I have been retired for about 4 years and would like to start drawing out of my 457 Qualified Deffered Comp. Funded plan on a monthly basis. In completing the form, there is a "spousal consent" section. Unfortunately, my spouse and I disagree as to whether or not to take the funds. Since I earned it, should I not be able to withdraw some of it without spousal consent? It hardly seems fair to have the fund that I comtributed to be held hostage by someone who had nothing to do with its existance. Can I still get the funds without the signature if the plan administrator has signed the application? Is this really LAW or just a way for the fund manager to keep the funds in their account. Can someone advise with sources to back up answers?

Thank you,

Why would a person get a letter from social security letting them know they might be entitled to a pension? And if the company that they mentioned is no longer in business would you know of how they could find out if they are entitled to a pension?

When setting up a New Comparability PS plan using DBRAs to replace a DB plan, and rather than meet the Broadly AVaible GAteway, we will meet the 5% or 1/3 gateway. Can one group receive an allocation of "the greater of the DBRA or 5% of comp" or would each participant receiving the DBRA need to be their own group?? I'm not sure if my question makes sense, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

There should be a simple way to find out the answer to my question, but I haven't found it yet, so am turning to this board for help.

I'm just trying to figure out the estimated cost of filing a Form 5500. I understand that the filing fee may vary, depending on which schedules are required.

But I'm trying to help a client understand the cost ramifications of filing separate Forms 5500 or of doing a wrap plan.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, or provide a ballpark estimate of the filing cost of a Form 5500, I'd be most grateful!!!

Thank you.

Can anyone provide me a valid reason for an attorney nearing retirement age (4 years left or so) with two young attorneys and 3 admin staff members who are all participating in the plan would want to terminate a SARSEP? Said attorney has said he's fairly comfortable where he's at in the retirement plan picture and isn't looking to maximize his contributions and isn't even fully funding the SEP portion.

My first thought was coverage but it's a small firm and turnover is non-existant. Two of last three hires have been the attorneys and they likely won't be hiring any more soon. I'm thinking that short term this plan is pretty darn good.

What about after retirement...When two attorney's are expected to take over the firm. Plan only continues if it's a stock purchase and not an asset purchase, correct?

thoughts?

Can top heavy contributions have a vesting schedule?

I am confused about Discrimination Testing. At my last job we had the employer fill out the Highly Comped and Key Employees Forms that's all - then we ran the test.

At my new job they want us to fill out a ton on of forms. Also if the employer is taking their insurance premiums out pretax and we do not tack them- they are saying that we still need to find out he amounts for that and run tests on those. In addition, they are saying that we have to run the tests at the beginning of the year, middle of the year and at the end of the year.

Can someone please help me!!??

Can anyone clairify an employer's responsibility in communicating the cancellation of a health plan to their employees? I believe there is a specific document or letter to outline the loss of coverage, but can not locate it on the DOL site.

Thanks...

An employer sponsors both a 401(k) plan and an ESOP. A retiree would like to roll the value of his ESOP into his 401(k) account. The 401(k) plan allows for rollovers from 401(a) plans by employees who have met eligibility. Is there anything that prevents this employee from rolling the value of their ESOP account into the 401(k) plan (he won't be actually rolling the stock into the plan, but the cash value of the stock).

How many Roth IRA's can you have?

A participant with a plan loan outstanding terminated employment.

His account balance will be reduced by the amount of the oustanding loan.

Assuming he will not rollover, is the 20% withholding based on the actual account balance plus the amount of the outstanding loan?

Thanks,

Steve

Hello,

I am 67 and haven't drawn any of my IRA. Can I still do a Roth conversion? Can I still do a Roth conversion after age 70-1/2. If so, can it include the required minimum distribution, or only amounts in excess of the required minimum distribution?

I have been looking for a substantial set of IRA and Roth rules on the WWW. Please point me to something that goes beyond the basics.

Thanks for your help.

lhh61

A plan sponsor does not deposit several payrolls of employee deferrals in the 2005 plan year. The error is not found until the beginning of 2006. The Plan Sponsor corrects the late deferrals using the DOL online calculator and is also submitting the VFC forms outlining the correction and well as paying the excise tax on form 5330.

In addition, however, the plan called for safe harbor match contributions to be made on a payroll-by-payroll basis. The safe harbor match for the payrolls in which the deferrals were not deposited was also not deposited. It is my understanding that the safe harbor matching contributions are also late, as they were not deposited by the end of the quarter following the quarter they were allocated.

Do the late safe harbor matching contributions also consititute a prohibited transaction requiring the payment of excise taxes (ie, the match was supposed to be made as of a certain date and was not and therefore becomes a loan to the company)? If yes, does the late match amount get entered on Line 4d of Schedule H and also requires the completion of Schedule G?

Thanks for any guidance.

Is there a statute of limitations applicable to QDROs? I have a client that sponsors a DB plan (and has since the 1970s). In 1989, a participant and his spouse got divorced. The settlement agreement incorporates terms that qualify as a QDRO. The participant later remarried. About 4 years ago, the participant retired and elected a joint and 66-2/3% survivor annuity naming his second wife as the beneficiary. Last week my client received a letter from the participant's first wife along with a copy of the settlement agreement and QDRO dating back to 1989. The first wife now wants part of the participant's benefit.

This is a real mess because the terms of the QDRO anticipate using a separate interest approach, but now that the participant is in pay status, it is impossible to do that (or so it seems to me).

Roughly 16 years have passed between the date of the divorce and presentation of the QDRO to my client's plan. During that 16 years, the participant has remarried and retired. In fact, for the past 4 years the participant has been receiving payments from the plan. Does a QDRO ever become "stale"? Put differently, is there a statute of limitations that runs with respect to QDROs?

One of my colleagues says that this is akin to a claim for benefits and that such a claim is generally subject to state statutes of limitation relating to contract actions (i.e., 6 to 8 years probably). Another colleague tells me that so long as the state court that originally issued the order retained jurisdiction over the order, there really isn't any statute of limitations.

Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts.

We have a 401(k) PSP where each participant has their own earmarked account. One of the participants, who happens to be a plan trustee, wants to invest about 5% of his existing account in silver boullions. Is this a prohibited transaction?

The asset will be purchased with cash from his existing plan account, and the asset will be registered correctly under the name of the trust. The asset will be appraised annually, and will be held in a safe deposit box.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks ;-)

Plan sponsor business closed but owner wants to keep plan in existance. No new contributions to the plan. Is this allowed?

401(k) plan - no match just deferrals, implementing a negative election - 3%. Using top 20% and excluding "otherwise excludable" from ADP test. HCE's do not want to limit their deferrals, a match contribution is not an option and neither is a safe harbor 401k plan.

Anyone have any suggestions or a different 401k plan design that might work?

Thanks.

We have a 401(k) PSP where each participant has their own earmarked account. One of the participants, who happens to be a plan trustee, wants to invest about 5% of his account in silver boullions. Is this a prohibited transaction?

The asset will be purchased with cash from his existing plan account, and the asset will be registered correctly under the name of the trust. The asset will be appraised annually, and will be held in a safe deposit box.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks ;-)

Is it OK to take the distribution fee from the participants acocunt before paying them out or is that an expense the Plan should have to pay? Does anyone else do this?

Would coverage testing ever apply to forfeitures that are reallocated?