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movie quiz: explosions
21 movies to solve during work time...I mean over the week end.
no hidden people, just explosions.
cash balance transfer to 401(k)
I don't need a real complicated answer to this just a down and dirty response. What are the possibilities (if any) of transferring a cash balance plan to a 401(k) plan? Can it even be done?
Safe Harbor or General Nondiscrimination Test
Does anyone know where can I find the specific code 1.401(a)(4)-2(b) or 1.401(a)(4)-2©? I have googled for 30 minutes and cannot find these specific sections outlining the safe harbor or general nondiscrimination tests.
Thanks.
excluding per diem employees
as long as you pass testing, can you exclude per diem employees? and I assume it would have to state that in the doc, right? any problems with this?
Thanks for any help.
Automatic Enrollment
Under the new automatic enrollment regs, notice must be provided to plan participant 30 days prior to making an investment in a QDIA. However, if a plan allows for eligibility for the participant on the date of hire, does this mean that the participant can't be automatically enrolled until 30 days later? Is there anything in the regs that would allow for the safe harbor to apply to a new hire who immediately gets automatically enrolled?
DB/DC COmbined Plan Limits
A thought occurred to me. And then I determined that my thought is not going to fly. However, I am curious to hear the feedback I get regarding my thought.
Say we have a one person DB plan and that same person is also in a profit sharing plan.
We know that the deduction limit is at least as much as the minimum funding (which is no less than the RPA '94 CL).
Say the person has compensation of $200,000
Say it is a new plan and the one person enters the DB plan with 5 years of past service.
Say the first year valuation under the aggregate method produces a normal cost minimum funding of $50,000 and a 404 unfunded CL of $100,000.
We know the person can contribute and dedut $100,000 to the DB plan.
What about contributing $50,000 to the DB plan (to meet minimum) and $50,000 to the DC plan (I suppose we certainly can't go above 25% of compensation)? This results in a deduction of $100,000 which complies with the UCL limit. The obvious benefit to the employer is thus to have more deduction opportunities in the DB plan by only putting in 50k in the first year.
I like the idea, but unfortunately, I realize it won't make it past the tight defense of this post.
Thanks.
Assignment back of 50% survivor benefit
Employee retires at age 60 and begins to receive joint and 50% survivor annuity. 5 years later he divorces and former spouse disclaims her interest in the 50% survivor annuity in exchange for a lump sum settlement outside of the plan. The plan has a "pop-up" provision if the spouse dies before the employee. Can the parties do a QDRO to assign the survivor benefit back to the employee and "deem" the former spouse deceased??? any thoughts?
Septuagenerian new hire
How would you all handle an employee who begins service after age 70 1/2? Does 401(a)(9)©(iii) require us to actuarially adjust back to a period when he wasn't even working, and thus not accruing benefits?
Annual notice for automatic enroolment
Does anyone know where to find an annual notice for plan opting automatic enrollment?
Cost Basis - Stock - Unitized Fund
An investment option in our K plan is company stock. Our plan allows in-kind distributions of the stock. The question we've been kicking around is how to determine the cost basis. I've received conflicting info from two large mutual fund companies and our outside attorney. I'd like to throw this out there and see if anyone else can shed light on this for us.
Since April 2002 the stock has been held in a unitized fund. Participants do not own shares directly, rather they own units of the fund. These units have a mathematical relationship to the number of shares owned.
The IRS in a private letter ruling states that
“….if a security was earmarked for the account of a particular employee at the time it was purchased or contributed to the trust so that the cost or other basis of such security to the trust is reflected in the account of such employee, such cost or other basis shall be used.”
I can send anyone who is interested the PLR mentioned above. One of the issues here is what does 'earmarked' mean? Does it mean that the participants need to own the shares directly? Or does it mean they can own units of a unitized fund, whose units translate into actual shares?
This is an important question for us. Our 401k administrator holds the stock in a unitized fund. If we cannot use the actual cost basis described above, we need to average out the cost basis for the fund as a whole - which results in a very different number.
I know many participants take in-kind distributions - would be interested to see how others determine the cost basis.
Multiple Employer Plan
Participant terminates from Employer #1 within a multiple employer plan & goes to work for Employer #2 who also participates in the same plan.
Plan doc references that all dates, service, vesting, etc. will carry from Employer to Employer within the group - no problem.
However nothing I can find in plan doc references distribution in this instance, doc just contains standard "distribution as soon as administratively feasible following termination.."
is this participant entitled to a distribution of his account from Employer #1?
Employer Purchase of Stock from the ESOP
An employer desires to purchase stock from its ESOP to provide cash for distributions to participants that elect to receive cash instead of stock. The employer purchase of stock from the ESOP and the cash distributions to participants would take place after the year-end valuation is received, which is several months after the end of the year. The stock price used would be the year-end valuation price.
(1) If the employer purchases the stock using the year-end valuation price, is this a problem with the requirement that transactions between the plan and a disqualified person (in this case, the employer) be valued at the time of the transaction? (Participants are not prejudiced, as they are to receive the value of the stock as of the most recent valuation date.)
(2) If so, how do employers that purchase stock for this purpose deal with the disconnect between the year-end valuation date and the date the valuation is actually received?
Recruiters
Hi to all
As all of us know there are constant solicitations from recruiters within our industry. We are such a specialized field that many companies go straight to recruiters.
I have a recent experience I want to share with everyone so that this does not happen to anyone else..
I went through CPS and was initially looking nationally; relocation seemed the best option... I was assured that my expenses (ie. rental car and food) would be reimbursed for the trip regardless if I accepted the positions (I interviewed at two separate companies during the trip).
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your POV, my spouse was offered a great opportunity in our local area which made relocating obsolete. (We did not find out this information until we were coming home from my interviews.)
The trip was taken the last week of July it is now the beginning of October (over two months later) and I have received NO reimbursement or information regarding the status of the reimbursement from CPS.
Please take the warning to heart and make sure you can afford to lose all the money spent to interview if you decide not to take the positions! I am out approximately $600 because of this situation.
Good luck to the rest of you in your job search.
Age- and Gender-Related Premiums
Is there a maximum number of employees that a company may have to be able to have an age and gender related health plan with an insurance carrier? Like below the ERISA cut-off? Or are such plans okay under ERISA and the federal anti-dsicrimination laws (Title VII, ADA, etc.) no matter how many employees?
Follow up. May an employer who pays 75% of the premium under an age and gender related health plan with an insurance carrier require each employee to pay 25% of the premium attributable to that employee or must the employer set a fixed amount for types of coverage? For example, say all the employees have either single coverage or family coverage - must the employer determine a set rate to charge all employees for the single coverage regardless of their age and gender and another set rate for all employees for family coverage regardless of age and gender (rather than determining 25% of the actual premium for each employee which varies based on gender and age)? Or isn't that necessary under federal law?
Thanks in advance.
Forfeiture Allocation
Hello!
In absence of an answer in the plan document, could anyone point me in the direction to find the answer to this question...
Two companies, one plan. One company in this ASG has forfeitures for the PY which need to be reallocated. Is it appropriate to reallocate among all plan participants, or only to the participants in the company that originated the forfeitures.
Thank you!!
ADP/ACP testing
Can a 401(k) plan simply add the matching contributions (100% immediate vesting provided) to the employee deferrals and just run an ADP test?
Thanks for any advice....
Electrolysis
Would electrolysis be covered under a health fsa?
A particular medical condition promotes facial hair growth. Normally, cosmetic procedures would not be covered, but the condtion is due to a specific illness. Would a letter from the doctor explaining the relationship be beneficial?
If you think this can be covered, please provide any authority that you are aware of - thanks.
universal availability
Does anyone know what an employer should do if they have not satisfied the universal availability rules?
Match that increases as participant gets older?
There are no HCEs in this plan. The employer would like to base match on participant's age. The match will actually be greater as the participant gets older. Can we do this?
Plan Termination?
Employer sells assets of company to another entity effective 10/1/2006. Same employer is contracted by purchasing entity to run the company through the end of the year. All payroll will be run through the payroll of the selling company but will be paid for by the purchasing company. Any payment of benefits (premiums) will be handled in the same manner.
Who do these employees belong to? Is this a plan termination now? Or on 1/1/2007. All employees are continuing their employment in exactly same manner as they did on 9/30.
Plan was Safe Harbor Plan. If they notify the employees now of the impending termination and their intent to discontinue the matching contribution what does that do? Obviously the plan is no longer Safe Harbor but do we simply test and move on? Matching contributions are made quarterly and are current.






