Brian Gallagher

How does this affect the notice requirement? I thought ALL employer contributions that might be made during the upcoming year had to be in the notice, eg, profit sharing or match. Some people might have only deferred 5% because of the SH, but might have done more had there been a possibility of more match.

A guy rolled over to an IRA $25,000, of which $12,000 was employer money (match & P/S), and forfeited $5,000. He may be rehired w/in 5 yrs. Plan has buy-back provision, doc says to restore forfs, he must pay back ER portion. How does he go about that? Does he write us a check for the $12k? Does he have to remove it from his IRA? If he writes a check, won't that money be taxed twice, then? If he removes from IRA, what kind of transaction is it? Transfer? Rollover? Would he have to amend his taxes? (original distrib was 4 yrs ago). Any help would be appreciated.

Our plan (Corbel prototype) says that only the employer contributions and employer match need be paid back.

The definition of disabled should be in the paln document. From our document, a disabled participant is one who: "is unable to engage in substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." So, if the blind people are performing their jobs, they wouldn't be considered disabled under the plan. Of course, you are free to come up with the plan's definition of "disabled" to suit your own needs. Just be sure to get that determination letter.

Excluded people do not take part in the ADP/ACP test. It is only for eligible participants. Since they are excluded, they are not eligible to participate. You are correct, of course, that they are included for puposes of coverage testing.

any thoughts?

i would just close the fund to all the participants in the plan for future contributions and allow the people with money in the fund to keep it there or exchange out as they see fit. this way there's no problems.

Can a sponsor put the SPD on the company's intranet site and/or send it via e-mail? I thought e-mail was good, but not sure about intranet site.

where is that in the regs? about the addtional hardship of the loan?

I took the quote (two posts above) from Q 27:72 from Pension Answer Book 2003: "How is a hardship withdrawal determined to be necessary (Part 2) under the facts-and-circumstances test?"

We use SunGard's OMNI. We're pretty happy with it.

By not creditworthy, I meant that a bank may deny someone a loan because of the 401(k) loan. From the Pension Answer book 2003: "For example, the need for funds to purchase a principal residence cannot reasonably be relieved by a plan loan if the loan would disqualify the employee from obtaining other necessary financing." Maybe creditworthy wasn't the best word I could have used.

ALL 5% owners are always included (provided they are eligible for the plan!). If it turns out that they are the top wages earners then you are out of luck. Sound like you are out of luck already, since all nine will be counted.

A person must take all available loans available from all of the employer's plans. however, if the 401k loan would make the person not creditworthy for other loans, then the loan doesn't have to be taken.

Oddly enough, our prototype (written by Corbel) doesn't define "spouse".

Aren't people who have less than 1 yr of service already excludable from the coverage? Or am I confusing it with 410(b). (I really don't know much about 401(a)4 coverage).

What are the limits for contributions to a 457(b) Plan? I seem to remember it was $13k for this year. That would include deferrals, match and/or a discretionary contribution. (I guess it's sort of a 415 limit for 457 plans, but just at $13k)

Automatic cashout rule have to be written into the plan, don't they? On our document, the sponsor can require signatures for all distributions regardless of balance.

state tax may also apply, depending on the state.

it's not me, but the plan administraor. he gat an e-mail from the parent comapny. hopefully, i will be speaking with both of them in a few days.

i looked thru my prototype and i don't see the issue of rehires/distributions raised. does our doc "suck"? it was written by corbel--i thought they were generally pretty good. btw: isotopes rule!

it's also a document issue, i believe. if the basic plan document doesn't allow for different rate scheduled, then i don't think that would be allowed. our prototype allows for different maximum rates for NHCE's and HCE's, but no further divisions thereof.

as always, check the plan doc. but, generally, i believe, that the loan is considered in default at end of the quarter following the quarter in which the most recent payment was expected. i had somewhere a plr that stated a participant was still on the hook for the defaulted loan even though it wasn't his fault the loan wasn't paid. i'll look thru my papers to try to find the specific case.

The plan adminstrator told me that the parent company told him that his plan had to be "tested" along with the parent and one of the sister plans. i'm guessing one of the other two plans is not passing on it's own. my client, i believe, is a qslob, but we'll find out for sure soon. we've been testing only my client in the past. but the crux of my question, i think, was answered. if the plans are permissively aggregated, they have to have the same plan year. if they are required to be tested together, what then? (meaning two different plan years) (sorry if i'm a little incoherent, but it's been a LOOONNNNGGG day (week))

I have two plans that need to be tested together for 410(b), but they have different plan years: one is calendar the other is Oct-Sep. How do I go about that? Do I just test the portion of the plan year that over laps?