I want to do a search of the message boards by author to find posts that I either started or provided input to but I'm having trouble getting the search to work - I clicked advanced search and selected "by author" and then provided my screen name but then get an error message .

Was wondering if I could get some instructions on how to search by author .

Can a non-profit 403(b) plan be merged into a 401(k) plan?

Say an employee is terminating shortly, but will receive a last paycheck - possibly including severance pay. Can the employee elect to "prepay" the next 6 months of COBRA premiums out of the last paycheck? 

A death distribution needs to be done for a young participant. His father, who is handling his son's estate, is also in the the same 401k plan.

When the death benefit was processed, the deceased participant's balance was simply rolled over into his father's 401k account. I believe this is incorrect.

How should the processing of the death benefit be done?

Employer has no 401(k) plan but has a 457b plan covering only the one key employee.   This key employee makes elective deferrals to this plan.  The employer wants to start a safe harbor 401(k) plan.  I assume the 457 is considered a deferral plan and thus the Oct 1 start up of 401(k) would not be possible for 2018 but instead they would have to wait until 1-1-2019.  I realize the answer seems obvious but I'm asking in case there is an exception to non-profit 457b plans not counting as true deferral plans for this purpose.

When you have a wrap document covering a health (plan 6/1/2017 to 5/31/2018) and a separate dental plan (11/1/2017 to 10/31/18), where each benefit has a different contract date and the Form 5500 is due  7 months after the plan year end, which date do you use to figure out the PYE of the required 5500 (over 100 utilizing the benefit) and when the 5500 has to be filed? Thanks for any replies.

403b is terminating Sept. 2018 and starting 401k same year 2018.  Plan wants move away from universal eligibility for ED on 403b and add age 21 and 6 mth service.

- 403b is 001 so use 002 for 401k?

- use original effective date as 1/1/2018?

- rollover of loans allowed?  Does it need to be stated in AA or no?  

- does excluding vesting prior to effective date of the plan need to be addressed?

- any employee can in 403b plan rollover balance to 401k even if they would not be eligible to enter under 401k plan under new eligiblity rules? 

- employees years of service and vesting still can continue If all the participants chose to rollover to 401k plan?

- any other considerations on plan document creation or processing/logistics?   I appreciate your help!!!

Hi everyone! 

Mare there certain rules for what type of property you can purchase in order to qualify for using a hardship distribution with your 401k? 

Here’s the back story: we found a house we love but have had some issues as far as financing. This is a bank owned property zoned as C3 (mixed use) and the residential property has two commercial buildings attached so the bank is requiring a 20% down payment. With no other options he has submitted a request for withdrawal under hardship to help cover the down payment. They requested a copy of the sale contract and loan estimate disclosure, which is now in processing. We are worried that since the contract has 3 addresses they will deny his request. This will be his primary residence and there is no way to only purchase the residential part since it is a bank owned foreclosure. I know this is a unique situation but does anyone know the likelyhood of this being denied? Also, we are under contract and get early access to the property tomorrow and will be moving our stuff in. If this falls through we cannot purchase the property, will have to move our stuff out, and find somewhere to live. Any advice would be very much appreciated!! 

This is a case where the regs seem clear, (to me) but third party write-ups seem less clear, and I'd like to confirm that I'm not missing anything.

This is an S-CORP leveraged ESOP, and the employer also sponsors a 401(k). So you have the general 404(a)(3) limit of 25% of comp. The increased deduction limit under 404(a)(9) specifically does not apply, as per paragraph (C) of 404(a)(9).

Some of the write-ups appear to say that you could deduct up to 25% of eligible compensation on principal repayments of an exempt loan in the same year you take a deduction under 404(a)(3) for contributions to the non-ESOP 401(k), as long as you comply with 415.

Am I missing something?

Plan excludes bonuses for purposes of calclulating deferrals, but NOT for purposes of calculating the Safe Harbor Match.  Do I need to pass 414(s)?

I am probably overthinking this one...

A plan has individually directed accounts at American Funds.  We provide full fee disclosure relative to those accounts.  They also have some profit sharing money pooled in a brokerage account.  We have always disclosed a $75 distribution fee on the American Funds disclosure.  For the pooled account, we are now going to start using Penchecks for the distribution processing,.  They have a $35 fee that will be charged on top of our $75 fee.  This additional fee will only apply if the participant had money in the pooled account. 

Do I need to include this fee on the 404(a)(5) fee disclosure notice?  I think not because 404(a)(5) rules do not apply to pooled accounts, but I am not sure since this plan also has individually directed accounts.  I'm just not sure about anything anymore...

Thanks!

I got a question from a CPA source on an ESOP.  They have a client with an ESOP and they have a participant with a very large balance.  Distribution is in five years and cash flow is an issue for the company.  Does anybody have any good suggestions or familiarity with this issue?

Thanks!

A QDRO was submitted and calculated for the time of the marriage for 401k disbursement. The amount due was approximately $26,500, and a "clerical" was made and the receipant was cashed out in the amount of $67,000, more than was the ending balance at the time of separation. Participant was not notified and found error on own and brought it to the attention of 401k company. Since the money was wire transferred into the bank account as cash and an overpayment of $40,000, approximately 3 weeks ago. What are the ramifications? Can the funds be withdrawn automatically from the bank account and placed back into the participating 401k? What if the funds have been spent and are not paid back?What about lost interest future earning? Is the 401k plan responsible for the error and replacing funds regardless?

Can a Fire District set up a 401k plan?  Or does it have to be 403b or 457?   

It is a political subdivision of a Town and they, as a governmental entity, have the authority to assess taxes.  It is not a tax-exempt entity granted exemption from income tax under IRC section 501(C). 

Thank you.

I am curious how others generally regard state occupational licensing boards.  In our state, we have several such boards that are creatures of statute--basically established and set up by specific state law without any other official organizing or corporate documents (i.e., they do not have any articles of incorporation or other formal tax-exempt or non-profit status).  Most of the time, they are operated by an appointed Board (appointed by a mix of state legislators and the governor) but the appointed Board and entity really act fairly autonomously on day-to-day operations.  While their budget / funds are sort of run through the state, they are all derived by (and thus limited by) the fees raised from the licensed profession / group.

Current client has previously-established 401(k) plan but is moving to a new record keeper who is questioning whether the entity is eligible to establish a 401(k) plan as they are arguably an agency or instrumentality of state government.  On the other hand, we are aware of other similarly-situated licensing Boards with 401(k) plans who, like our client, apparently were able to set up 401(k) plans without anybody questioning.  It's unclear whether others believe they had some basis for claiming they were not an agency or instrumentality.  While there are a few items that may weigh in favor of non-agency or non-instrumentality status, taken as a whole the facts and circumstances would seem to point toward such boards being barred from sponsoring 401(k) plans.

How are such boards generally classified / addressed in various states.  If the Board cannot establish a 401(k) and also seemingly cannot qualify for a 403(b) plan and has been told it is ineligible to participate in the state's grandfathered 401(k) plan, is there some other cash or deferred arrangement typically available?

We have a management company that runs a NQDC plan.  The management company is wholly owned by A, and A also wholly owns B.  B also participates in the NQDC plan. 

The management company is going to be removed and replace with a different management company.  Under the NQDC plan this does not trigger a change of control payment.  But we have employees at B that are participants in the NQDC Plan.  We have two options.

First is to just start a new plan for the B employees.  They will still have their account under the old plan, but now they will have another account at a new plan.

Second, and what we'd like to do, is move the accounts for B employees to a new plan, sponsored by either B or A.  Is that possible?  It would be sort or like a rollover to a new plan.  According to the plan, amounts deferred for B employees are already paid out of the general assets of B, and subject to B's creditors, so I don't see the issue with having the money follow B, instead of staying in a plan run by the old management company.  Is this something we can do?

A client's employee is going through a divorce, and HSA assets were divided. The former spouse set up a new HSA to receive her share of the funds and to make future contributions.

The employee is being told by the bank that holds his HSA has said that they will only issue a check to the former spouse directly, and not to the institution where she has set up her new HSA. 

Does anyone have any specific guidance on this issue? Thanks in advance. 

The basic questions are: are exhaustion of remedies and arbitration provisions in local government plans enforceable, and if so, what law requires enforcement?  Anyone have cases directly on point?

Here are the facts: A local government plan provides a disability benefit to participants who establish a disability.  The plan has a claims procedure that requires claimants to file appeals of benefit denials within 60 days.  The plan requires all disputes to be arbitrated, and expressly requires claimants to exhaust their appeal rights before filing arbitration.  In the case at hand, a claimant filed for disability and was denied.  The plan complied with all the technicalities in the claims procedure.  Well after expiration of the 60-day appeal period, the claimant submitted new materials.  On what body of law or other authority can the plan rely to deny consideration of the new materials and cause any arbitration or court action the claimant might file to be dismissed?  Conversely, on what body of law or other authority can the claimant rely to require consideration of the new materials and/or file an arbitration or judicial action?  I know the answer under ERISA, but here those rules don't apply. 

Can a Plan whose termination has been submitted to the PGBC be amended?

Specifically, we want to raise the cash out threshold from $1,000 to $5,000.

The Plan in question has 4 participants who we have spoken to directly and emailed and regular mailed distribution forms.   These individuals just will not return signed forms for their Plan Termination distributions.  No clue why.

We are running into the 501 filing deadline.  I don't think paying the lost participant program is ok since they are not lost.  But I could be wrong there.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Does anyone have the code citation that states a government non-erisa 403(b) plan can have a matching contribution?