Are plan loans subject to Article 9 of the UCC? Does it matter if the plan is a Title I ERISA plan or not? Cites would be helpful. Thanks.

Are 403(B) plans subject to Article 9 of the UCC? Is the answer the same if the 403(B) is a Title I plan or not a Title I plan? Cites would be helpful. Thanks.

Say a person retires from a company, but he first worked for one company and that company was merged into another company and then that merged company was again merged into yet another company. Finally when he retires his pension is based on a frozen benefit from both the first and the second companies and an additional portion from the company he retired from. He retires at age 58. The plan states that his early ret factor for the frozen pensions s/b no less than what it would have been under the prior plans.

Is it reasonable to use the factor from the company he retired from for the prior frozen benefits as well (it happens to of course be a higher factor)?

There is nothing in plan that is specific, except for the fact that it protects the prior plan factors.

Any thoughts, observations?

Look at it from the angle of the plan participant or from an objective angle (if possible).

Gary.

If "A" is a related employer who wants to withdraw from a defined benefit plan maintained by "A" and other related employers, would "A"'s withdrawal be considered a plan termination with respect to "A"'s employees?

We know that it is not considered a plan termination for the group, and we know we need to look at possible partial termination issues for the plan, but our question is, if "A" withdraws from the plan do "A"'s employees have to be 100% vested?

Thanks

When amending a Form 5500 do you

1. Refile the Form, all attachments (Schedule A, C, SSA, etc.) and Schedule P; or

2. File the Form, all attachments (Schedule A, C, SSA, etc.) without Schedule P; or

3. File the Form and only those attachments (Schedule A, C, SSA, etc.) that have changes?

Assume there are no changes to the Schedule P that was filed with the original return.

Thanks

Can stock options qualify as porperty for the purposes of section 3121(v) if distributed from nonqualified plan.

I have a cross-tested plan using two rate groups: Owners and all other employees. Standard language is used in the plan document. The SPD simply says that the Employer's contribution is set by the Employer each year. Is this sufficient, or should the classes be set forth in the SPD. If not, can two SPD's be used, one for owners and one for nonowners? Thanks.

Say somenone receives a lump sum of 50,000 at 1/1/99. and on 1/1/2000 they discover they s/ have received 70,000. As a result the person is given an extra 20,000 plus interest from the original time of payment. What is a reasonable interest to credit the makeup payment from 1/1/99 to 1/1/2000 (i.e. the date the makeup payment is made)? Since lump sums can be computed using variable rates of interest.

Are participants in 401k plans entitled to the rights under ERISA 104(B) as pension participants? That is can they request all plan documents of the Plan?

And how does an individual review their account balance to ensure that it is accurate, when they leave or during employment?

I am looking for a Web site where I could download the proposed regulations addressing the standards under which a cafeteria plan may permit a participant to change his or her group health coverage election during a period of coverage.

There are two areas regarding rollovers to qualified plans (not IRA's) that I would like some opinions.

First, if "plan A" does a Direct Rollover to a former employee's new plan (plan b) and plan B turns out not to be qualified, what are the penalities (if any) to the Trustee of plan A?

Second, what types of steps are taken before a rollover such as this are made? Do you require a copy of an IRS determination letter? Simply a letter from the recipient plan stating that it is qualified? Or nothing at all?

Any input would be appreciated.

Does anyone have a good method for tracking the death of retired particiants receiving annuity or periodic payments? For instance, if the spouse of a former participant receiving a 50% survivor annuity doesn't notify the payor, either through neglect or design, the higher benefit could be paid for some time. Thanks.

We have a client who has turned in a reimbursement request for some claims. She sent in cancelled checks as the documentation showing she had the work done. I wrote her and told her that we cannont accept cancelled checks and she needed to submit the actual doctor bills or the EOB's she receives from us. She called and said she had filed for bankruptcy and did not have any of the bills. We are at the end of our run-out period and I still have not received anything from her. (These were for 1999 claims.) Does filing for bankruptcy have anything to do with reimbursing her for these claims? Or do they get paid for her because she filed for bankruptcy?

Any advice out there on how to comply with truth in lending disclosure requirements after a participant's return from a leave of absence has resulted in reconfiguration of his or her loan repayments?

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A plan says that the mortality table s/b the 1983 GAM table. I am reviewing the plan as an independent actuary. It does not say if it is male or female rates. My position is that it is reasonable to say that the appropriate table s/b the 50/50 blended rates. The employer uses male rates. This interpretation clearly can lower lump sums paid from plan. Any thoughts. This is plan documentation prior to GATT amendment.

How do service providers handle the gain on forfeitures when either reallocating or using the forfeiture to reduce employer contribution? Does most plan documents address this issue, if yes, how do you handle this situation if your document is silent? Is the gain just added to the forfeiture amount and reallocated or reduced according to the plan document? If the gain is added to the forfeiture used to reduce employer contributions, is it acceptable in that the gain may reduce the total amount the employer must contribute? Finally if the gain is not added to the forfeiture, how is it handled in

a daily environment. Any regulation cite would be helpful.

A 401(k) plan would like to raise the Normal Retirement Age from 60 to 65. I would think that any current participant would have to retain the age 60 NRA. Can the plan change to 65 for new participants?

Can anyone tell me if the eligibility requirement of working 1,000 hours per year is mandated by an IRS law, or a requirement that the employer determines, and lists in an individual SPD?

One of our admin clients is opening a Canadian subsidiary, paying the sole employee in Canadian dollars, etc. They would like to offer him a pension plan and asked us for assistance. Does anyone know of a Canadian pension design/admin firm and/or a website where I might look further? Thank you.

I suppose we have until 12/15 to sort this out for calendar year plans, but how is everyone handling the summary annual report format that corresponds with the "new" 1999 Form 5500 structure? Has anyone seen IRS/DOL guidance or just continuing to use the "old" SAR format (eliminating the "Disclosure" version that corresponded with the 5500-R's)?

Thanks in advance for any comments!