Hello. It is very new to me to be working with 403(b) plans, so I am hoping this is an easy question. I am running the ACP test for a 403(b) plan. There is a terminated employee (HCE) in the plan who should be in the test. If I leave his termination date in our system, he is excluded from the test. If I delete his termination date from the system, he is included in the test. Needless to say, I would like him in the test.

Should terminees be excluded from the ACP test? Is there somewhere I could look for this answer?

Thank you!

I have a situation where the participant recently died. She had a 401(k) and an interest in a life insurance plan through her employer. At the time of her death she was common law married to a man whom the employer/administrator was unaware. Therefore, at the participant's death, the benefits were paid to the beneficiary, her children from a previous marriage. My question is, does the administrator have any liability? What rightes does the common law surviving spouse have. Remember he did not consent to the other beneficiaries. Also, is a life insurance plan covered by the spousal consent rules? I do not beleive that it would be.

Are all Section 125 plans subject to ERISA?

We have a letter from the TPA regarding stale reimbursement checks and the way the returned funds are to be handled depends on whether or not ERISA applies to the plan.

A DB plan sponsor reduced the plan's mandatory cash-out amount from $5,000 to $1,000 effective March 28, 2005. It did so at the time for a number of reasons including (1) it was unclear what the fiduciary obligations were with respect to amounts between $1,000 and $5,000 that were transferred to an IRA and (2) it was unclear whether there would be any such IRA providers. Now that both of those two issues have been resolved, the plan sponsor wants to increase the mandatory cash-out amount from $1,000 back to $5,000. Can the cash-out limit be increased by to $5,000 without violating 411(d)(6)'s anti-cutback rule (in the sense that participants may no longer be able to elect payment of their benefit in the $1,000 to $5,000 range as an annuity)? Thanks!

If a client is looking to give a more guaranteed contribution to their employees, what affect does writing into a profit sharing document that the contribution will be 10% of pay?

Typically you would just list it as discretionary and then allocate an amount that would equal 10% of pay. If the document actually dictated that the allocation would be 10% of pay, and then the client did not contribute 10% of pay what are the consequences? Are you in effect creating a Money Purchase Plan subject to minimum funding if you write in the 10% of pay?

You can ammend a plan within the couple months after the plan year, but when MPP were a little more common, we would tell employers that once someone worked the 1000 requirement they were entitled to the contribution. So you couldn't really change a MPP formula past mid year.

I am trying to determine the difference between a Profit Sharing plan with the contribution fomula written into the document and a Money Purchase Plan.

A single employer sponsors our 5 401k/PS plans that co-invest their assets in privately managed portfolios that are custodied by a banking institution. It is clear to me how file the 5500 for the MT and the plans with regards to these investments.

However, these plans also co-invest their assets in a mutual fund, two money market funds, and an ETF custodied not at the bank, but at the mutual fund's sponsoring the investment. For these assets, do I include or exclude them as part of the MT filing. If excluded, then am I correct in assuming that I then have to report each plan's interest in these investments on each plan's corresponding line on schedule H?

Thank you in advance.

Need a copy of the industry classifications published by the IRS in Rev. Proc. 91-64, 1991-2 C.B. 866.

Rev Procs available on the IRS website only date back to 2000. Tried calling the IRS..."Due to high call volumes, we cannot answer your call at this time...." Have Googled the heck out of it and produced nothing. Any ideas? Thanks.

Are prevailing wage contributions included in the determination of the 25% deductible limit under 404(a)?

For a 6/30 Plan Year End 401(k) plan with a failed ADP test, do EEs that terminated prior to 6/30/2006 receive a QNEC as part of the test correction process? Thanx.

Does anyone know what these plans are and if they are rollable into an IRA?

We administer a 401k plan and currently offer Merrill Lynch mutual funds as an investment option to all participants. All participants who currently maintain the Merrill Lynch self-directed accounts are HCE. Would it be considered discriminatory under Reg. 1.401(a)(4) if we were to add a condition that as of a certain date only participants who currently maintain Merrill Lynch accounts will be permitted to make future contributions to these accounts?

i cant determine whether 409A will allow a participant who receives restricted stock with say a 4yr vest (passage of time, cliff vesting) to elect to defer that stock into the SERP (nonqual salary deferral plan) with 1 year or more of vesting left on the restricted stock. the only exception from the initial deferral rules that could work but doesnt is the one for unexpected compensation rec'd that is subject to continued employment for at least 12 mos. problem is that the restricted stock grant is not unexpected and in fact will have been made 3 yrs prior to its deferral. it seems like this should be able to work under constructive receipt principles but i cant get there under 409A. HELP!

Can a welfare plan amendment have an retroactive effective date? For example, can we sign an amendment today and state that the effective date of the amendment is 1/1/06? I know we can for retirement plans but wasn't sure about welfare plans. Thanks in advance!

What are the penalties for failing to file a Summary Annual Report and Summary of Material Modifications within the prescribed timelines?

Hello,

I have recently completed my Certified Retirement Counselor desigination from the International Foundation of Retirement Education (InFRE) USA. I am a qualified Superannuation/Retirement researcher in Australia and I am keen to learn more about the ASPPA qualifiactions and where I can obtain them; as I wish to broaden my chances in applying for work in the USA within the retirement industry,

Any information would be much appreciated.

Pepe.

When Revenue Procedure 2006-27 (revised EPCRS) was issued earlier this year, I rushed right out and printed myself a copy. The version that I have on file indicates that the $375 reduced fee for streamlined non-amender filings is "for each year of the failure." The version currently on the IRS website does not include this language. Does anyone know if technical corrections were issued to the Rev. Proc.?

Anyone know of some vendors that provide fund fact sheets for participant communication? I only know of Morningstar's Principia product. Any others out there?

On another message board, someone mentioned that a multiple employer 401(k) plan might be subject to securities registration because the exemption for 401(k) plans wouldn't apply. They referred to a thread on this forum, but the thread is no longer available. Can someone please explain to me what securities law problems a multiple employer 401(k) plan might have?

We have an employee who has underspent her FSA account. We have to offer her COBRA, what would the benefit be for her to elect COBRA if she is making the contributions with after tax dollars ?

At the end of the year, can she claim the after tax contributions on her taxes and get some "credit" back ?

I am worried that the only benefit she would have is coming out financially ahead at the end of the year. As in, she elects to continue coverage through COBRA, never makes a payment before we reimburse a large claim and then stops coverage.

Any guidance would be helpful. We need to get her election form out soon.

An eligible employee (plan doc states that employee's are eligible to join the 401(k) plan after one hour of service) wants to roll his 401(k) from a previous employer into his current employers plan. However, enrollment dates for the current plan are Jan 1 and July 1. Can this employee set up the rollover account now, prior to the actual enrollment date of Jan 1?