The 8/10 issue of Forbes had two articles benefit planners and their clients might profit from.

The first article, Keogh Panic (click), detailed the importance of documentation and the penalties the IRS has available to impose.

The second article, The Price of Simplicity (click), compared the price paid in choosing a "simple" plan v. a more complex but more controllable and liberal plan.

The URL is www.forbes.com

[This message has been edited by Dave Baker (edited 08-20-98).]

Does a plan ever cease to be covered under PBGC after it has been initially covered? I seem to recall an old PBGC information letter saying that once covered, always covered. But the premium form says notify PBGC if plan ceases to be covered. Whatr gives?

My Dr group client now has fewer than 25 participants and will never have more--am I now released from premiums?

Soon after a merger our positions were eliminated. Before we left the Lump Sum benefit accural were changed. This change lowered the Lump Sum benefits by 18%. I feel we should have received a notice of change. We were told before the merger we would receive the best of the two plans. Where can I find information on this?

Has anyone heard anything about this new small business pension plan option since Clinton mentioned it in his State of the Union address in January? I've checked the DOL pages and haven't seen any action on this.

Peg Hetlage

Is it possible to roll over a distribution from a Qualified 401(k) Plan to a 403(B) Plan subject to ERISA? Are there any limitations?

What are some ways that a government can make contributions to a retirement plan? Can a matching contribution be made to a 457 Plan?

For anyone who is interested, I've just added a handy chart of maximum limits subject to inflation indexing to my employee benefits legal resource site. Among other things, the chart shows limits under sections 403(B) and 415 for 1998, 1997, and 1996. It also gives limits for other plans, including 401(k), 457, and SIMPLE plans, as well as the Social Security wage base and Social Security and Medicare tax rates.

[Note: This message was edited by CVCalhoun]

For anyone who is interested, I've just added a handy chart of maximum limits subject to inflation indexing to my employee benefits legal resource site. Among other things, the chart shows limits under sections 415, 403(B), 401(k), and 457, as well as the Social Security wage base and Social Security and Medicare tax rates, for 1996, 1997, and 1998.

My employer is a Public Transit Authority in the State of Washington. It claims to be exempt from the provisions of ERISA which specifically gives it the right to exclude certain individuals from participation in its retirement plan. Our current retirement plan is a 401(a) with mandatory employee and employer contributions. The state of Washington has a public employeees retirement system which my employer chooses not to participate in. Our retirement plan is collectivly bargained every three years.

I understand that ERISA exempts govermental agencies who have a govermental retirement plan from the provisions of ERISA. However,

I question if my employer is actually participating in a govermental retirement plan when it elected not to participate in the state public employees retirement system.

So my question is: Is my employer exempt from ERISA, and can it exclude from participation in the retirement plan employees that ERISA says must be allowed participation?

This is important to about thirty of us. Thanks for your help.

Here goes a test of the misc. benefits section!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm working with a client to evaluate the possibility of instituting a PTO plan in lieu of a traditional time off plan with vacation, sick, etc.

In researching comparative data on this subject, it appears that many of the Silicon Valley companies perhaps do not include sick leave as part of a formal PTO program, but handle one-at-a-time sick days informally without tracking.

Has anyone heard of this? Comments on successful implementation of a PTO plan?

Thanks...