Hi Pax,

Try WoPEc's Electronic papers in economics for a number of listings that seem to touch on your topic, including titles like "Retirement Trends & Patterns in the 1990's" & "Why Are Retirement Rates So High At 65?"

[This message has been edited by Greg Judd (edited 10-25-1999).]

A Plan excludes one of several plant locations (all NHCEs) from the profit sharing portion of the plan but these employees do participate in the 401(k) and 401(m) portions. (There is no 410 problem) Based on the Plan documents, these NHCE employees while not eligible for NECs would be eligible for QNECs.

If a QNEC needs to be made do we now have a 401(a)(4) problem since aggregated NECs and QNECs have to pass 401(a)(4) under k regs? The profit sharing plan has a safe harbor allocation, does the addition of these NHCE employees who receive QNECs but no NECs blow the safe harbor? Is a general test now requried?

The alternative of excluding these NHCEs from the QNEC makes no sense from a policy standpoint.

Have you examined the dialogue on this topic on the DB Message Board?

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I need to determine whether the 1000hrs. requirement for not excluding part-time workers is a requirement of the IRC only or if it is an ERISA requirement also? The plan is not qualified under the IRC but subject to ERISA.

Can an employer tell the person paying Cobra that there was an increase 6 months prior, and ask for the back premium increase to keep coverage ?

Can anyone recommend some good resources that deal specifically with fiduciary issues within multiemployer plans? I have been asked to do research on a number of fiduciary issues including reciprocity agreements, settlement of contribution liability, etc.

HOPEFULLY SOMEONE CAN HELP ON THIS ONE. I HAVE A C CORP CLIENT WHO SEVERAL YEARS AGO TOOK STOCK OPTIONS FROM A CUSTOMER IN LIEU OF CASH FOR SERVICES. THE CLIENT WOULD LIKE TO ASSIGN THE OPTIONS TO THE COMPANY RETIREMENT PLAN INSTEAD OF MAKING A CASH CONTRIBUTION TO THE PLAN. THE OPTIONS HAVE AN EXERCISE PRICE OF $3.50 PER SHARE AND THE STOCK IS PUBLICLY TRADING AT $63.50. CAN THE OPTIONS BE ASSIGNED TO THE MPP AS A CONTRIBUTION AT $3.50 PER SHARE. PLEASE CITE ANY APPLICABLE IRS REGS.

We have a client who is changing actuaries due to non-responsiveness. As you might guess, the non-responsiveness extends to the requested transition of records and workpapers, and it is now necessary to send a more "official" request. Can anyone tell me exactly what an actuary's obligations are in transitioning records, hopefully with a JBEA or other cite that might provoke some action?

If a self-funded plan is funded, in part, by employee contributions and there is no 125 Plan in place, is there any way to get out of the Trust requirement?

We are currently re-vamping our Paid Maternity Leave Policy. We currently offer two weeks of pay when employees take leave after birth. I'd be interested in what other companies do: more paid time, less, ??. Also, while our current policy does not specify, the question has been raised whether men or adoptive parents qualify for the benefit, as opposed to post-partum mothers only. Any thoughts on that?

We are having trouble locating several terminated employees with account balances below $5000. We would like to complete forced distributions. Any suggestions on how to find current addresses, other than going through the Social Security Admin? What about turning those balances of to state government?

We have an employee that qualifies for (intermittent) time off under FMLA to tend to her own serious health condition due to a car accident. The car accident occurred 5 months before she was eligible but she has been taking 3-4 days off a month since the incident. Is it allowable to count the days off against her FMLA allotment retroactively back to when she became eligible? Are there any ways that employers can deal with employee leave abuse?

Can a 401(k) loan program bar someone from discontinuing repayment of the loan by payroll deduction? Would state laws allowing people to stop payroll deductions at any time be preempted by ERISA? We have participants who want to stop the payroll deduction repayment of their loan even though it means they'll be taxed on the remaining loan balance

But, check the plan document to make sure there are no specific provisions requiring the plan sponsor to pay these expenses.

Also, if the sponsor has been paying directly there could be a practice in place, changing it would probably need documentation.

Does anyone know if the IRS would give out a block of TINs that can be assigned by the TPA, attorney, etc. for newly established qualified plans, then just reported to IRS on the SS-4 form??? We are having a very hard time with timely responses from IRS using the fax number and waiting for them to fax back the TIN. Anyone know of any special IRS staff or offices to assist with TINs on qualified plans??

Thanks

Does anyone know if a participant of a state-maintained DROP could rollover eligible distributions into an eligible DC plan? Is a DROP a qualified plan for purposes of the rollover rules? Thanks!

My firm recently began talks with a potential takeover client and found out that 5500s had not been filed from 1992 through 1997. (I'm not kidding) It seems that the naive employer simply signed on with an insurance company who promised "turn key" service. When the employer found out about the mistake the response from the insurance company was "oh yea, we don't do that part of it". The 1998 5500 was filed on time. How should the IRS be approached about correcting this mistake? Should we just send in our first born?

I have a multi-state client that is interested in any state law that pertains to loans from retirement plans. Although I have seen no specific statute, I have been told that some states exempt retirement plan loans from typical requirements such as stamp taxes, etc. Does anyone know if this type of research has been done before?

I have a plan that is concurrently adding a loan provision and a hardship provision.

the h/s provision is safe harbour, and the loan minimum is $1,000.

say a participant with a $50,000 fully vested balance is faced with a $10,000 h/s. can he take a loan for the minimum $1,000 (to fulfill that requirement) and request the remaining $9,000 as a h/s? or must he take the maximum loan he's allowed, by law, which in this case would be the entire $10,000?

One of the Company's health plans has a plan year of 8/1 - 7/31. Premiums always go up on 8/1 - but the employer pays the premium for active employees. All the other health plans have plan years that coincide with the calendar year, so that open enrollment is always on 1/1. (It would be easier if all the plans had the same plan year - but that change is not likely to happen soon.) Can the Company increase the premiums for COBRA participants on 8/1 - so that it is still 102% of the premium. This would seem to fall within one of the three exceptions in the regulations for increasing the premium during the 12-month determination period. The increased rate would then be fixed from 8/1-7/31 for COBRA participants.