I never see interest rates mentioned when IRAs are discussed.

Are IRAs and Roth IRAs attached to interest rates, and if so, what is the best way to go about shopping around for the best rate?

Can this rate change through the life of the IRA?

Thanks for any input.

Zelly M.

Can someone please confirm/answer the following for me...

The maximum reimbursement that can be taken under 125 plan is $5,000. If two working spouses each have 125 plans at their respective employers, can each spouse be reimbursed for $5,000 under each separate plan (for a maximum of $10,000 as a taxfiler - 1040)? Or, is the family limited to a reimbursement of $5,000 as a whole?

Example: A married filing joint taxpayer, with both spouses working, has two children in daycare. Costs for both children is approximately $15,000 per year. The reading I have done seems to indicate that only $5,000 of the the $15,000 could be reimbursed through only one of the two 125 plans. Is this correct? Cites either way would be appreciated.

Can anyone advise of a stand alone loan package that prints schedules as well as the notes, ect.? Thanks. JimP

We have a retirement plan where a stock was purchased in the mid 80's for $25,000. This asset was gradually written off over several years. Now we find out a new company has taken over the original company and we will be getting our $25,000 investment back.

My question is - who shares in this income? Current plan participants? Or do we have to look back at the participants in the plan during the years the asset was written off? Or is this something that the plan document should address.

Thanks.

1) If an existing, calendar-year 401(k) plan distributed proper safe harbor 401(k) notices prior to May 1, 2000, and amends the plan to adopt the safe harbor method effective November 1, 2000, does an employee who terminated in September have to receive the safe harbor contribution (the employee met age and service requirements)?

2) If an existing, calendar-year profit sharing plan that did not have a CODA distributed proper safe harbor 401(k) notices prior to September 1, 2000, and amends the plan to add a CODA and adopt the safe harbor method effective October 1, 2000, does an employee who terminated in September have to receive the safe harbor contribution (the employee met age and service requirements)?

Becoming a recognized asset in Corporate America. Pre-Paid Legal Services are being put in place by some very large corporations through employee benefit eligibility. Providing legal coverage to the everyday working stiff.

There is a new trend now which is a small business legal insurance. It is not available in all states yet but any owner of a small business should look into this.

I currently use the EBIA cafeteria plan book as my reference. I can't seem to find a timetable as to when the SPD must be distributed in a "Premium Only Plan". I know that the SPD must be distributed to a FSA or DCAP particpant within 90 days, but don't find it for POP's. Also, what methods of distribution are acceptable..Must you physically give a SPD to each employee?

Plan excludes union employees. Several participants have joined the union. These participants have account balances. On question 7 of the 5500 how should these employees be classified?

I have a client whose bank failed to execute a wire transfer of employer contributions to trustee on tax filing deadline (September 15, 2000). My client submitted the request in a timely manner and followed up with phone calls to the bank. They made a good faith effort, it just didn't get done. Does anyone know whether the constructive payment or agency relationship rules apply to this situation? Is there other basis for deducting the contribution?

Thanks!

I'm looking for information regarding Defined Contribution (specifically 401k) participant education and what's required for educating and enrolling participants who speak languages other than english (let's use Spanish as an example). My understanding is that if enrollment/marketing materials (including fund fact/sizzle sheets) are translated into "Spanish", then you also need to have a Spanish prospectus available. Is this understanding correct for 401k plans? What about other DC plans, 403b? If it is correct, is there any way to educate Spanish speaking individuals and get around the prospectus issue? Because as you know most mutual fund companies do not print prospectuses in other languages (it's way too expensive). Can anyone provide the regs that deal with this (code numbers/names)? Thanks.

I have a client who faxed wire instructions to their financial institution to make a $900,000 profit sharing contribution by the due date of their extended tax return (September 15, 2000). The financial institution failed to execute the wire transfer on the 15th. Instead, the wire was done on the 18th. Does anyone know if this contribution is deductible? I am leaning towards advising my client to deduct the contribution based on the constructive payment and agency relationship rules.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Is it a partial termination if 3 out of 4 participants voluntarily terminate employment? In this particular case, after the mass exodus the employer now has no employees and has not had any compensation for the last 2 years. This is a MPPP and now we have considerable "forfeitures" that can't be allocated because we have no compensation. Seems to me that this may qualify as a partial termination.

I know the case is pretty recent (December 1999)and I know it was discussed at the IF collection policy seminar this month (which I didn't attend), but has any one had any experience arguing on behalf of funds in collection actions using Airconditioning and Refrigeration Industry H&W FUnd v. J.R.D. Mechanical (99 F. Supp. 2d 1115) -- this US District Court case provides that a corporate officer breached his fiduciary duties under ERISA by using employer contributions to pay creditors and was found personally liable. Wow! (In the past, I've relied on the DOL regs regarding employee wage deductions, but never tried to expand it to employer contributions). Any thoughts?

Is there anyone out there who is doing contract administration work from home for a TPA/TPAs? How does this work? How do you get set up? Who provides E and O insurance / software? How is the pay structured? By Plan? By # of participants? Any information or advice anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. [Edited by Pat on 09-20-2000 at 10:15 PM]

Thank you for your quick reply. Another issues has arised: We moved this year and the company add the move to our salaries which possibly put us in the 150,000 - 160,000 AGI. Can we hold off until 2001? We have invested the money and really do not want to sale the stock. What does the recharacterized mean to an regular IRA? We would like to get this resolved because we have extended our filing for 1999 Income Tax until we can get this situation under control.

When does an employee cease to be an "Employee" for plan purposes?

An employee is planning to have their last day of work be Friday, September 29. Saturday, September 30 is the last day of the plan year, and the plan requires a participant to be an "Employee" on the last day of the plan year to get the match. Saturday is not a typical work day for the company. If the plan document defines "Employee" as: a common law employee, does the participant get a match or not? Does it matter if the employee has accrued vacation time as of September 29? Can the Plan Administrator decide how the plan will be interpreted in this situation?

Have other threads discussed this (or similar) issues?

Thanks.

I've just started working with a company that is in the process of implementing a "Purchase Time Off" plan. I've only been exposed to a similar plan one other time & I'm a little concerned about compliance.

I have 2 questions:

1) As currently proposed, the plan allows participants to discontinue their election at any time & be refunded for any contributions made that haven't been used. Isn't this a violation of salary reduction rules (i.e., Section 125)? Aren't the participants obligated to continue contributing for the entire plan year?

2) If an employee terminates after having used the time, but before enough deductions have been taken to cover the cost of the time, payroll will automatically deduct to recover the overpayment from the employee's final paycheck. In most states, signatures are required at the time for non-recurring deductions. Is a signature on the enrollment form good enough to support recovery?

Thanks!

An employee terminated coverage. He was entitled to Medicare at the time of termination. He and his wife enrolled in COBRA. 18 months have passed. But the wife is continuing COBRA for 36 months from the former employee's Medicare entitlement date. She wants to add the former employee to her COBRA plan as a dependent. She claims she should be able to do this under special enrollment, because her spouse has lost health coverage under the plan. Do the COBRA rules require that the former employee (who has exhausted 18 months of COBRA), be allowed back onto the COBRA plan as someone else's dependent? Can a dependent who has Medicare qualify for special enrollment under COBRA?

I know this may not be the correct board for this, but I was trying to target the board most actuaries hit.

Does anyone know where to find information on birth rates or probabilities by age of mother and father? I have found the National Vital Statistics web site to be helpful, but it's not exactly what I need.

What I'm trying to do is determine the probability that an individual has a child within x years. Similar to a mortality table.

For example, what is the probability that a female age 6, has a child in the next 10 years?

Does anyone know where to find information on birth rates or probabilities by age of mother and father? I have found the National Vital Statistics web site to be helpful, but it's not exactly what I need.

What I'm trying to do is determine the probability that an individual has a child within x years. Similar to a mortality table.

For example, what is the probability that a female age 6, has a child in the next 10 years?