ratherbereading

Yes. I do agree with you there!

My memory of the events was a little fuzzy so my original post was a little off. What actually happened was the plan in question was amended to exclude the participant from any employer contribution for 2015. Per the legal settlement agreement with the employer (she had sued them for discrimination), upon her voluntarily termination in 2015, she waived all rights to any employer $$ in exchange for a $110,000 settlement from the employer.

First, Larry, I didn't decide to do this willy nilly. Second, we have ERISA attorneys on staff as well as our owner, who knows what he's doing (with at least as many initials after his name as you have, lol!) We are one of the top TPAs in the country. So, no, I didn't cause any problem, it was totally legitimate. If I remember the plan involved I shall give you the details.

This happened with one of my plans 2 or 3 years ago. We had the trustee draft a letter and the participant signed it stating they forfeited all rights for future contributions -- something like that. It was an ugly breakup and they gave the participant a bonus upon termination because they wanted to get rid of them. So no PS or SH for them.

Is there a human resources person he can speak to that can contact the Third Party Administrator, if they have one, administering the plan? I know for the TPA I work for it's the plan administrator that decides if a hardship meets all qualifications, not the 401k provider (e.g. Nationwide, MassMutual). Not sure if your husband's situation is the same re his 401k plan. Hope it works out for you!

What does the plan document say re age to participate? Our documents state that you have to be 21 to participate.

This is a small company - doctor's office - they don't have an attorney on staff, but I did advise them to contact one.

No that wasn't her plan at all.

Yes that is what I ended up doing!

Yes, that provision was added with the Bipartisan Budget Act; however, you don't need to allow it. Our TPA has chosen not to allow our clients to use Safe Harbor $$ toward hardships. Here's some reading on it: https://www.asppa-net.org/news/irs-issues-new-guidance-hardship-distributions

I'm not missing the point, but thank you for the help!

All the research I've done indicates that an IC is classified as a non-employee, and the plan document defines wages as W2 wages.

No one advised her to change. She wants to change due to tax reasons, as she puts it.

The office manager in a plan I administer (profit sharing/3% safe harbor) wants to be become an independent contractor paid via a 1099 instead of a W2 employee. Nothing in her job would change, just the way she is paid. I know this would make her no longer an employee, and she would no longer be able to participate in the plan, but not sure how to advise her on the myriad of other things it could affect. She is also the HR person, so I can't refer her to the HR dept.

"Dear" isn't like the word Darling. It's a business convention—the way we open a business letter, even if we don't like the person. Similarly, "Sincerely yours" is the convention we use to close a letter, even for someone we have never met and to whom we definitely do not belong.

If you can't tell, go with "Dear Shan". That always works! Or, Google and see if you can find out more info.

Best wishes on your retirement. My mom is 98 1/2 and in good health. I have a few years till retirement--will be so glad to be out of this racket. Enjoy your time with your mom!

We have just started doing so. It's working out well so far, but it's only been a couple of months.

What does the plan document say? Ask your employer for the Summary Plan Description if you don't have one already. I do have a couple of plans who allow loans only for hardship reasons. Or maybe the plan doesn't allow for loans at all. Good luck!

Thank you!

An alternate payee is ready to take her QDRO distribution out of Nationwide. Part of the money she received from her ex spouse is Roth money. There is no prohibition on her rolling the entire Roth balance out, correct? She's either rolling everything to an IRA or to another 401k plan.

Yes they do.

We use Relius and I am pretty sure the participant counts are all at zero when we roll the plan to the new year...But yes, I add new entrants to the participant count.

No, our compliance department does not use the DOL calculator if they are not filing a VFCP application. They are adamant that this should not be done.

A plan that does not annually allocate forfeiture amounts may jeopardize its qualified plan status. Can you allocate it to eligible participants?