Can a union contract establish a 401(a) trust by providing for a lump sum retirement buyout to union employees? The objective would be to gain income averaging treatment on the lump sum distributions (these distributions were made in 1996).

I work for an insurance company the deals with annuities. We have questions from our clients asking if we use the surrender value or accumulation value when doing a Roth Conversion. We have surrerender chares and Market Value adjustments when doing a surrender. Any help on this matter would be appreciated. We have been told to always use accumulation value as of the day the client wants to covert. Example client has an IRA annuity with us. Client sends in request to covert to a Roth. We would look at the accumulation value as of the date of the letter and use that value for reporting and taxing.

Hello,

My name is Mike and I am new to the board. I have been referred to you by 403bwise.com.

My school district is having a buyout this year and we are trying to determine how we can shelter the money for our soon to be retired colleagues. 403 or 457 and we have many questions. To be specific, these are the things we are trying to solve:

1. Our retirees will be getting 4 payments over the next two years.

Is a 457 plan the best way to shelter this money?

2. How does the 457 plan work?

3. How long does it take to set this up?

4. Does the district save FICA if the money is directly deposited? If so, why?

5. Does it work like an annuity, i.e. do you have to "buy"from a specific company?

6. What is a defined group in terms of this type of plan?

7. Give reasons why a person would want the money put directly into a 457.

8. Give reasons why a person would NOT want their money put into a 457.

9. How does a person get the money out of his/her 457? What are the penalties?

Any sort of advice or help would be great. Thanks in advance.

My email is makouri@novi.k12.mi.us

Thanks again,

Mike

A top hat plan uses a rabbi trust to accumulate assets for later distribution. The rabbi trust satisfies the IRS model rabbi trust rules. The plan includes a graded vesting schedule. When a participant's status changes from unvested to partially vested, is the portion of his/her now vested account balance ("bookkeeping account balance") no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture for (1) FICA and FUTA purposes and (2) income tax purposes?

No one seems to know if "becoming vested" is sufficient to eliminate an otherwise applicable substantial risk of forfeiture under Section 83.

If a status change from unvested to partially vested eliminates the substantial risk of forfeiture, how should the plan sponsor handle the future changes from say 20% vested to 40% vested to 60% vested and so on?

Lastly, how is it possible that deferred compensation may be subject to FICA and FUTA tax treatment before such amounts are subject to income tax treatment. If such amounts are only subject to FICA and FUTA tax treatment upon the later of (1) payment or (2) cessation of a substantial risk of forfeiture, then it seems to me that FICA, FUTA and income tax treatment would occur at the same time. Can the plan sponsor, just because it wants to, pay FICA and FUTA earlier than the later of (1) payment or (2) cessation of a substantial risk of forfeiture?

Thanks.

I am planning on purchasing a home this coming month and would like to use my Roth IRA to assist with the downpayment. I have 10% to put down, the roth would be an additional 10% (10,000) to equal 20%.

I opened my Roth in Jan of 99, but made contributions for tax year 98, 99, 00, 01 and partially for 02. My estimate is that my 5 years is up at the end of 2002, correct me if I'm wrong please!

Question #1:

If my above estimate is right, I'd like to take a primary mortgage for 80% the value of the home, a secondary mortgage for 10% (which will be paid in Jan. 2003 when I can take money from my roth ) and put 10K down. Will I be able to withdraw from my roth 8 months after the purchase is complete and use that money to pay off my second mortgage?

Question #2

If I cannot use my Roth in 8 months to pay the second mortgage (which is really the additional 10% down) can I access my roth now if I complete my 2002 contributions?

Any other advice to make this work would help.

Thank You

P.S. After posting this I think I answered my own question. Correct me if I'm wrong. As long as I take distributions from my contributions there is no five year holding rule, and it can be done at any time. If I take from earnings, then the five year rule would apply.

Would anyone have a good sample QMSCO Procedure that they would like to

share

Thanks

If I work for two unrelated companies, each of which has a SIMPLE IRA, am I still limited to $7,000 in total payroll deferrals? I know that the 402(g) limit applies if I participate in a SIMPLE IRA and a traditional 401(k) and that I'd be limited to $11,000, but I can't seem to find anything that specidically addresses the two SIMPLE IRA limit.

I've already filed my 2001 return and received my refund.

I now realize that I should open a Roth IRA account for 2001 because I don't believe I will be eligible to in 2002 because of my expected income this year.

Do I have to file an amendment to my tax return? When I ran the numbers in TurboTax using a planned $1000 contribution to a Roth, I did not see any change to my 1040 return.

Hope someone can help me with this

In reading the definition of Qualifying Plan Assets for purpose of the exemption from the small plan audit requirement, I don't see that contribution receivable is listed as a qualifying asset. Is this correct? Logic would seem to dictate otherwise, but we all know some of these rules aren't driven by logic :confused:

We are in process of rewriting our Health Plan SPD for the new SPD rules among other things

1 of the numerous requirements is to include state laws on hospital lengths of stay for childbirth in addition to the federal NMHPA disclosure.

We have employees in 50 states.

Does anyone have a good state-by-state summary of this or can point me in direction of where I can obtain?

Thanks

I am a fairfax county employee and have requested to borrow against my 457 for a downpayment on a first time purchase of a home. Is there any way that you know of that I can have access to my money and pay it back over time?:confused:

Can a company have both a defined contribution plan, in which a participant contributes $40,000 a year (401k/PS plan) and also have a defined benefit plan (funding for the full 160,000) in the same year? In this case the DB plan is a 412i insurance funded DB plan.

I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Worker Benefit Plans (WBP) is a nationwide multi-employer administration company that serves 6,000 separate employers (in all 50 states) who employ a total of 30,000 employees. There are thousands of payroll systems used by these separately incorporated ¡§franchised¡¨ or ¡§chartered¡¨ employers. WBP invoices the costs for benefit plans (roughly $250 million annually) to these employers.

Membership eligibility is done on a worker by worker, individual by individual basis, including dependents, etc. We provide several plans including health, disability, accident, and a defined benefit retirement plan. We do our own accounting, systems and investment management. We utilize roughly 50 different vendors.

We are searching for a new software system that is web-based and will eventually allow individual cafeteria style enrollment on an annual basis for 30,000 employees (or at least cafeteria style enrollment for 6,000 employers). If you are aware of a comprehensive, single system, or sets of systems that accomplish this, please let me know (see below address).

Also, if you are another national, multi-employer system, please advise. Your help to the Lutheran Church would be most helpful. Many thanks for any help you can provide the church in this Easter season. May God bless you.

Sincerely in His service,

Dan Leeman, JD CEBS

President and CEO

The Lutheran Church„oMissouri Synod

Worker Benefit Plans

1333 S. Kirkwood Road

St. Louis, MO 63122

(314) 996-1700 ¡V Direct Line

Toll Free #: 1-888-927-7526

Email: Dan.Leeman@wbp.org

Question for a knowledgeable soul: What State information must be included in an SPD. Any State information? Depends on the State? Where would I find official guidance on this issue?