We administer a DB that we set up in the 1980s with a valid 242(b) election.

The sole participant is now 78 and wants to terminate the plan.

Clearly she has to take an RMD prior to rolling over to an IRA.

Can we use the account balance method and then rollover? (I doubt it.)

How is the "make-up" distribution calculated?

I would assume by calculating each distribution, then accumulating that distribution at the plan's interest rate from the date it would have been taken through the current valuation year; adding all these up and subtracting from the current value of all the plan investments.

If I am a retired railroad employee who has a minor child, will I be able to draw benefits for my minor child if my former spouse still works for the Railroad

Back in benefits after an 8 year hiatus. My organization currently has no budget for communicating benefits to employees. We mail various notices to employees as required by law, and (still) send out paper open enrollment packets to all employees which are printed in-house as needed, and the cost just absorbed in administrative overhead. I have no way to track what has been sent or spent over the past 5 years. I'd like to change this.

As a general rule of thumb, what do you expect to spend on a per employee, per year basis to communicate benefits to your employees? No staff costs, just the hard costs of printing and mailing (including the cost of any professional services used for design, production, etc.), and electronic communication costs if you track it separately. If possible to split out cost between paper and electronic media, that would be great. But even a composite figure would be most helpful. I'm just trying to get an idea of what a basic, professional communication plan should cost so I can start moving my organization in that direction. Currently we do all of our own printing on big printers, no color, stapled in the corner, and have no professionally produced materials of any kind. Unfortunately, I think this low budget low tech approach sets the tone for the value that employees perceive from our benefit program. I think we can do better.

Thanks in advance for your insights.

1. Guy, age 55, makes a lot of money.
2. Guy has no employees.
3. Guy has a DB & DC Plans. Funding for max benefit so 2014 DB contribution is more than 25% of pay.
4. In DC Plan, guy makes full 2014 401k of $23,000.
5. In DC Plan, guy makes full 6% 2014 company contribution of $15,600 based upon W-2 of $260,000 or more.
6. Total DC Account Addition is $38,600.
7. 415 Limit is $57,500 so he is $18,900 short of the maximum Account Addition.

Question:

Can the guy make a $18,900 “After-Tax Employee Voluntary Contribution” since ACP test is n/a? Is this contribution type part of the 402g limit? I think "no."

Idea is that he could immediately in-plan convert 100% of that money type to a Roth Account.

How do you make After-Tax Employee Voluntary Contribution? Do you just write a personal check to the plan? Is there a deadline (do you have to do by Dec 31/plan year end)?

Thanks

Can an employer restrict the availability of a payroll deduction IRA to a select group of employees? For example, office employees vs. manufacturing employees?

My concern is that they will blow their ERISA exemption through use of discretion regarding eligibility.

Happy pi day.

Is anyone advising plan sponsors of this IRS form to report change in plan sponsor, address, EIN, such as when a plan merges? I have plans that merged in 2012 and 2013 and I assume to be safe the sponsor should file this form? Form 5500 has the information but the DOL gets this, not IRS.

Any comments would be appreciated!

8822b.pdf

A charitable organization's executive director has a written employment agreement. It provides a salary of $120,000 a year, payable as $10,000 a month. The agreement has no specified work hours. The agreement obligates the executive director to devote reasonable efforts to the employer's interests, subject to an obligation to work no more than 1,248 hours a year or 24 hours a week.

For the purposes of not attracting the Affordable Care Act's play-or-pay excise tax, is it proper to classify this employee as part-time?

Hi,.

We have a plan that has 6-year graded vesting on employer contributions/deferrals to the 47(b) NP plan.

Participants also make deferrals from pay.

It is our understanding (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong) that only the current year VESTED employer contribution (plus vesting increase from prior years' ER contributions) count towards the annual ceiling.

So, someone who receives a 17,500 ER contributiion but is ZERO percent vested could contribute 17,500 deferrals from 2013 pay.

We understand that due to the complexity of the annual ceiling calculation, some TPAS might be considering the entire contribution VESTED and apply it all towards the ceiling in the current year only.

So, tracking of the annual ceiling is simplified.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

GG

Suppose a new individually drafted defined benefit plan was established mid-2013 with a January 1, 2013 plan effective date. Suppose the plan was signed and executed and the plan document was submitted to the IRS with Form 5300 last summer. No contributions made yet, but liabilities for 2013 have accrued.

Now suppose the client calls today and says business has turned so bad that they aren't sure they will even be in business a few months from now and they don't see any possibility for making any plan contributions.

Also suppose the DB document says something like "...if, pursuant to an application for qualification, the IRS should determine that the Plan does not initially qualify as a tax-exempt plan under Code Sections 401..., then if the Plan is a new plan, it shall be void from its inception..."

Since the IRS is still in the review process for this plan's determination letter application, would the IRS accept and even consider a request to them asking that they issue an unfavorable letter on this supposed plan? Has anyone done this? What do you recommend?

Participant takes hardship in September 2013. The employee deferrals are not suspended. What is the best way to self correct? Should we suspend future deferrals or should we return past deferrals as a mistake in fact and then have the client run them through payroll. Or should we return the deferrals and tax them with the 10% early withdrawal. The confusing thing is that we span 2 calendar years.

Thank you!

Are people using cloud computing services or maintaing their own computer/servers etc.?

Is anyone worried about the exposure to hacking/ lost data etc. with information held in the cloud?

A multiple employer plan we administer allows for loans. When one of the members of the MEP ceases its arrangement with the PEO and ultimately stops making contributions to the plan, but does not start up their own individual plan - what happens to the employees that may have outstanding loans? The loan payments have ceased being deducted from the participant's pay as a result of the fact that the PEO is no longer handling payroll for the employer. But, the employee is still an active employee of the employer, so in that sense, a default isn't triggered. But a default will be triggered when the Trust doesn't receive loan payments for a period of 90 days. So, is it as simple as drafting the loan policy to have verbaige for this particular situation allowing the participant to continue to make payments directly to the Trust? Has anyone run into this situation before?

Business is making an unusual allocation. The allocation looks to an outsider to be more or less arbitrary. We have cautioned them extensively on deemed CODA's so let us leave that aside for purposes of this question.

Each employee receiving a unique contribution has a very unique job description. For example, one might be VP Finance and the other is VP Marketing. Another is the receptionist, another a machine operator, and you get the idea.

When all is said and done, my coverage ratio is just 62%. I say "we're using reasonable business classifications and therefore I am permitted to run the average benefits test." I know I can for nondiscrimination/rate groups. My question is regarding coverage.

Appreciate your thoughts!

Is an authorization to release protected health information that has been executed by a participant/patient itself protected health information that is subject to the privacy rules?

Have my application in for the CPC credential, and was wondering what if any benefits the ERPA designation would give me? Also,very much looking to pursue becoming an Enrolled Actuary. Not, looking forward to having to do more test though .

been awhile since I posted this one

this report takes a summary of account and makes it look like a 5500SF

since I use used defined fields to track suspense account there might be some data on this report that you wouldn't apply for your usage, but the basic report should work.

you might have to modify distributions if some are corrective distributions

and of course no guarantees on anything, but I haven't encountered many problems with it. maybe if forfeitures reduce contributions, but what the heck, if it helps...

5500 SF.rpt

If an employee terminates employment in October 2013, are they still able to use the 1/1-3/15/14 grace period for the 2013 plan year, or does their "grace period" begin the day they terminate?

Thank you,

-John

I have searched prior posts and cannot find a reference to this specific situation. Thanks in advance.

An employee terminates on October 1, 2013. Terminated employee receives severance pay. Severance pay is not for services rendered, not for time off or sick leave, would not have been paid if the employee were still employed and not included in the 2 ½ month inclusion rules. Severance pay beyond this is not includible in the definition of compensation.

The severance is paid from October 1, 2013 through March 1, 2014. The terminated employee defers and receives the match during this time period.

Question: The match and the deferrals will need to be removed from the participants account. Do the 2013 ineligible deferrals need to be paid on a revised 2013 W2? Or can you pay out the deferral to the employee with a 2014 1099 or 2014 W2? How do you correct this?

Thank you

I have a Daily Valulation platform 401(k) plan that imposes a 10% deferral limit to HCEs. They have two HCE employees who exceeded this limit in the 2013 plan year.

#1 - Should these excesses be processed and 1099'd like a 402g violation?

(Process by 4/15/14; excess amount taxable in year deferred and 1099'd with tax code P; applicable gain taxable in year distributed and 1099'd with tax code 8)

or

#2 - Should this excess be processed as an EPCRS type correction? (process the excess amount adjusted for gain loss and report the total with tax code E.)

The information I have found in the ERISA outlines and the 1099 instructions seem to lean toward #2 but wanted to see if anyone can provide definitive guidance.

Thank you.