:confused:

Company X has about 500,000 "representatives" (most all incorporated) of which about 30,000 participate in a thrift plan effective 1/1/01.

How does Company X complete Form 5500?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I hope someone can help me with the following:

Scenario: A small group in Oklahoma has a Medical Reimbursement account through section 125. An employee makes claims for and is paid the balance of his account early in the plan year and then terminates employment. The employer is unable to payroll deduct the remaining contributions and is out of pocket the “at risk amount”. Later in the same plan year, the terminated employee is re-hired.

Question: Can the employer resume payroll deductions? Additionally, can the employer increase the deduction amount though the remainder of the plan year in order to recoup the full amount that was lost?

I appreciate any help you can give me.

To obtain the maximum lump sum under 415, what rate do I use.

I have an EOY val, plan year 3/1/2000 - 2/28/2001.

The way I understand it, I should be using the GATT rate in effect as of the first lookback month (which I am thinking is 6.23% the February 2000 rate).

My firm offers the option of contributing to our 401k on either a pre-tax or post tax basis (they match 25% of the first 6% of contributions). I'm 24, and willing to take certain investment risks. I haven't found, however, postings relating to the advisability of investing pre-tax vs. post. It's my understanding that pre-tax offers an investment tax shelter; however, must I still pay tax yearly on investment income on this money, or is it deferred? Is a post-tax 401k investment like a Roth IRA in the sense that all income is deferred? I realize that this is a somewhat individualistic question, but does one option make more sense than the other?

Thanks.

I need advice on the wisdom of opening a second Roth account. I opened my first Roth the year they became available and that account is with a personal advisor.

I also have money in a Fidelity Brokerage account (401K Rollover) and would like to keep this money separate from the money I have with the advisor. My desire is to move funds from the regular IRA Rollover to a Roth account while stock prices are low so I pay less tax. Will the new Roth account be governed by the same rules or has something been "grandfathered" to earlier accounts that will be lost to a new account? I am 51 years old so the 5 year time limit isn't a concern at this point.

Thank you for your help.

kks

QUICK HISTORY: i am the owner of a small business with 35 employees. july of 2000 i began a new 401k plan for my employees with the intent of "rolling over" the existing plan into the new plan.

the new 401k plan, to my dismay, could not accept the "after tax" contributions for the two plans were not considered "like plans" by the IRS

the "easiest" way out of the old plan was to "terminate" the plan seeking approval from the irs...boy was i wrong.

here we are over one year later, and my first pension plan still has not released the funds on deposit with them, saying they are awaiting the "determination letter" from the irs.

THE KRUX OF THE MATTER: back in july of 2000,when the plan was to "rollover into the new 401k", i was given the choice to leave the money invested in the plan, or to put all the funds into a fixed return "money market type account." given the turbulence of the market, i chose the latter, the original pension plan complied and did just that.

in december of 2000, when i had my hand forced due to the time frame and cicumstances, i informed my original pension plan that since the "easiest" way out for me was to "terminate" the plan...i did just that and the required forms were sent to the irs.

so, for the period of july 1, 2000 - september 30, 2000 the all of the funds were invested in a "fixed income" money market account.

THE SUPRISE: less than one week ago today, because a former employee made an inquiry with the original pension plan, i was informed that the funds did not remain on deposit in a "fixed" interest account, but because of the termination proceeding that began in 12/2000, the funds were deposited back into the general stock account to share in the obvious losses suffered by most segments of the market during the period 10/1/00-6/30/00. i was never informed of this investment change by anyone at the original pension plan.

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: can this be right? were they allowed to do this? i can't believe that this is happening, and i have run out of people to talk to at the old pension plan. they just tell me, "that's the way it is. period."

thanks in advance for any insight that anyone can provide me with.

If a non-U.S. citizen owns a U.S. corporation that sponsors a qualified plan it appears that he cannot be the plan's trustee. It seems that he should either get a U.S. financial institution/TPA that offers trustee services or appoint a U.S. citizen (or group of) to be trustees. Are there any other options? It's been suggested that the U.S. corporation be a trustee, but with the sole owner not being a U.S. citizen it appears to cause the same original problem.

IS THERE A SIZE AT WHICH INSURED HEALTH PLANS MUST BEGIN TO FILE 5500'S? THANKS

Any suggestions for a company that does not know if they've filed 5500s for their welfare plan in the past 2 years?

The company has had tremendous turnover and simply does not know (cannot find any copies) whether or not 5500s have been filed. Prior to 1998, they were under 100 lives, fully insured with no fringe benefit plan. It was not until 1998 that they ever would have needed to file.

Any thoughts?

May a defined contribution plan eliminate its early retirement provision? Is it possible under some circumstances and not in others?

If an ERISA plan states that parents have 30 days to enroll a newborn under the Newborns' and Mother's Health Protection Act, is the newborn automatically covered for the first 29 days if he/she is not enrolled in the plan?

I am finding out that a lot of my clients are filing for extensions this year. Since this is only my second year in the 5500 world, and last year not providing a comparison point because of the automatic extension, what is the "typical" filing pattern in a "normal" year?

Many of my clients are Large plan filers, so I'm hoping this is a normal occurrance. Also, many seem to be waiting until the last possible moment to file Form 5558. Is this typical???

Client opened 2 different Roth IRAs and put $2,000 in each. Is there a penalty? What does he need to do?

Thanks to BPicker for your reply. The IRS

stated to me over the phone that I have

to pay the 10% penalty on the $2,000 contribution

I made to my Roth in 1998. So who is right,

you or them? They quoted some rules in

their Pub. 590 which state that conversions

*and* contributions are subject to the 10%

levy. Is there some other rule their

rep was not aware of?

thx,

Earl Baker

An employee of "Company A" who is on extended workers compensation leave is paying his portion of group health insurance with after tax money. Company A is continuing to subsidize its portion of coverage.

Employee's spouse has lost job with Company B and employee wants to add her as a dependent to his plan, in lieu of her selecting COBRA with Company B.

Can Company A require its employee to pay the full portion of dependent coverage for his spouse (no employer subsidy)? I am presuming there is no way to force the spouse to elect COBRA coverage.

I'm running the ABT and, in the classification portion, have a Rate Group Ratio EQUAL to the Employer's Plan Ratio Percent (which is the lesser of Plan and Safe/Unsafe Midpoint).

The end result is that Quantech says the test FAILS. It passes the Average Benefits Percentage portion of the test.

Is this correct? If so, do you have any ideas what I am overlooking?

Thanks.

Hi (I am a first-timer, can you tell?) I know the economy is slow now but I would like to advocate for a technology reimbursement program at my company. Do any of you know of such programs in other organizations and if so, what is involved? I know a large healthcare company had one as of a couple years ago. In order to improve employees' computer skills and keep them current/ahead, the company would reimburse the employee $500.00 for any of their technology purchases on an annual basis.

Thanks for your thoughts and experiences in advance.

(unknown author)

Count Your Blessings

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death ... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder ... you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

We have a takeover plan that has 2 owners (husband 51% and wife 49%), the daughter of the owners and a handful of other non-highly compensated employees. The cross tested allocation formula indicates 2 groups of classes - A & B. Class A is the non-shareholder employees and Class B is the shareholders of the company. My question is this: is the daughter considered a shareholder (Class b) for purposes of the allocation even though she doesn't directly own any of the stock of the company? I know for purposes of key employee and HCE, the stock is attributed to her, but what is the case for an allocation? She is the youngest employee with the company, so it will really make a big difference what Class she should be included in.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

We have the safe harbor rules for withdrawals in our 401(k). I'm looking for an definition of "medical expenses" -- what qualfies? :confused:

We have an employee that's looking to take a withdrawal for cosmetic surgery, and while I feel that probably doesn't qualify, I'd like to be able to back it up.