Question here guys.

Is there anyway to have a direct deposit of a pay check go in to a Roth. Like say 5% of your earnings get direectly deposited in the Roth.

If so how would i do this?

Brett

Also : How do you guys feel about Charles Schwab?

I have readily seen info on max contribution increases for Roth IRA,401-K plans,Education IRA, etc., but nothing on increase in income limitations for Roth IRA. I see that Edu IRA MAGI phase-outs will increase from 150-160K for Married Filing Jointly to 190-220K. Do Roth IRA income limits increase as well in 2002?

Assume multiple primary bene's (A & b) where an IRA owner dies before RBD.

1. Under the old regs could the bene's make separate MRD elections?

Example, "Bene A" chooses 5 year rule while "Bene B" chooses life expectancy method.

My understanding is that as long as separate accounting is used they could make separate elections. Agree?

2. Is this different under the new regs?

A DRO is received for a participant in a 457(B) deferred compensation plan. The order stipulates that the alternate payee receive 50% of the participant's account balance as of 3/30/99. The plan was converted from another recordkeeper on 7/1/00. The prior recordkeeper will not provide the current recordkeeper with the account balance as of 3/30/99. In addition to that, the account balance at the time of conversion was $250,000. Today it is valued at $85,000. The participant has not taken any distributions. Also, the action for divorce commenced on 3/30/99 and was settled on 10/24/01.

How do we determine the amount due the alternate payee? Do we split the account based on the current account balance? Is there any regulatory guidance on how to split accounts when there has been a decline in the market value?

Does anyone know of a website where one can view the various actuarial tables used in cross-testing, such as UP84 8%?

I have a client who has had a fully insured welfare plan since the early 1980s and it has always had over 100 participants. It turns out that no 5500s were ever filed.

They are very conservative and they'd like to file the delinquent 5500s under the DFVC, but how many years must they file under DFVC. The initial DFVC guidance in 1995 indicated that DFVC was for filings after 1/1/88. Does that mean we need to go back to 1988 and no further, or something less?

If a participant receives a lump sum distribution that includes employer securities and rolls the distribution over to an IRA, I assume they loss the ability to withdraw the securities from the IRA at a later time and postpone any tax on the net unrealized appreciation. Is my understanding correct? If not, can anyone give me a citation for some authoratative guidance.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

I'm looking for some guidance on whether there are any restrictions on buying stocks on margin,

- within a profit-sharing plan?

- within a 401(k) plan?

- within an IRA?

Specific reasoning and/or cites would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hello all,

I am seeking guidance on setting up a profit sharing plan. The Corporation was formed at the end of 2001 and I am the CEO / sole employee. I do have people working for me but 2 are part time (20 hours a week) and one works right around 1500 hours a year (estimated future work time as in the past the hours averaged 20-30 a week). These persons are employed by a leasing company that I contract with.

How can I set things up to exclude the leased employee(s)? I am happy to be creative and just wish to provide for my retirement.

I do have an extremely aggressive plan through the leasing company where I match 25-50% of leased employee contributions. So its not like I'm real cheap.

Can I make it so that I have immediate 100% vesting and have 2 year eligibility for others but am grandfathered in?

I have a brain freeze from all this stuff. Any guidance and or commentary is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Regards

employer has a profit sharing plan. Would like to add a 401k. Is it possible to eliminate the p/s portion by rolling over the balances into the 401k and have this feature only? comments anyone?

Has anyone found a survey that brokedown the most propular employer contribution formula/rates by plan size? I thought I have seen this before, but can not seem to find it. I have a client asking what a typical match formula and profit sharing contribution would be for a plan their size. Any help is appreciated.

JimJ

Would a significant reduction in hours constitute a legitimate change in status?

What is significant?

Would a shift change constitute a legitimate change in status(even if hours are the same)?

If so, what are legitimate shift changes?

Woudl soemone changing from 9-5 to say 7-3 be a legitimate change in status so the ee could reduce dependent care deduction?

I know that if a child goes to school in the fall thereby decreasing the hours needed for daycare that the DOL has kindly accpted this as a legitimate change so ee can reduce their daycare deduction. Please correct me if I am wrong here

Much thanks!

Does anyone have experience with calculating withdrawal liability from a union national pension fund?

Or if there are any resources that could help me?

I am a recruiter trying to develop a wider HR background and get into an HR position which will allow for growth. (I have done well in recruiting, but really enjoy the other aspects of HR and would like to educate myself in order to further my career)

Does anyone have good suggestions on overview books that can give me the basics of the various benefits plans, issues, etc. I plan to go back to school at some point, but right now I need to work on this on my own.

Thanks for your advice! If anyone hears of a recruiting job where I could get my feet wet in these other areas, I would greatly appreciate it (Triad area, NC)

"Earnings" on excess deferrals are required to be taxed in the year of distribution. When the principal amount is taxable in the prior year, and the earnings are negative (losses), how can you report negative earnings on a separate 1099-R? It seems the only solution is to report the net distribution (principal + losses) together on one 1099-R taxable in the prior year.

Would like to see some reactions from CA and non-CA recordkeepers to a new CA law which prohibits many uses of social security numbers effective 7/01/02 (w/ various exceptions).

S.B. 168 adds Confidentiality of Social Security Numbers to the California Civil Code. This new section of the CA Civil Code prohibits any person or entity from using an individual's social security number (SSN) in certain ways, specifically:

"... 5. Printing an individual's SSN on any materials that are mailed to the individual, unless state or federal law requires the SSN to be on the document to be mailed. Notwithstanding this provision, applications and forms sent by mail may include social security numbers...."

The actual bill/law can be viewed at: http://www.sen.ca.gov/

I'm just curious as to the reaction of people who routinely mail a multitude of EB materials to CA participants. THANKS

I am still trying to figure out whether my employer's ERISA 403(B) Thrift Plan (with employer match, 100% vested) permits 90-24 transfers. I have taken some trouble to acquire the full Plan (neither my Benefits Specialist nor the Plan Administrator had it to hand, which tells you something ...) but now I'm left with the task of deciphering its provisions. Let me point out that the insurance company's Plan Administrator is completely unhelpful (presumably he doesn't want me to shift money out of the Plan), and our Benefits Specialist is not knowledgeable enough or interested enough to go out and bat for me.

I'm getting mixed signals. I know one person in our office IS making such transfers every pay period, but I don't know whether he was grandfathered in, or whether he was just lucky that nobody was watching too closely when he arranged this entirely through a third party institution. So my question remains, can I do it or can't I? Is it forbidden, or just discouraged by making it so hard for me to get an unequivocal answer? Hence my scrutiny of the Plan.

Part of my confusion lies in the terminology used.

A whole section deals with "eligible rollover distributions" under which it would appear permissible to make transfers from one 403(B) plan to another. The question is, what makes a rollover distribution "eligible"?

"Transfers" are permitted explicitly between vendors, but no mention is made of asset transfers to another institution which is not on the vendor list. This is what I'm trying to effect.

Another two sections deal with "withdrawals" which seem to require a triggering event (age, disability, termination of service, the usual stuff). But when does a withdrawal become a distribution or an asset transfer -- or vice versa?

________

Here are the relevant provisions:

Section 1.8 WITHDRAWAL RESTRICTIONS

The following withdrawal restrictions will apply in addition to restrictions imposed by Sections 8.3 and 8.4 [hardship]:

A Participant may not withdraw amounts allocated to his EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNTS before he attains 59½ or before he terminates employment with the Employer, unless he is entitled to a Hardship withdrawal pursuant to Section 8.4.

________

Section 8.3 WITHDRAWALS

(a) Requirements

Prior to his Benefit Commencement Date, any Participant may withdraw vested amounts allocated to his Accounts if he makes a written request ... and satisfies the conditions of (1), (2) OR (3) below:

(1) Unless otherwise indicated in Section 1.8, SALARY REDUCTION CONTRIBUTIONS made after 1988 may be withdrawn ... on the following conditions:

(A) attained 59½ of age

(B) disabled

© hardship

(D) terminates employment

(B) and © refer to procedures.

(2) Unless otherwise indicated in Section 1.8 [above], EARNINGS allocated to a Participant's EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNTS after 1988 may be withdrawn ... on the following conditions:

(A) attained 59½ of age

(B) disabled

© terminates employment

© Unless otherwise indicated in Section 1.8 [above], ALL OTHER AMOUNTS allocated to a Participant's Accounts may be withdrawn at any time for any reason. [WHAT OTHER AMOUNTS DO THEY MEAN?]

_________

So how is a withdrawal as described above different from an eligible rollover distribution or trustee-to-trustee transfer if I never actually handle the cash?

Would anybody venture a guess as to whether I can effect a 90-24 transfer from this insurance company TSA to a 403(B)7 at another financial institution? And if so, which funds I could transfer (my contributions, my employers' contributions, earnings, other?)

And if I require my "employer's signature", who would this person be? The President/CEO, the HR Director, my direct supervisor who is a VP? I'm trying to maintain a low profile here!

Thank you for your patience. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Would anyone have a sample claims procedure for an LTD plan they would be willing to share:)

Much thanks

P.S. Do the new claims rules apply to collectively bargainned plans?

1) Does the matching formula on age 50 catch-up contributions have to be the same as the formula on regular deferrals, or can the document define a different match formula for age 50 catch-up than for match on "regular" deferrals?

2) If the match on age 50 catch-up contributions is based on the same formula as the match on the regular deferrals, is the formula applied before or after combining the deferrals? For example, if the formula is 100% of deferrals up to 5% of compensation, and a participant with compensation of $1,000 has $100 in regular deferrals and $100 in age 50 catch-up contributions, is the match on the catch-up contributions zero or $50? Can the plan document define it either way?

3) In a safe-harbor 401(k) plan, are matching contributions on age 50 catch-up contributions subject to the ACP test? If so, how is the ACP test done (include all matching contributions)?

I am getting conflicting definitions of some line items in the FAS 132 exhibit. Can someone tell me what the "Accrued Benefit Liability" is? Is it the greater of the unfunded ABO and the Accrued Pension Cost or is it the Accrued Pension Cost?

Help!:confused: