Demosthenes

I'd interpret it as on death "If the executor of the estate of any decedent satisfies the right of any person to receive a pecuniary bequest" http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/26/usc_...-000-notes.html This type of bequest is usually seen with some rather complex estate planning.

Still have to disagree. There's always this golden oldie Title 29 Chapter 18 Sub-chapter I Subtitle B part 5 § 1144 Other laws Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of this subchapter and subchapter III of this chapter shall supersede any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan described in section 1003 (a) of this title and not exempt under section 1003 (b) of this title. Since there's no provision for a stamp tax in ERISA... On a more practical level having worked in the state of FL and worked for organizations that serviced Plans and participants in FL, I have never applied the documentaty stamp tax. Mostly because I don't believe it's applicable but also how do you put the stamp tax language language into the Plan document? What about multi-state employers? I also think it's an Abignale kind of thing

I agree "Documentary stamp tax is generally payable by any of the parties to a taxable transaction." Rule 12B-4, Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 201, Florida Statutes Interest on the loans is not a taxable transaction until distributed. At which time ERISA regs prevail.

Class A shares generally have charge a fee for each deposit expressed as a % of the amount invested and lower annual, ongoing fees. (compared to B Shares) Class B shares generally have a charge for amounts withdrawn expressed as a % of the amount paid out and higher annual, ongoing fees. (compared to A shares) If you decide to buy, read the prospectus and compare to similar types of funds to determine if the fees are reaonable and that the funds returns justify the cost. However, there a plenty of good funds out there that don't charge either type of fee and have low annual, ongoing fees. The fund screening tools at Morningstar, Quicken, and Money make the process quick and relatively painless.

This topic is way bigger than a bread box. Some starter articles http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,310169,00.html http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,295301,00.html http://www.bizbuysell.com/guide/sell_1.htm

It certainly has an impact on the statement but may or may not have an impact on net income. First off, stock contributions represent an expense to the employer. If it's not an expense how can you get the nice tax deduction? Look at it another way, if the company were to contribute cash to the Plan and buy stock, they'd certainly record the cash contribution as an expense. Are they contributing treasury stock or buying on the open market? That determines dilution versus a reduction in net income.

Sorry JanetM, I have to disagree. I'd class them as Mutual Funds. ETF's are open ended investment funds organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940. http://www.sec.gov/answers/etf.htm http://www.law.uc.edu/CCL/InvCoAct/sec5.html

PIIBX Morningstar Category Conservative Allocation Morningstar Rating * Expense Ratio % 2.44 Front Load % None Deferred Load % 5.00 IMHO, the only person making money from this fund was your advisor. Couldn't find a listing for WPAX. Here's my suggestion: READ, READ , READ about Mutual Funds and Asset Allocation. lots of great articles out there on these topics. Armed with that knowledge: 1) Go to Google, type in "Asset Allocation Tool" Here's a couple that came up. http://www.smartmoney.com/oneasset/ http://financialcalculators.americanexpres...eng/asset01.fcs Run through a couple of the calculators to get your preferred mix of Stocks, Bonds, Cash based on your investment horizon and risk tolerance. Quicken and Morningstar also have good tools if you want to go through the minimal trouble of registering. Also, odds are good that your current financial institution has the same kind of tool somewhere on their web site. 2) Armed with your preferred mix, hit Morningstar, Yahoo, Amex, Quicken , your current financial institution and hit their Fund Screener. Load in the type of fund your looking for, performance, expenses etc. for each category. I'd look for below category average expenses above category average performance for 5 & 10 year horizons Morningstar rating of 4 *'s or better No front end load No deferred load Initial investment of 1000 (I'm assuming your current Roth balance in the 8 - 10 k range which would let you pick 8-10 funds) 3) Get a quote from your current institution on how much it's going to cost you to exit entirely and how much you can transfer without incurring the deferred load 4)Set your final fund selection based on the $ that will be available 5)Shop for a financial institution that will let you have those funds, has low expenses for maintaining the Roth, accepts direct deposit in return for lower fees Repeat 1 - 4 every 3 months, ay least every 6 in the event that your fund changes or your risk tolerance changes and/or to rebalance your portfolio back to your original asset allocation. I won't kid you, there a big initial investment of time and effort. But, it will payoff.

If privacy and asset protection are your objectives, Private Banking may be a fit. This kind of wealth management service is kind of out of scope for BenefitsLink, but a quick Google of Private Banking turned up Credit-Suisse J P Morgan Bank of America Boston Private Bank HSBC Private Banking Just a couple of quick notes, First, I am not associated with, nor do I have a financial interest in, the companies listed above. They are just the results of a search. Second, most companies offering private banking, sometimes referred to as "family office services" have 6 or 7 figure minimums to qualify for this level of service. Those numbers have been coming down as technology makes it cost effective to offer higher service levels for lower accumulated balances. Finally, there are a number of sites and individuals that will try to convince you that off-shoring assets is the way to go for privacy and asset protection. The pros and cons of this approach would fill a text book. The only answer is to do your own due diligence.

The custodian of an IRA is usually a bank or another financial institution with sufficient controls, capital, infrastructure to prove to the IRS that they won't screw up the process. To be a "Custodian" is an arduous process that can take 6-12 months. Becoming the "Custodian" is usually not a viable solution for an individual. IRC 408 (h) Custodial accounts For purposes of this section, a custodial account shall be treated as a trust if the assets of such account are held by a bank (as defined in subsection (n)) or another person who demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that the manner in which he will administer the account will be consistent with the requirements of this section, and if the custodial account would, except for the fact that it is not a trust, constitute an individual retirement account described in subsection (a). For purposes of this title, in the case of a custodial account treated as a trust by reason of the preceding sentence, the custodian of such account shall be treated as the trustee thereof. I guess I'm fuzzy about your objective, what is it that you are trying to accomplish?

I recommend Pension Seance Shut off all lights, place copies of ERISA regs or IRC on head, hold hands, chant, and signed documents appear from the beyond!! But, if your looking for a mundane solution, VCP is tailor made for this one.

One more thought, your original post stated "An IRA owner had systematic distribution on a monthly basis from his IRA. he died in September 2004, but the distributions continued" Was this a required minimum distribution? It's unusual, but in some circumstances (e.g. spousal beneficiary, where the spouse is older than the deceased) the RMD amount can actually rise after the date of death. Off topic from your original question, but I ran into something similar recently.

Two assumptions: 1) Somebody cashed the checks made payable to the deceased. Hopefully, this someone had a Power of Attorny that made it possible to cash cheks payable to the deceased 2) A Beneficiary Distribution Account (BDA) was not established. If both are true, then I don't see where there is much that the Bank can do. They were not notified of the death and did not establish an IRA-BDA, they did not make the distribution to the Beneficiary.

A lot of the articles and NLRB filings talked about other unions picketing shops where NPW 707 was the collective bargaining agent, yet the NPW union employees were not earning prevailing wages and benefits. Or where a union was in the process of unionizing a shop when the company brought in NPW as the preferred choice. Just as some background, in organized labor circles "a company union" is an epithet. It means the the union is just a front for management and can be counted on not to agressively bargain or to work to safeguard the member's interests. What raises my ire here is the thought of employees paying union dues so that the principals of the company can end up with a bigger piece of the corporate profits. It's kind of like paying the headsman to use a sharp axe.

Reading the previous posts, I was wondering why an Employer would institute a union? Why subject themselves to annual collective bargaining, fees for a labor lawyer to represent the Company, greivance processes, collection of union dues etc. etc. simply to slice the benefits pie differently? Isn't there an easier way to do this? Cross tested plans, DB plans, even SS integrated, would shift the distribution around and would probably be a whole lot less painful than a CBA. So, cynical fellow that I am, I googled the union rather than UFG. Lo and Behold, what do I find? Lots of stories on the union, not many of which are complimentary. http://www.rockrivertimes.com/index.pl?cmd...&cat=16&id=9234 Winnebago County Board member Mary Ann Aiello (R-9), who has immersed herself in the issue, said “independent union” means the National Production Workers are not affiliated with any national organization, such as AFL-CIO. She also alleged the National Production Workers is regarded as a union that “caters to the company rather than the workers. ...They’re known as a company union.” http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/daily/iss.../e-picket.shtml The picketer, Ian Main, is an organizer from Local 58. The local says workers from G & L Contractors, 7401 St. Louis Ave., are receiving substandard wages. G & L workers are unionized by Local 707 of the National Production Workers Union. There were planty more stories in a similar vein. This type of a CBA may technically stay within the regulations, but I have to shave every morning and I prefer to be able to use the mirror.

I heard this one from someone who was there, as a result of diligent lobbying, Group Annuity contracts issued by Insurance Companies are exempt from ERISA. The story was that they spread a lot of money around (this was pre PAC and campaign finance reform) to get GAs exempted TITLE 29--LABOR CHAPTER 18--EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY PROGRAM SUBCHAPTER I--PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RIGHTS Subtitle B--Regulatory Provisions part 4--fiduciary responsibility Sec. 1103. Establishment of trust (b) Exceptions The requirements of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply-- (1) to any assets of a plan which consist of insurance contracts or policies issued by an insurance company qualified to do business in a State; Sweet, huh?

Here area couple of links that might help. At least one of the providers assumes fiduciary responsibility. http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=28358 ProNvest Expands Rollover Services February 7, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - As an extension of their advice, managed account, and rollover services, Atlanta-based ProNvest has announced several product enhancements. Through its data interface with SunGard (see SunGard, ProNvest Unveil Automatic Rollover Service), ProNvest is able to assume fiduciary responsibility on behalf of plan sponsors and to coordinate directly with plan administrators to identify participants eligible for mandatory rollover, as well as coordinate all data transfer and notification requirements. http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=28424 Millennium Unveils Automatic IRA Solution February 14, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Millennium Trust Company has unveiled an automatic rollover solution for missing and non-responsive participants of employer-sponsored retirement plans. http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=27857 E-Trade to Provide Rollover IRA Accounts Mandated by EGTRRA December 20, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – E-Trade Securities has announced that it will provide individual retirement accounts to 401(k) investors with assets that fall under the September amendment to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001. Beginning in March 2005, through an exclusive agreement with rollover solutions provider Wealth Management Systems, Inc., E*TRADE Securities will accept rollover assets from 401(k) accounts belonging to participants who have changed or left their jobs and missed their 401(k) rollover deadline. The firms

Also, the fact that it's an S corp raises a few flags. S corp status is normally selected by sole props or partnerships to preserve the sole prop or partnership taxation while limiting liability to the assets of the corporation. An S corp with an ESOP makes me wonder if the Corp is privately held. There could be publicly traded S corps. I've never seen one but I can't claim to have seen it all yet either. If that's the case, the relationship between the owners, the principals of the corporation (possibly the same people), the ESOP, and the property may call for a higher level of scrutiny.

Another potential cost item hinges on whether or not your firm has a SAS 70 which would permit the client's auditor to perform a limited scope audit. If the prior RK had a SAS 70 and you don't, the auditor's charges to the client will probably rise since the auditor can no longer replay on the service provider's SAS 70. The cost to obtain a SAS 70 can be significant depending on the auditing firm, the size of the service provider, type of business etc etc. I couldn't even give you a SWAG.

Potential problem is that the SEP contributions can be quite a bit higher than the limits for a traditional IRA. The custodian may kick them as excess amounts.

Here's a quick sample of some of my personal favorites: For portfolio builders and fund screeners CBS Marketwatch http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/pftools/d...asp?siteid=mktw Morningstar http://www.morningstar.com/Cover/PersonalF...?topnav=finance Quicken http://www.quicken.com/investments/ Free, but requires a logon E trade https://us.etrade.com/e/t/invest/research If you want some heavy weight analysis of asset allocation, try the knowledge center at Ibbotson Associates http://www.ibbotson.com/default.asp?Try=Yes Most/all mutual fund comapnaies and Broker/Dealers have some type of advice areas for account holders and for the general public. Also, a lot of DC plans offer advice from within the record keepers web site. Some are general asset allocation type sites, others are plan specific in that they'll present an asset allocation based on the specific funds available to your plan. A word of caution, a good asset allocation plan can't overcome a stable of bad funds. If all the funds available to your plan stink, the results are going to stink too. So do some independent confirmation of the results if you do use this method.

These are Northern Trust Institutional funds, tickers are probably BEICX, NSIDX, BIEDX. You need to confirm those ID's with the plan admin to be sure you have the right funds and classes. These are all index funds for the S & P 500, Russell 2000 Small Cap and the MSCI-EAFE index, respectively. No front end loads, no contingent deferrred sales charge, lower that average expenses, but not the lowest for index funds. Index funds are fungible which makes the expenses key, you're not paying for expertise, just the cost of running the fund. Confirm the tickers and do your own due diligence. Mornginstar, Quicken etc have fund info, ranking tolls, and the ability to do sude by side comparisons. P.S. It's unlikely that any one here will provide investment advice or portfolio allocation strategies other than the vaguest generalities. Unless I'm your investment advisor and know a lot more about your financial situation and goals it would be inappropriate for me to make a recommendation. And No, I'm not looking for the job. There are too many good, free tools out there to make paying anybody for advice a good idea unless you have an unusual situation or significant assets

Strictly from an Operations perspective, administering a single prototype or volume submitter document simplifies training and streamlines processing. The more "vanilla" the book of business, the lower your costs and the greater your margins or the more competitive your pricing. On the flip side, no matter how vanilla the book, the vast majority of TPA's will never achieve the economies of scale of a large Fund Co, Wire house, Ins Co or Bank. For a small to moderate sized shop, competing on price is a loser from the get go. (JMHO) Better to compete on the basis of expertise, flexibility, and strength of relationship management. Regardless of my opinion, many shops do just that; require a client to climb on to their document. Then, when amendments are needed, it's a one shot deal to draft and approve the language. There's also no question of whether or not systems or policies and procedures can support the amended language. With an outside doc, the administrative burden of drafting/reviewing each amendment and making the determination of whether or not it can be supported can swamp an operation. I don't have an answer here, just looking at the reasons behind the TPA's requirement

First the caveat, "consult a tax professional" That said, penalties and interest will be assessed. The forms are computer processed and will generate a demand letter, post 4/15. The "river of tears" letter (explaining why this happened and why it's not the taxpayer at fault) has to be read by a person and a judgement call made. The two are not likely to hook up in the IRS's system. The fact that the instructions specifically say you have to pay the excise and they were not paid, is also not a point in the tax payer's favor If it's this tax year, file an amended return and pay the tax. Let the letter work through the system and hopefully get the refund.

Unfortunately, many brokers are correct about penalties for withdrawing money from ROTHS. They just "forget" to mention one little detail, these aren't IRS penalties, they are back end loads on the crappy funds they stuck you in.