I have been advised that a local IRS practitioner hotline told someone in my office that 5500 "items" should now be filed with the IRS Cincinnati office and that this is a new procedure. Has anyone heard about this? I can't find anything to back up a change in filing address for 5500s.

We are currently in the middle of salary reviews for our firm. Does anyone have, or can refer me to, comparative salary data for TPA administrators? We are located in the midwest. I want to pay fairly, but not too much. Thanks.

Is it ever possible to contribute to an ESOP bonds backed by debt instruments held by the employer sponsoring the ESOP?

My admittedly limited understanding is that the definition of qualifying employer securities under ERISA is broader than that under the Code and that the ERISA definition includes debt instruments.

I need some help please. I have a defined contribution plan that is a money purchase plan. They have made their minimum required contribution for the plan year and have so indicated on lines 6a and 6b. They did not make any elections or amendments as described in line 4 and therefore checked the "N/A" box. However, my software is giving me an edit check that lines 6a and 6b should be left blank when line 4 is marked "N/A". Any guidance will be appreciated.

I still haven't thought through all of the details, so there are probably still holes in my logic

Under the new 415 limitations, would it be possible to increase the 401(k) contribution percentage limits in Qualified Plans to 100% of comp? Certainly participants would still be subject to 402(g) limits. Most 401(k) Plan documents limit 401(k) contributions to 15%-25% so that participants will not exceed 415 limits. Since the 415 limit has been increased to 100% for PY 2002, is there a reason why the 401(k) deferral limit in the Plan Doc couldn’t be raised to 100%?

EGTRRA changed the rules to allow rollovers from 457 plans. Is this effective for all distributions after 12/31/01, or for distributions during the first plan year beginning in 2002, or when is the provision effective? (I am not very familiar with 457 plans - are there 457 plans with non-calendar year plan years?)

If the distribution occurs 12/1/01, could the participant wait until after 12/31/01 and then roll over the amount received on 12/1/01?

1-person plan sponsor wants to invest plan assets in New Zealand real estate. This appears to be prohibited under ERISA regs 2550.404b-1, since it must be within the reach of US courts, but this is not an ERISA plan. Does the IRS prohibit this type of foreign investment?

I have an LLC owned by 4 individuals one of whom is less than a 5% S/H. 3 of the S/Hs (including the less than 5% S/H) do not draw a salary but are paid consulting fees (1099).

Effective 1/1/01 the LLC established a 401(k) to cover one more than 5% S/H who draws a salary and 8 other EEs.

The 3 other S/Hs have set up SEPs and plan to make 2001 contributions based, in part, on their consulting income from the LLC (they also have other 1099 income from other sources).

Am I correct in saying the 4 plans are mandatorily aggregated for 2001 although 3 of the plans are not 401 plans?

How do we handle the ADP and ACP testing since the 3 SEPS are not SARSEPs or SIMPLEs?

It appears we have a problem with only the 3 S/Hs receiving the maximum non matching contribution and everyone else receiving only a very modest match.

If a qualified plan participant died several years ago, and the beneficiary this year has a RMD for the first time (participant would have had RMD now if he had lived), does the beneficiary determine the Required Minimum Distribution under the old rules or under the 2001 proposed regs?

How late in the calendar year can an employer establish a SIMPLE-IRA plan, considering the 60 day notice requirement and the requirement that a SIMPLE plan can only be effective between Jan 1 and Oct 1??

This has been asked before by others, but with no responses, so I'll take another shot at it:

Can a safe harbor match or nonelective contribution be made in employer stock instead of cash? I could find nothing precluding it.

Any guidance appreciated. Thanks,

Medusa

Does anyone know what a "funded market recovery plan" is ? Thank you.

Sponsor of top heavy 401(k) plan amended its plan to accelerate entry for salary deferral purposes only to 90 days after date employed. One year of service still required for profit sharing eligibility. Client ( a law firm) refuses to believe that those who meet the 90-day requirement for eligibility for the salary deferral portion of the plan but don't have 1 year of service still get the 3% top heavy minimum since key employees are deferring 3% or more. I am looking for as much written documentation as I can find to give this client to support our position.

I have a partnership where the partners charge the fees against their individual accounts or pay the fee personally because they all have different balances. The individual partners who pay their fee personally are taking the deduction as fee for investment management which is subject to the 2% floor on the Schedule A of form 1040.

The partnership pays the fee for the non-partners.

Can anyone tell me if the partnership paid the expenses for all participant, could the fees be allocated as business expenses to the individual partners for there proportionate share?

If this can be done, it would reduce the amount of self-employment income and therefore reduce the self-employment tax the partners pay.

Veteran Pillsbury spokesman, The Pillsbury Doughboy, died yesterday of a severe yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes to the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a slightly greased coffin.

Dozens of celebrities turned out, including Mrs. Butterworth, the California Raisins, Hungry Jack, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, Captain Crunch, and many others. The graveside was piled high in flours as longtime friend Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy, describing Doughboy as a man who "never knew how much he was kneaded".

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with many turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Still, even as a crusty old man, he was a roll model to millions.

Doughboy is survived by his second wife, Play Dough. They have two children and one in the oven. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about twenty minutes.

1. An actuary is a place where they bury dead actors.

2. An actuary is a person who passes as an expert on the basis of a prolific ability to produce an infinite variety of incomprehensive figures calculated with micrometric precision from the vaguest of assumptions based on debatable evidence from inconclusive data derived by persons of questionable reliability for the sole purpose of confusing an already hopelessly befuddled group of persons who never read the statistics anyway.

3. What did God say when he created Actuaries? He scratched his head and said, "Go figure!" They took him literally.

4. An Actuary is someone who'd rather be completely wrong than approximately right.

5. A lawyer, an accountant and an actuary are arguing over whether it is better to have a spouse or an unmarried lover. The lawyer says a lover because it's legally easier to disentangle yourself from a lover. The accountant says a spouse because you can get a tax deduction with a spouse. The actuary says it's better to have both because you can lie to each of them, telling each of them that you're with the other, and then go the office to do some work.

6. What do actuaries use as contraceptives?? Their personality.

7. And then there was the actuary who was so dull, the other actuaries noticed.

8. Definition of a CPA: Can't Pass Actuarial exams.

9. What is the difference between God and an Actuary? God doesn't think he's an Actuary.

10. How many actuaries does it take to change a light bulb? How many did it take last year.

11. "I once told an actuary to go to the end of the line. He came back five minutes later and said that he couldn't because someone else was already there."

12. When a marketing officer asked an actuary why he recommended selling more life insurance to 98 year olds, the actuary replied, "According to our tables, very few of them die each year."

13. What do you call an actuary who is talking to someone? Popular.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And Satan said, "It doesn't get any better than this."

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit," and God saw that it was good. And Satan said, "There goes the neighborhood."

And God said, "Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." And so God created Man in his own image; male and female created. And God looked upon Man and Woman and saw that they were lean and fit. And Satan said, "I know how I can get back into this game."

And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. And Satan created McDonald's. And McDonald's brought forth the 99-cent double cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?" And Man said, "Supersize them." And Man gained 5 pounds.

And God created the healthful yogurt, that Woman might keep her figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth chocolate. And Woman gained 5 pounds.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad." And Satan brought forth Ben & Jerry's. And Woman gained 10 pounds.

And God said, "I have sent thee heart-healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them." And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained 10 pounds and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds. And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And Man gained another 20 pounds.

And God said, "You are running up the score, Satan." And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And he created sour cream dip also.

And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol. And Satan saw and said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest. And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

And Satan created HMOs.

Hi! I am trying to do DFE filing for Master Trust. Any ideas where there is an information website that gives EIN #s for Investment Funds.

Anyone know the EIN # for Putnam International Trust Fund and/or Wells Fargo Tilted US Tactical Asset.

I am currently living in my first home.. I didn't use myIRA to purchase it... I've purchase some land and am planning on building my new home on it... I will sell this current home and use the equity to go towards the construction loan for the new home...

I am also considering using one of my IRA accounts to help bring down my mortgage payments. I will use this money to pay for the fence surrounding the property and a few other things. The property is five acres...

My questions are:

Will I be penalized for withdrawing the money?

Will I have to pay taxes on the money???

The way that I figure it... If I can use it to lower my motgage payments, I will save a lot on the interest in those payments...

Kind of like, using money from your savings account to pay off a credit card, instead of making those monthly credit card payments, only to keep earning 3.4% off your savings account...

Please give your input..

Thanks!

S. Wilson

Per te EBIA ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans guidebook, mega-wrap or umbrella plan documents combining a variety of welfare plans (permitting one 5500 filing in lieu of several) are supposed to be adopted prospectively only. Does this mean the plan must be in place as of the first day of the plan year for which combined reporting will occur, or is it still prospective if adoption occurs anytime during that year, and is retroactive to the first day of the plan year?