In a 401(k), assume there is an April 1 Entry date.

What is the "official" interpretation of which payroll contributions must commence? Is it the first payment after the entry date, or the first payment for a pay period ended after the Entry Date? Consider three scenarios:

A) Payment on April 2 for the week ended March 26th.

B) Payment on April 9 for the week ended April 2nd.

C) Payment on April 16 for the week ended April 9th.

For which pay period must deferrals commence? If scenario B, would deferrals only be calculated for the service days after the entry date (i.e. April 1st & 2nd).

Any references to guidance would be appreciated.

ERISA requires the administrator to provide an annual SAR to each participant and to beneficiaries receiving benefits under the plan. ERISA section 3(7) defines participant as any employee or former employee of an employer ... who is or may become eligible to receive a benefit of any type from an employer benefit plan ...

So active participants and term deferred participants will receive the SAR. If a former participant is terminated and receiving a benefit paid from the plan's trust, does that individual get a SAR?

Thanks.

Can PBGC premiums be paid from plan assets?

If a couple was divorced and then remarried, can a QDRO established during the divorce be reversed if all the assets have remained in the company plan?

Interesting question came up. We have a client (actually former client - we cancelled our contract with them because they would never get us data on time) who is moving their administration to a bank.

According to them, the reason they are moving the admin and assets to the bank is that the employer is taking out a business loan, and the bank will give them a better loan rate if pension admin and assets are with the bank.

In case this ever comes up with a client we want to keep, I'd appreciate opinions on this. It certainly seems like a prohibited transaction to me, and I can't locate a PTE that seems to allow it. Any thoughts? (take this with a grain of salt anyway - this client is a bonehead, and may well be misunderstanding what the bank said or is doing.)

Thanks.

Is a 5310-A needed if a participant makes an elective transfer under either regulation Section 1.411(d)(4) Q and A 3, or Code Section 411(d)(6)(D)?

If a plan makes a plan to plan transfer of one account to another plan, are both plans required to file a form 5310-A?

I'm trying to research the prevalence of Pre-X clauses in Disability plans. Those of you who are consultants, can you shed any light on current trends? Any replies appreciated!

I'll be attending the conference for the first time and am curious as to what to expect. I found the feedback on the 2002 conference, but it was held at the Hyatt then. I believe this will be the second year for it being at the Hilton.

For those who attended last year, how were the facilities?

The internet cafe that's set up in the exhibit hall, is it difficult to get time at one of the stations? I considered bringing my laptop for email, etc., but am concerned about it being stolen from the room.

How are the session rooms set up? Is it set up classroom style?

The dress code is described as casual. Are khakis fairly prevalent? What about at the receptions?

Thanks in advance for any information provided.

Rhonda

Does anyone have experience integrating the Schwab Tools link into the new version of Relius? The have changed the entire architecture from ASP to ASP.NET and we are a little lost. Any suggestions or guidance would be appreciated.

For a 401(k) plan, I know that the term "participant" generally includes anyone who's eligible to make elective deferrals under the plan. An individual who chooses not to defer income and, therefore, may not have an account balance, is a nonetheless a participant.

Does this expansive definition also apply to the Sec. 404 limit? For example, Jack and Jill each have $100,000 compensation and are eligible for coverage under their employer's 401(k) plan. Jack makes elective deferrals, but Jill chooses not to do so and has no account balance. Is $50,000 (25% x $200,000) the Sec. 404 limit? Does an employer get some "wiggle room" on the Sec. 404 calculation when eligible employees decide not to participate in the 401(k) plan?

We have received a QMCSO. It follows the model notice provided for in the regulations under ERISA 609. My only question is as of what date do we enroll the dependent child? Just with the next payroll? Or do we do it retroactive to the date of the notice (is that even permissible?) I have looked and even under the model in the regulations, there is no space to specify when coverage is to begin, so I assume coverage begins as of the earliest time we can enroll the dependent, is this correct? Any guidance/help will be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you

We have received a QMCSO. It follows the model notice provided for in the regulations under ERISA 609. My only question is as of what date do we enroll the dependent child? Just with the next payroll? Or do we do it retroactive to the date of the notice (is that even permissible?) I have looked and even under the model in the regulations, there is no space to specify when coverage is to begin, so I assume coverage begins as of the earliest time we can enroll the dependent, is this correct? Any guidance/help will be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you

I have a situation where a grandfathered benefit under a DB plan may be paid out as a lump sum. I understand that participant consent (and spousal consent) are required if the value of the nonforfeitable accrued benefit (grandfathered plus future benefit accruals) is over the mandatory small benefit cash out limit (say 5,000). So what if the value of the benefit is 6,000, of which 4,000 is the grandfathered piece. Should the plan be able to cash out the addtional 2,000 to the participant even though the plan does not allow voluntary lump sums on that piece? Since participant and spousal consent was obtained for the grandfathered piece-it would make sense to do so because the residual value is less than 5,000.--but the problem I'm having is that there is no lump sum option under the plan, except for the grandfathered benefit.

Thanks for your help.

This may seem like a fairly elementary question, but this is the first time I've ever had to deal with anything like this. We just found out that for the last year and 8 months an employee who was supposed to have 10% of his pay contributed to our 401(k) was accidentally omitted from our system. How do we deal with this issue? Most places I've read seem to point to the fact that we basically have to fund the money we didn't take out of his pay into his 401(k) account (approx $6,000). I would assume that we would at least have to have our trustee calculate what he would have earned on that money over the life of the term had it been invested and we would have to pay that, but would we truly have to pay his entire nondeducted contributions? It amazes me that this employee never noticed that 10% of his pay wasn't deducted every paycheck. I know this is our fault that someone didn't enter his information correctly in our payroll system, but does any responsibility fall on the employee? In essence, if we have to pay back the contributions the employee would be getting a $6,000 bonus, and that doesn't seem right. Does anyone have any advice as to what we shoud do to correct this problem? Thanks!

A client of ours is terminating their 401(h) plan, and they are not sure how to pay everyone out, in other words, must the assets be left in the plan until participants have incurred medical expenses, or can the money be forced out?

Today, an employee approached us stating that he recently found out that he's the father of a 3 year-old and he wants to add her to our group health plan.

This isn't a birth or adoption, so I don't think this would be considered a special enrollment opportunity under HIPAA, but it may be a change in the number of dependents and we could sneak it in under the revised CIS rules.

Does anyone have any advice on whether we should allow this or not? If so, what would you require for documentation - an affidavit?

Hi,

I had a question about a potentioal prohibited transaction. If an investment advisor were to provide their employees a retirement plan, would making themselves the broker of record and therefore receiving comissions be considered a prohibited transaction?

Thanks

An Employer has a couple of small welfare plans for which no 5500s have ever been filed because the number of participants have not been counted correctly. There have been (a little) over 100 eligibe employees for several years. The plans are being updated effective 1/1/05.

I am weighing the pros and cons of recommending correction for prior years vs. relying on the past "good faith" method of counting participants and just file going forward, as of the new 1/1/05 effective date. (The definitions of participant will be changing slightly in the restatement so it seems like a good "clean slate" to start with.) Any thoughts??

CFP asked me (told me he read a news-letter or was told by someone) if a person can establish a plan and rollover balances from other plans and IRAs to the new plan. There will no be any deferrals (because there is no compensation) or employer contributions. He wants to know if it can be done so he can solely roll other monies into it like IRAs or other QP accounts..

What is the ruling?... do plans have to receive active deferrals and or employer contributions?

Have a client that wants us to give him the pros & cons on default investments. Using a Money Market account versus a balanced or lifestyle investment funds in lieu of investment direction. Does anyone have anything on this issue? Would be greatly appreicated.