a particular area.

“Best Doctors truly led me in the right direction to address my healthcare needs and eased my mind about my medical situation,” said Tom Galluze, Best Doctors member through Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium. “Matched with the right specialist who closely reviewed my medical history, I got the right cardiac surgeon for my situation and avoided unnecessary and painful procedures. Best Doctors is truly an invaluable resource that helps people get the right medical care.”

Targeted Physician Selection for Better Care and Outcomes

By getting members better, faster access to the physician with the right expertise, the FindBestDoc physician selection service results in better decisions and diagnoses while reducing healthcare costs associated with unnecessary appointments. The Best Doctors register of 46,000 U.S. expert physicians is the core of the Best Doctors physician selection service and is the result of 20 years of polling and research. It entails the largest, continuous, peer-to-peer survey of the medical profession ever conducted, and represents the top 5% of physician specialists and sub-specialists recognized as the highest caliber doctors in the nation. The comprehensive nature of the Best Doctors physician register allows the FindBestDoc team to match members with the right expert doctor in their geographic area and within their health plan network.

“At Best Doctors, our goal is to help our members take control of their own healthcare. We differentiate ourselves in that we do not rely on a limited network of specialists or a set ’panel‘ of doctors,” said David Seligman, CEO of Best Doctors. “Instead, we tap our carefully vetted physician register to zero-in on the most specialized expert for our member. This is invaluable to members and employers as it prevents misdiagnoses, improves patient outcomes and drives down healthcare costs.”

To learn more about the FindBestDoc service, please visit http://www.bestdoctors.com/us/What-We-Do/F...indBestDoc.aspx.

About Best Doctors

Best Doctors, Inc. is the trusted medical resource that helps members take control of their healthcare. By connecting members and their treating physicians with world renowned experts, Best Doctors has a dramatic impact on the quality and cost of healthcare. Founded in 1989 by two Harvard Medical School professors, Best Doctors serves insurers, employers and health plans worldwide, touching 20 million lives in 40 countries. For more information, visit www.bestdoctors.com or call 800-223-5003.

FBD_FINAL_for_wire.doc

Plan year is 12/31/2008 to 12/31/2009. It gets filed on a 2008 form.

Does it get filed on paper or electronic

We have always advised our clients who offer domestic partner benefits that the premiums for the domestic partner (1) are imputed income to the employee if the premiums are paid by the employer and (2) premiums the employee is required to pay for the domestic partner coverage must be taken from the employee's paycheck on an after tax basis. Today, someone told me that their attorney said the IRS doesn't like the after tax basis for the employee contribution, that it must be taken as pretax and then imputed income back to the employee. EBIA does not agree. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

Thanks so much.

Webclient submission failed

We have transmitted several Planbooks successfully. However, we have 3 Planbooks with a filing status of Submission Failed. I understand Webclient resubmits these, but after 6 attempts throughout the night by Webclient all 3 Planbooks still have a status of Submission Failed. Now in attempting to retrieve the Planbooks to republish them, they are grayed out and we get a response of “grid rows that are grayed out are Not Retrievable”. Relius has not responded to Incident Requests.

Solo DC Plan. When I answer the question 10 ("Is this a DB Plan subject to minimum funding") as "No" a validation error states "No entry should be made for this item when the plan is not a DB plan."

I'm ignoring that validation error as being ridiculous. IT's a simple yes or no question, and the answer is obviously no.

Do others agree? I haven't looked at the instructions in a while, but I'm curious to know if anyone else has any thoughts.

OK, money is at John Hancock, with an RIA. RIA Fees are reproted by Hancock as direct expenses AND it is also reported on their Schedule A reprot, because it is BOTH a direct expense AND a payment by an insurance carrier.

The schedule C instructions are very clear that you don't need to report on C fees already reported on Schedule A, but I don't see that sort of exception for this...

I forgot how nice it was not having to process these.

this is a first attempt to generate the minimum distributions out of report writer.

this is a summary of accounts report, the sources have been supressed, leaving only the totals per participant. then its coded to only pull those people who are 70.5 as of 12/31/2010.[its hard coded, so such fields would have to be updated each year, but as a reminder, it should give a warning message if plan year end is after that date]

if run for a plan year 1/1/2009 - 12/31/2009 it will take the ending balance and divide it by the proper factor to produce the min distribution. if person is active, it will indicate that min distrin is due 4/1/2011 if the person quites before 12/31/2010. I tried it and it did produce the same results as the 70 1/2 found under processing for 2 different large plans (each with around 30 possible min distributions) so it seems to be working, but of course use at your risk.

since it uses the 12/31/2009 balance it includes any receivables that have been run, which is optional for min distrib)

the report labeled 'all' lists all the possible min distributions

the other report produces a scaled down version of the text report that prints out of Relius (one person per page). no projection for future years, but since the system doesn't calculate any interest assumption, its probably not much of a loss anyway.

ok, maybe I don't show people who have no balance or min distribution due, but thats just me.

and I don't have it built into the report if spouse age is greater than 10 years. but I am lazy.

I think I have it pulling 5% owners correctly, but I haven't figured out how to pull owners due to attribution

..........................................................

a reminder, if using Relius 70 1/2, if you don't manually enter the balance, you might have to

processing/ balance update / set trade date field / overwrite existing values so it pulls the correct ending balance.

1) Can someone please explain why the TIAA-Traditional account shows Realized and Unrealized gains on the statement of changes in net assets? It seems unusual for a guaranteed investment.

2) Related question: Why don't the CREF Mutual Funds have to pay any dividends? Is it because 100% of the investors are tax qualified plans?

Sometimes after using a valuation program for a long time I don't think about the nuts and bolts and then something arises that gets me thinking and maybe thinking too much.

With that said.

Say we are trying to determine a FT and TNC for one participant.

He enters plan on 1/1/2010 and his end of yr AB is 19,500 (i.e. 415 max) payable at age 62 NRD.

For purposes of this example we will assume AB 1/1/10 is $0.

val assumes a lump sum dist at age 62 and person is age 40 at 1/1/10.

plan lump sum is based on 5% and app mort.

So for valuation purposes the present value of the AB of 19,500 as of 1/1/10 would be computed as follows:

plan terms would be funding segment rates for deferral period and app mort and 5% at age 62.

417e terms would be funding segment rates and app mort for entire period

Verify above?

415 5.5% basis is where the crux of question is:

is it funding segment rates for deferral period and a62 5.5% app mort beginninig at 62 or is it 5.5% for entire period?

That is, v22 at 5.5% multiplied by a62 5.5%. Of course if it is segment rates for deferral period then the factor is lower than plan rate of 5%. If it is 5.5% for entire period than the plan rate would be lower and 415 would not limit calculation of present value.

Of course if individual terminates at age 40 than the 415 lump sum factor is clearly limited to v22 a62 5.5% all through

I have handled it a particular way thus far.

thanks.

Broker is on the Board of Directors of a tax exempt entity. He is also the broker for the plan, and of course controls the investments and receives commissions, on assets of 40 million. Is this a prohibited transaction? He is not the named trustee, but he is on the board of the employer, and in essence the plan sponsor is normally a fiduciary. This is an ERISA plan, and it is not self directed, employer directs investments, and broker has plan on local brokerage firm platform.

Any thoughts??

In designing a combo plan let's say we test the plans using the general test on a combined basis for non discrimination.

I will be doing my own research on these matters as well, but this is a good jump start.

1. Say the new DB plan wants to provide up to 5 years past service and the 401k profit sharing plan is a new plan as well. Any cite that precludes combined plans being tested on an accrued to date basis? Of course the accrued pension benefit may be based on 5 years of past service for a given individual and the accrued to date method would cause accrued benefit to be divided by 5, while the profit sharing contribution is a total based on the one year.

2. Any cite that precludes an offset of employer provided defined contribution benefit for some employees?

3. And let's say instead that the DB plan is a cash balance plan where the AB is the account balance. Does this mean that the allocation method is based on the account and the accrual method must convert to an annuity benefit? Essentially the accrual method in the cash balance plan would end up being the cross testing.

If the cash balance accrued benefit were stated as an annuity than I would say the annuity would need to be converted to an allocation to test on an allocation basis, but being post PPA presumably the account balance can in fact be the accrued benefit payable.

In conclusion, I'm really looking for specific citations to refer to, when known.

Thanks.

I have a one man plan, who is not an owner - he is an employee. It is a 0% MP plan that holds rollovers from various DB plans only - never had a contribution, never will. Plan does not satisfy the small plan audit waiver because some assets (3.7 mil of 5 mil) are held in a foreign bank. Therefore, no bond can be purchased in the amount of the NQ assets either. Audit will not be completed by 10/15/10.

Questions - Is it better to file on time with no audit or file late under DFVC?

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 the plan made in-service distributions when participants were 60, 62 and 63 years of age. The plan allowed for in-service distributions at age 65.

Under EPCRS the in-service distributions can be corrected by asking the participants to return the unauthorized in-service distributions under SCP or under VCP by amending the plan to allow for in-service distributions at an earlier age.

The question is can the plan correct the 2010 distributions only by retroactively amend the plan effective Jan 1, 2010 to provide for in-service distributions at age 60 without going through EPCRS? Any authority?

I'm completing a Final Form 5500 and had a couple questions. The plan is a calendar year plan and the last participant's assets were distributed on 9-04-09 so we realize that the return is late so we will be filing under the DFVCP. My question is about what the plan year for 2009 is. I believe the plan year for 2009 will be January 1, 2009 to September 4, 2009 since the final assets were distributed on that day. Is that correct?

I know I need to check the "Final Return" box since their are $0 assets and the "filing under DFVCP" box but do I also need to check the "Short Plan Year" box? I'm guessing I do, but this is my first Final 5500 and just wanted to double check.

Thanks!!

Setting up a Profit Sharing Plan that will also be a Safe Harbor 401(K)- 3% SHNE. The business is an S-Corp. Owner did not start taking any compensation from the company until July. My thought was to make the Profit Sharing plan retroactive to 7-1-2010, and then add the 401K and safe harbor provision 10-1-2010. The thought process is to capitalize on the owners comp only being from 7-1 forward, and thus limiting the Profit Sharing that has to be put in for the NHCEs. But then I stopped because I now have the following questions...

1) Will the compensation limit be pro-rated to $122,500?

2) Will the 415 limit be pro-rated to 24,500?

If question #2 is yes, then we would make the PSP retroactive to 1-1-2010.

It would not be the end of the world if we make the plan effective date retroactive to 1-1-2010, but just trying to shave some $$ off the employer contribution. Using the Corbel prototype document.

Does anyone know what the consequences are and how to correct a problem where the custodian of many SIMPLE IRAs never made the individual fill out a form 5305-S or 5305-SA? The custodian is acting as such, but without ever having the individual fill out the form.