Who are some vendors of IVR enrollment

for smaller businesses?

Just seeing who's out there...

Who are good vendors of IVR for enrollment of participants for smaller businesses?

Just trying to see who's out there...

Hello! Here's a question that I need some help on. Facts: husband recently died at age 49 after 30 years of service. The company has a DB pension plan with early retirement age at 55 plus 10 years service or age 65. The plan includes a formula to calculate both the benefit and the "early retirement" benefit.

On the first day of what would be the month of his death, he notified the company that he wanted to retire as of that same day. He died on the 15th day of that month. The wife filed w/ the company to receive her surviving spouse annuity under the DB plan. The company granted this to her, but reduced the amount because the company claimed that because the husband had 4 weeks of vacation left at the time he purported to retire, the company still treated him as an "active employee" and said he could not retire until the first of the next month. As such, he (and in turn she) was entitled to a lesser amount. [i don't get this part.]

However, the company is treating the husband as having "retired" when it comes to determining his eligibility etc. for other benefits! In other words, they are being very inconsistent from what I can tell.

My questions are (1) can the company claim he was not "retired" because of his accrued vacation time? I understand under state wage laws they have to pay him that same time, but I cannot imagine the need to pretend he was actually working another 4 weeks. Are there any ERISA provisions regarding when someone "retires"? (2) what other ERISA provisions govern this dilemma? I have read the provisions regarding QPSA'a but have not been able to really find something that addresses the issue.

Any thoughts/comments are really appreciated.

The HCE rules under Section 318 provide for attribution between parents, children and legally adopted children. What about step children?

H owns 100% of Company A. Second wife has two children. Are the 2 children included in HCE group? Thanks.

Has anyone compiled a list of factors that must be considered when a group of related companies cease to be a controlled group? Any particular factors to consider when status as a control group is in a state of flux from year to year?

I am looking into all possible issues (including, but not limited to, investment issues such as do we now have a common/collective fund, what about an employer stock fund, etc.)

Anything new on PEO's (EE Leasing Companies) and 401(k) Plans? Do they go the multi ER route , anthing ?

What exactly is considered a receipt when it comes to prescription reimbusements. Does a copy of the prescription need to accompany the paid receipt? Will the receipt work by itself? Please clarify this for me. Thanks so much!

Can the opinion letter date be entered on lin 22b of the 5500. I heard that a plan is more susceptible to audit id line 22c is no and 22b is blank?

What is the filing deadline for a short plan year; let's say from January 1, 1999 to June 30, 1999? Is it - (a) 7 months after the end of the short plan year, or January 31, 2000, or (B) 7 months after 12 months after the beginning of the short plan year, or July 31, 2000.

I vaguely recall the answer is (B), although I can't remember WHAT THE CITE IS.

Also, is the filing deadline for a short plan year different depending on the reason for the short plan year?

For example, short plan years typically occur in the following three situations:

1. When converting from one 12-month period to a different 12-month period, there is a short plan year in between.

2. When merging two plans that are on different plan years, one of the plans has a short plan year.

3. When starting a new plan in the middle of the year (such as a 401k plan), one has a short plan year to allow future plan years to be the calendar year.

Thanks for your help.

I have converted my regular IRA to a Roth IRA in 1998. It is now called a Roth conversion account. All $$ that were converted from the regular IRA were reported to the IRS. I later (April 1st) contributed $2000 for the prior year 1998 into this Roth Conversion account. Is this OK?

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I have an advisor in one of my offices with the following situation. Doctor uses the services of a PEO (Professional Employer Organization). Her employees, as well as, herself are leased thru this PEO to her company. The PEO has a 401(k) plan that covers her employees but this plan excludes highly paid employees from participating in this plan. (So Doctor gets left out) Question-- can the Doctor set up a plan for herself such as a Money Purchase or SEP? What would some of the complications be here since she is also a leased employee? Any help any of you can give would be great as I am a Region Vice President of Retail Retirement Plans with American Express Financial Advisors and we do not have ERISA attorneys in house I can run this by so it is up to me. Thanks.

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Kellie Smith

Is it VCR or Reformation CAP, if the plan document says: in order to provide for a specific feature, the appropriate box on the adoption agreement must be checked off? For instance, the plan says all employees are in the plan except for the types of employees indicated on the adoption agreement. If the sponsor kept out a type of employee but didn't check off the appropriate box, is it an operational defect or form defect. Another example is participating employer who did not adopt the plan. The plan requires an employer other than the sponsor to adopt the plan. The other employer never adopted the plan. Is this an operational defect or a form defect? I guess the principle I am looking for is something that holds: if the plan document requires a plan document change, the failure to do so is a form defect; or if the plan document requires a plan document change, the failure to do so is an operational defect.

I have an inquiry concerning a way to wrap-around a n-q plan with their 401(k) plan. Any ideas or suggestions?

If a participant is age 69 when they die and their spouse is the beneficiary of their account in their 401(k) plan, when must the distribution be made from the account (either lump sum or annuity payments) in order to avoid paying a 50% penalty? As I understand 401(a)(9) they have two options: A. take a cash distribution by the end of the fifth year after the participants death (which would be the year that the participant would have reached age 74) OR B. start taking annuity payments by 12/31 of the year the participant would have turned 70 1/2.

I have been told that the 70 1/2 rule takes precedence over the 5 year cash rule. Is this true or can the spouse wait to take a full cash distribution until the 5th year? Am I missing something here?

Participant A is grandfathered under 401(a)(17) in state plan X. A goes to work for state plan Y after the final grandfather date. Plan X covers state agencies and Plan Y covers public universities. Both groups of employees are considered state employees. Participant A is permitted to transfer service back and forth between Plan X and Y. Is participant A grandfathered for 401(a)(17) under Plan Y , too? If service is transferred from Plan Y to Plan X ,will that service become grandfathered in Plan X?

David

Recently, I posted a question regarding whether a governmental 401(a) plan can have mandatory pre-tax contributions, the answer was yes pursuant to section 414(h).

It has been our understanding that in order for employee contributions to be pre-tax in a 401(a), they MUST be mandatory. All Voluntary Contributions must be after-tax - Is this correct? Do you know a IRC look up reference?

Legally, should a company payout or hold accrued vacation/sick time while an employee is on STD/LTD?

We have a new client adopting a nonstandardized prototype. Are people submitting these to the IRS for approval now or are you waiting to file when the new nonstandardized prototype is issued for the new remedial amendment period?

We desire all of the original loan documentation. This should include loan amount, rate, length, payment amount, etc. We certainly need to receive loan amortization schedules as well as current status of loan within the context of amortization schedule.

I am unaware of any reason to demand payment of outstanding loan balances because of plan recordkeeping or investment provider changes.

Be sure to monitor payments during transition. If payments are made and credited properly, the participants should have no impact whatsoever.

Participants must make loan payments promptly, even if employer does not remit them promptly to investment provider. And payments should be sent as soon as possible after receipt. However, loan payments do not have same statuatory time standards that appply to deferral contributions. Good Luck.

I am the Board President for a small non-profit art gallery. This past fiscal year, earned and contributed income exceeded our budgetary goals by 10% while expenses were only 1% over budget. We want to pay a bonus to the 2 part-time staff members (20 hours/week each). The Board agreed to a bonus last spring, but no plan was set as to how to determine the amount. Are there "standard" calculations tied to budgetary indicators that are used for bonus incentives in retail, educational industries such as ours. We want to appropriately reward their hard earned success this year, as well as set an annual compensation formula into this next year's budget. Thank you for any suggestions!