Does anyone have a good source for these rates on the net?

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dmt

Is there such a thing as a top hat severance plan? Specifically, a severance plan that does not meet all three elements of the exemption from ERISA pension plan status under DOL Reg. Section 2510.3-2(B) BUT which is limited to a select group of highly compensated or management employees?

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Scenario: Two-corporation controlled group 401k plan with match that is 100% vested. Each employer is contributing to the accounts of their employees only.

Question: To properly complete form 5500, should box A(2) be marked (single-employer plan), and a separate 5500 completed for each member of the controlled group? If so, are assets, participant count etc. reported in total on each form, or divided and reported on the respective member form?

This is my understanding of the instructions (page 10). It seems very illogical. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

A plan does not provide a lump sum option, but pays lump sums < 5,000 using PBGC rates. The company is merged w/ another company into a new plan. The new plan allows for lump sums under GATT (includes lump sums > 5,000). Is it reasonable to require that for a participant that was in pre merged plan to say that his pension accrued at time of merger must preserve the PBGC rates for his lump sum (even though a lump sum was not an option, except for small pensions)?

Say an ee retires at age 60. The cash balance plan states that the immediate annuity is equal to the act equiv of his account balance. Isn't it required that the plan determine accd ben. as the account balance projected to 65, then converted to an annuity at age 65, then reduced for early commencement at age 60? Is it allowed to have the early ret ben as simply the act equiv of acct bal at rerm date?

An ee retires at age 50 w/ an early ret ben reduced by 50%. He is rehired at 55 and retires at 58. His pension ceased upon reemployment, but no notice was given. The law provides that his pension s/b actuarially increased if Notice is not given. My question is what pension s/ act increased? His original reduced early ret ben., his original early ret ben (ignoring the early ret reduction), his final accd ben at his age 58 ret, or something else?

Curious to hear any comments.

Does it make sense that the beneficiary be issued a 1099R for the outstanding loan of a Participant? Somehow this doesn't seem right but this is what the Insurance Co. says is correct! Thanks for any help.

Could an employer make contributions to an ESOP in order to make distributions to participants who have terminated? Where in the Code or Regs. is this allowed or disallowed? Should the employer make an interest free loan?

Historically we have charged plan participants a loan administration fee when he/she takes a loan from a DC plan. We are thinking of charging the participant an annual administration fee as well (paid from plan assets). I have been unable to find any regulations addressing annual fees. Are there restrictions out there I should be aware of? Cites appreciated.

I have an employee who was transferred from our UT office to our KY office mid-year. He had been incurring dependent care expenses in UT and had enrolled in the Dependent Care FSA during open enrollment 1/1/00. Because of his transfer from UT to KY, his wife is no longer working and is keeping the children at home. Does this qualify as a change of status and allow him to terminate his contributions to the FSA?

At a recent Washington D.C. conference (Sept. 1999) on governmental benefit plans, IRS reps indicated that the catch up elections apply on an employer-by-employer basis. I believe that Bob Architect (the 403(B) guru for the Service) made the statement. That is the approach I am taking with regard to the two IRS 403(B) audits I am handling now for school district clients. Hope that helps.

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When terminating a cross-tested plan, what is the answer to question 13(a) on Form 5310: Did the plan satisfy the ratio percentage test of section 410(B)(1)(B)?

Also, on Schedule Q, line 5(o), I assume the answer is average benefit test. Correct? Should line 6 be checked yes and Demo 5 attached? Thanks.

I'm interested in hearing how employers are handling the situation where an employee misses an enrollment deadline, e.g., to enroll a new dependent. Say the plan has a 30 day enrollment window and the employee requests enrollment after the window closes. Do you allow administrative exceptions? What would an employee have to show to qualify for an exception? Ever been sued over this issue? Assume no cafeteria plan issues.

Thanks for your insights.

My wife and I run separate businesses (corporation and partnership respectively). We file separately to keep things neat even though we pay more in taxes.

We are not permitted to convert our IRAs to Roth IRAs and ineligible for contributions since we each make over $10,000.

What justification did Congress have for precluding us from using Roth IRAs?

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In a stock sale by shareholders of an S corp of all the S Corp stock to a C corp- is there a trigger. Since the C-corp will continue to make contributions etc, I think not, but I wonder is the S-corp status makes the analysis any different or if I need to focus on this as an issue. Please give advice. Thanks.

Client is doctor's corporation with a DB plan. The plan is overfunded by approximately $2 million. What are the mechanics of "selling" this overfunded plan to a third party? Is the transaction acheived by merging the doctor's corporation into another entity or is a portion of the plan spun off an then sold? I am a DC guy without much DB experience, so cites to good secondary sources would be helpful.

I am told that the going discount for this sort of transaction is about 30% (ie the doctor will get about $.70 on the dollar). Is this in the ball park?

Thanks in advance.

Effective 1/1/01, a client will permit participants to transfer up to 50% of their account balance into a brokerage account. They will then be able to buy and sell securities that are traded on national exchanges (no options however). Does anyone have a form of waiver that has been used advising participants of the risks associated with such investing and indicating that participants will not look to plan sponsor for redress if the investments perform poorly? Thanks for your help. Ed

A controlled group will exist later this year when six holding companies are merged. Each separate bank currently maintains a 10% money purchase plan and a discretionary profit sharing plan (ranging from 0% to 15%, with an average contribution of 7.5%). Certain HCEs will continue to receive compensation from more than one but less than all banks. New single holding company is trying to determine what to do with plans.

Option 1 would allow the plans to be separately maintained. This would require that each HCE receive compensation from each bank. That would allow each plan to satisfy 410(b)on a stand alone basis. 415 limits would not be exceeded. Instead of an HCE getting $150,000 from bank 1, he might receive $100,000 from bank 1 and $10,000 from each other bank.

Option 2 is to merge the plans. The employer would be required to run the ABT under 410(B). Difficult to predict.

Option 3 is to try to satisfy QSLOB requirements. Difficult to show separate management and 50 employee requirement.

Am I missing anything? Thanks for your thoughts.

We recently took over a PS/(k) Plan that appeared to be a straightforward Plan written into a custom document. Recently, the client and broker have mentionned that the ERISA atty writing these docs said that the plan is a "MEWA". My understanding of MEWAs under ERISA is that these are welfare benefit arrangements, not pension plan arrangements. My ? is - can a pension plan be a MEWA and if so what is different about the document and/or the operation/administration of the plan.

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Our LTD carrier sent us an invoice for the match portion of a person on LTD. It is our first LTD case. This surprised me as I assumed that we would not have to match the employee portion. If the person is in a terminated status (i.e., on LTD), why would I have to pay the "employer" portion? Will I have to continue to pay this forever?