I have a strong enough believe in God that the sad and tragic events involving the shuttle are only a reminder how fragile life really is. But God has a pension plan with benefits that are out of this world.

During my ride home from work, Woodie Guthrie's song about the mighty Columbia river kept running through my mind, and how appropriate, may the Columbia forever roll on in our hearts and minds.

Songs make an easy way to remember things, and so the names of the astronauts can be written into that song:

The names of our heroes will always live on

We'll not forget them although they are gone

Husband, McCool, Anderson, Brown

Chawla and Clarke and Ramon

Roll on Columbia Roll on

Roll on Columbia Roll on

Lest we ever forget that dark tragic morn

so roll on Columbia roll on

The shuttle was flying America's best

The challenge of space -it puts us to the test

Somehow we know, their souls are at rest

Its roll on Columbia roll on

If an employer adopts a Simple plan in August, is the match calculated based on earnings for the entire year, or just for earnings on the wages since adopted? Thanks!

Apparently, our College of Medicine Student Assembly has formed a VEBA. The purpose of the VEBA, as I understand it, is for the COM students to have COBRA coverage upon graduation or completion of their fellowship or doctoral studies. The insurance carrier would not offer COBRA through the health plan without a VEBA, since as a state institution we are not subject to ERISA. The students are broken down into three groups - (1) the MD student in the four years of medical schoot, (2) Physican's Assistant students, and (3) Post-doc fellows and PhD students. Groups 1 and 2 have no employment relationship with the University; they are purely students. Group 3, the post-doc fellows and PhD students are employees of the University. The VEBA offers current health insurance coverage, with Groups 1 and 2 paying premiums personally to the VEBA and the premiums for Group 3 being paid by the Univeristy to the VEBA. Form 5500 is being filed by the administrator (an insurance agency).

Two questions:

1. Is filing Form 1024 to gain a 501©(9) exemption necessary for a VEBA that functions merely a pass-through for premiums and does not accumulate assets to pay benefits? In other words, is the 501©(9) exemption necessary (or desirable)?

2. May the VEBA cover Groups 1 and 2?

3. If the answer to 2 is No, then what is the consequence of providing such coverage?

Thanks,

Ken Davis

Univ. of South Alabama

I've got a P.A. client where 2 of the 4 trustees on the P.A.'s PSP and MPPP refuse to sign the amended and restated documents until I show/tell them 1) who/what/why required the plan doc's to be amended and restated and 2) all of the changes required by GUST/EGTRAA. Any idea where I can find IRS language which explicitly states that if plans aren't amended for GUST/EGTRRA by the deadline, then disqualifiaction will result as well as an easily accessible list of the changes brought about by GUST and EGTRRA?? Would any of the IRS rev. proc.'s re restatement have any such disqualification language in them? Also, would the IRS' List of Required Modifications provide what I need? Thanks for the help.

In running the Key Man test, do you include the amounts withheld on a pre-tax basis or the amount of reimbursements received by a key person. Example: Key person was employed from January through April, 2002. She elected to withhold $600 over the course of the year for Health FSA, however only $200 was actually withheld prior to her leaving the company. However, she did submit and receive reimbursement for the full $600. Just trying to determine the correct amount to include in the test.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Client's PSP has age 21/1 yr of svc. req's for eligibility. Entry date is retroactive to the first day of the plan year in which eligibility req's are met. Client now wants to add safe harbor 401(k) provisions to the plan. Client is considering having all e/ee's employed on Mar. 1, 2003 be eligible for the deferral as well as the safe harbor contribution, but Client is unsure as to eligibility req's thereafter. Would it be unreasonable to have the 1 YOS/ age 21 requirements apply across the board? That would seem to be easier administratively speaking. Also, as to entry dates is there a happy medium regarding salary deferrals and safe harbor contributions? What appears to be the most common approach(es) regarding eligibility requirements and entry dates for the PSP, safe harbor and deferrals? thanks for the help.

A participant over 70.5 works 4 - 5 hours per week. A break-in-service is considered less than 500 hours.

Although participant has taken an RMD in the past, she did not take a RMD in 2002. Plan allows active participants to take a distribution one year and defer in another.

With the small amount of hours worked, would she still be considered an active employee for deferring the minimum distribution?

I have an ESOP that was sumbitted for a GUST determination letter as a combined money purchase/stock bonus. ( Post-EGTRRA I "stripped out" the money purchase portion after giving a 204(h) notice). Then the Plan was subsequently terminated. I filed a 5310 on the termination.

I called with regard to the 5310 and the apparent problem is that I still haven't received my GUST letter

I was informed by the GUST screener that they had received guidance that two user fees and two applications were required for combined money purchase/stock bonus plans and that all plans that had not provided multiple user fees were shipped back to Cincinatti. That guidance was subsequently withdrawn, the plans shipped back to screeners but that the screeners still did not know how to go forward.

Has anyone else heard anything similar? I had one combined plan go through without any problem.

I am wondering what is going to happen to 403(B) product vendors if the Bush proposal passes. The write-ups I have seen so far say that ERSAs will be modeled on 401(k) plans. I have not seen any specifics on the funding mechanisms, though.

If taken literally, the 401(k) model would mean that ERSA accounts would no longer be owned by participants, as 403(B) accounts usually are. Therefore, it seems to me, just as the insurance companies lost the 401(k) market in the 1980s, they will lose what is currently the 403(B) market in the coming decade (if not in the coming 6 months!!).

Conversely, if ERSA funding was left flexible so that, say, at the election of the employer, the funding could be EITHER via individual accounts OR via trusteed 401(k)-type funds, there could be open competition not only in the public school and not-for-profit markets, but in the current 401(k) market as well.

As always, the devil is in the details -- and this is no minor devil!! Any insights out there on how this might play out?

We have a PEO whose owner also owns a separate company--the employees of the separate do not work for the PEO--this is not a situation of back office employees. Can the employees of the separate company also adopt the PEO multiple employer plan?

A rabbi trust makes payments to retirees under a nonqualifed deferred compensation plan and prepares W-2's. Do they use the trust's tax ID or the Company's tax ID?

Employee terminated employment in 1988 (25% vested). EE received a lump sum distribution in 1995. Now rehired, and re-terminated.

Refer to IRS Reg. 1.411(a)-7(d)(4). http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfrhtml...26cfrv5_00.html

Last paragraph of subsection (ii) indicates that a distribution due to participation is defined as not later than the close of the second plan year following the plan year or termination of employment. Does that mean that a lump sum paid at a later date voids the conditions given to disregard prior service?

Son owns a company, mother is a participant. Attribution rules apply.

Does the plan need a bond?

Are there any advantages to using a grantor trust or welfare benefit fund rather than a VEBA for a self-insured health plan with "church plan" status that provides benefits to employees of multiple affiliated organizations?

It is my understanding of, when doing a 1/1/02 - 12/31/02 test, a person will be a HCE if they made more than 85k in year 2001. Can someone please confirm this. Some people in my office are claiming it is 90k. Thanks.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated. . . Must a multiemployer annuity fund (money purchase pension plan) be amended to come into compliance with USERRA? If so, what options do the trustees have to choose from in regard to assessing responsiblity for the contributions? In that an annuity fund is not a commingled fund such as a pension fund, can the trustees provide that the plan will assume responsibility for the contributions as a plan expense? Or are the trustees limited choosing between the following options: (a) allocating responsibility to the last employer or (b) allocating responsibility to all contributing employers? One last question: Can the plan and the employer split the cost?

Perhaps I am reading too much into ERISA section 407(a), but I am very concerned . . . .

I was recently informed by the trustee of a DB plan client that its auditors were concerned about the DB plan's trust's investment in a particular stock. The plan is sponsored by a number of companies and the trust holds shares of a related company that, due to some very good years for the stock and bad years for other investments, are about 43% of the value of the trust. I am working on gathering information on all of the companies involved to see if I am dealing with "qualifying employer securities" and the 10% value limitation of ERISA section 407.

However, when reading ERISA section 407, it appears to state that a pension plan may not hold any amount of any security that is not a qualifying employer security as well as forbidding ownership of qualifying employer securities in excess of 10% of total plan asset value.

Does this mean that the only stock a pension plan can own is qualifying employer securities, regardless of the percentage owned? Needless to say, the employers sponsoring the plan do not want to divest the trust of this stock.

Any comments (and citations) would be appreciated!

Does anyone have a sample of a QDRO for a DC plan that they feel is well drafted and unambiguous (if there exists such an animal) that they would be willing to share (via e-mail or fax)?

If so, please post or provide contact info. Thanks!

Can a 3% NEC SH 401k plan have an integrated profit sharing allocation that includes the 3% SH contribution??

A participant has made six months worth of payments on a 30 year mortgage loan and wishes to pay it off. Would the pay-off amount be the principal remaining or the remaining principal plus the all the interest that would have been due during the life of the loan?