Felicia

When must catch-up contributions for 2003 be made to an IRA?

Can the employer change designated financial institutions during the year or must the employer wait until January 1st to make the change?

Are SIMPLE IRAs subject to the 415 limits?

Can a participant in a governmental 457 plan roll over assets to a conduit IRA? That is, roll the assets to a traditional IRA and after enrolling in a new governmental 457 plan, roll the assets into the new employer's 457 plan? If so, can the rolled over monies be treated like other 457 monies? In essence the monies will go from a governmental 457 to IRA to another governmental 457.

Are these restricted to NHCEs or can they be made for HCEs too?

If a survivng spouse is one of several beneficiaries, can the surviving spouse rollover his/her portion to his/her own IRA AFTER separate accounts are established?

If an individual made contributions to an IRA but was not allowed to take a tax-deduction, e.g., he was a participant in a plan and his income exceeded the permissible limits for the deduction. A participant can have after-tax monies in a 401(k) if he defaulted on a loan then paid back the loan.

Assuming the employee retired and has a 401(k) account, can the RMD be satisfied by after-tax monies? Would the answer be the same if the monies were in an IRA that had pre and post tax monies?

Participant dies in 2002. There are three primary beneficiaries, one of which is surviving spouse; RMDs are taken in year of death. In 2003, accounts are separated and survivng spouse rolls over monies into a new traditional IRA in his name (treats as own). Surviving spouse is over 70-1/2 and needs to take RMDs this year.

Can an eligible 457 plan, i.e., governmental plan, choose which employees are eligible? For example, can the plan provide coverage for a select number/class of employees?

If an accountholder is receiving systematic payments from his IRA, does he need to receive a W-4P each year? Or, does one W-4P at the time of the first distribution cover all future payments, regardless of the year distributed?

When using the IRS Model Custodial Agreement or Trust Agreement: SEPs require that the same percentage of compensation be made for each employee. Partners are considered employees for SEP purposes. Therefore, it appears that each partner must have the same percentage of compensation made to the SEP. Is that correct? If so, can the partners have different percentages if they set up their own SEPs? That is, can each partner establishes his or her own SEP?

If an Employer files under Chapter 11, how does this affect the 401(k) plan? Are there any circumstances when a participant's account can be used to pay legal fees? If so, is there a cap on how much can be deducted from a participant's account? If fees can be deducted from a participant's account, can the account be held hostage until all bankruptcy work had been completed and all fees are paid? If there a governmental agency that can give some guidance on this please advise which agency. Thanks.

If a participant takes a distribution due to an unforseen emergency must the participant suspend salary deferrals? If so, how long is the required suspension? Cites would be helpful.

Are loans available from 401(a) plans that are not 401(k)s? Does it matter if the employer is a private entity or a governmental entity? If so, how? Cites would be helpful. Thanks.

If an employee converts his SEP/SARSEP/SIMPLE into a Roth IRA, then learns that he has a failed conversion and wants to recharacterize, do the assets go back into the original IRA type or are they recharacterized into a traditional IRA?

When must contributions be made to 403(b) arrangements? What happens if contributions are deducted from compensation and sent to the investment company but are never received?

Assuming the 402(g) limits are met, is there any problem with an individual's being covered by 2 SIMPLEs where the employers are not part of a controlled group, etc.?

I'm trying to determine how practioners handle situations where a participant takes out a loan and then dies before it is repaid. Does your loan policy state that the loan will automatically go into default?

If a sole proprietor has a SIMPLE IRA, makes "salary reduction contributions" throughout the year but dies prior to making the employer contribution, is an employer contribution still required? If so, who makes it (there are no other employees)?

What records must a custodian/trustee keep and for how long must they be kept?

What are the record retention rules for custodians/trustees of IRA accounts? That is, what IRA records must be kept and how long must they be kept?

The early withdrawal penalty tax does not apply to a distribution used to pay medical expenses in excess of 7-1/2% of AGI. If an accountholder is married, filing jointly, can the distribution avoid the penalty if it is used to pay medical expenses for the spouse? children?

Accountholder dies prior to annuity starting date. Surviving spouse is sole beneficiary. Surviving spouse can: (1) take a distribution upon death and avoid the early withdrawal penalty; (2) leave money in the account and begin RMDs when the decedent would have attained age 70-1/2. Query: Can survivng spouse take a partial distribution without penalty and leave the balance in the account? If so, how many years can the surviving spouse take partial distributions and avoid the penalty by indicating that the distribution is on account of death, i.e., can this go on indefinitely?

An employer set up a SIMPLE IRA. No elective deferrals were made to the plan. However, the employer did make the nonelective contribution he promised to make. Do you see any problem with this?