401(k) plan with entry requirement of 3 months of service. Dual entry dates - January 1 and July 1. Former participant was hired 12/12/96 and terminated 1/1/1999. He would have become 100% vested at that time due to a partial plan termination. I do not have records old enough to determine whether he had an account balance. He was rehired in 2014.

Document language (Sungard VS restated 1/1/2010): Reemployed before five consecutive breaks in service. If any employee becomes a former employee due to severance from employment with the employer and is reemployed by the employer, then the former employee's prior service shall count in the same manner as if severance from employment with the employer had not occurred. If any participant ceases to be a participant due to severance from employment with the employer and is reemployed by the employer, then the participant shall resume participation (in the same manner as if severance from employment with the employer had not occurred) as of the reemployment date.

Does this paragraph apply to him since he has more than 5 break years? Document doesn't spell out what happens for someone with more than 5 breaks. Vesting is not an issue since the current document provides 100% immediate vesting for all. But for eligibility, does he need to satisfy the 3 month service requirement again?

Perhaps I missed a change in the law. Received a letter from a representative of a major "fund house" which says: "If the plan allows for In-service Distributions and the person is over age 59 1/2, we will have to follow the IRS guidelines and process as an In-service Distribution rather then a Hardship; meaning the mandatory 20% federal withholding would apply."

I missed something because I know of no IRS guideline that says there is a maximum age for Hardships, or a guideline that says a post 59 1/2 Distribution must be an In-Service Distributions, not a Hardship. So funeral expenses for a spouse of such person would not be qualified as a Hardship????

Is this right? If it is, please identify where I might find these IRS guidelines.

Single plan with dual eligibility requirements. Full time employees eligible first day on the job. Part time employees must complete one year of service (as per the 2006 Quality Assurance Bulletin). Therefore, 410(a) is satisfied. However, in testing the full time employee group for 410(b) coverage, are the part time employees who have not completed one year of service excludable, or are no employees excludable?

401(k) plan set forth on prototype permitted new participants to enter the plan prior to the plan's entry date, perhaps one to two months early. EPCRS permits the plan to be amended to permit the early inclusion of such employees. Is a determination letter required at the time of the EPCRS filing? And if yes, what is the fee?

Got a call from an advisor who has a participant insisting that if the spouse is the 60% beneficiary than the other 40% can go to someone else. I'm sure it is not true but was wondering if someone reads this and says "oh yeah, they are thinking of governmental 457(b) accounts attributable to pre-1982 accumulations in their after-tax balances" or something equally obscure (my example is fictitious of course).

If anyone knows it is one of you...

I have a participant who has an outstanding loan for the purchase of a primary residence and it extends longer than 5 years...allowed and fine. The

house is now in foreclosure and he wants to refinance the original loan so that his home won't be sold at a sheriff's sale. Can the refinanced loan

extend the length of the original loan which has over 5 years remaining on it or must it be limited to 5 years?

Taft-Hartley defined benefit plan. Per the Trust, there are to be 3 Union Trustees and 3 Employer Trustees. An employer trustee passed away, but the Trust provides for equal votes on both sides, so that hasn't been a problem. However, there are a very small number of employers in this area, so the Plan can't find anyone to fill the 3rd Employer Trustee seat. And, there's now talk that the other 2 Employer Trustees want to retire soon.

So, what happens when you can't find any Employer Trustees? Keep in mind, the employers themselves aren't leaving the Plan. They are still covered by the CBA and will still be making contributions. The problem is that no one wants to be an employer trustee.

If there aren't any Employer Trustees, then there isn't a jointly-administered board, correct?

Your thoughts?

What does "deemed severance of employment mean"? and do we want to allow distributions for it?

What advantages do people see to having 65 for retirement age?

if you have 62 and 5 years, then vesting is almost the same.

If retirement age is 62, then you could force out termed Participants at age 62.

What are you all doing?

can a spouse of the shareholder of a PA who performs services for the PA but does not get paid be considered a common law employee?

Does anyone know if you establish suspension rules/conditions, after allowing hardship distributions, in a 403(b) plan with mandatory employee contributions if you can allow suspension of the employer matching contributions ONLY - but not suspend the employee contributions? Is this possible? In this case assume that hardship distributions are allowed from only the employee mandatory or could also be allowed from both the employee mandatory and employer matching.

I also assume the suspension of either elective deferrals or employee contributions (voluntary/mandatory) in a 403(b) plan follows the 401(k) regs./rules for the same issue and that during the 6 month hardship period - suspension is based on the safe harbor hardship rules being in play, correct??

When is the suspension rule not in play during operation/administration of a 403(b) plan?

Employer sponsors a SIMPLE IRA that allows employees to participate if they had $5000 during the preceding year and are expected to earn $5000 during the current year.

Employer wants to amend the plan to provide that any employees hired on or after 01/01/2015 will be eligible to participate in the plan if they had $5000 during any 2 preceding years and the same expectation of $5000 during the current year. The amendment will be effective 01/01/2015 so there is no mid-year amendment issue. The empoyer thinks they will hire a bunch of new employees and want to have them wait longer before becoming eligible.

Is there a problem with this amedment?

Thank you for any input.

Does anyone have a good spreadsheet for self employment income calc? Can you tell me where you got it or share it?

Thanks in advance.

Does provision regarding early retirement in a profit sharing plan subsume an otherwise regular termination of employment for purposes of allocation conditions? Participant quits job mid-year and goes to work for another employer and participant happens to satisfy the age/service provisions for "early retirement" under the PSP. PSP is a calendar year end plan and has a last day of the plan year employment requirement, however, it waives such requirement for death, disability and retirement (early, normal and late). Based on the facts, it appears that participant terminated employment but did not "retire" and thus would not be entitled to an allocation of the PSP contribution. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Are there any federal rules on timely deposits that would apply to pick-up contributions? Would it make a difference if the pick up contributions were made directly by the employer or by withholding them from the employees' pay?

I have a company that does a monthly match. After the quarter they noticed that a couple people did not receive their full match and they deposited the additional funds. Is there any requirement for calculating lost earning b/c typically the match would have been made monthly if not for the payroll error?

If/When do you have to give out the Loan Program?

With the SPD?

When someone requests a loan?

When someone requests the Program?

A big business will acquire a smaller business (this summer or autumn). Big intends to merge Smaller's safe-harbor 401(k) plan into Big's (non-safe-harbor) 401(k) plan.

(Assume both businesses have a calendar year for accounting and tax. Assume both plans have a calendar plan year.)

If the merger of plans happens before December 31, 2014, would that defeat the Smaller plan's safe-harbor treatment?

If to avoid such a concern (or for other reasons) one suggests that the merger of retirement plans wait for year-turn, does it matter whether the merger is effective as of December 31, 2014 or January 1, 2015?

Which of those do you like better? What are your reasons for why you prefer it?

Don't think I've ever seen this come up.

The K-1 shows different percentages in Part II, Box J - one percentage for profit and loss, and 1 percentage for capital. Trying to determine which to use!

1.404(e)1A(f)(1) refers you to IRC 702(a)(8) and 704. And 704 basically refers you to the partnership agreement.

Logically, to me at least, one would use the profit percentage on the Schedule K, rather than the capital percentage. Any thoughts on this?

yesterday's CPI was released.

based on the 3 month average we now have

catch up 6014.50

deferrals 18044

compensation 266,440

415 53,288

so looks like things will increase. of course our friends in the government could always try and run through a cap, but it is getting late in the year...