doombuggy

I have a fiscal 9/1/09-8/31/10 PY that has 29 people that terminated in the prior plan year (2008), but received compensation in the 2009 plan year. The amounts range from 32 cents to $123.77. None of them have hours, deferrals, match or profit sharing allocations. We are debating as to whether they should be included in the testing. As of now, they are not showing up on the census count, as they term'd in the prior year and were paid out (if they had an account balance to begin with). This plan is in Datair's PE-WIN system. Thoughts?

Yes, I do see the deduction on my weekly paystub from the mouse. I was looking at the SPD again, and it covers hourly employees in both union & non-union roles. My position is covered by a union (but I am not in it). I thought I had called the benefits area a few years back with some questions, and one of the answers I got was that if I left the company I would receive what I put into the plan - with interest I think. I do see that the plan is covered by the PBGC. Thanks for your thoughts. I will contact them again to find out why I am not getting the statements I thought I should be...

I work with DC plans, but am in a DB plan at my part time job. The company removes 7 cents for every hour I work each weekly pay period and puts it in the plan. In order to be vested, I must work at least 750 hours per year for 4 years that I am a participant. Any service prior to becoming a participant does not count. I started in the plan in August 2004. I have only worked between about 600 - 650 hours per year, as I only work 2 days a week over there. Since I never work enough hours each year, I don't earn the vested service. You can become vested by reaching a monetary plateau, of which I am almost halfway there. My main question is that I thought it was required that DB plans issued statements to participants at least every three years. I get the SAR, but have never gotten a statement in the 6 years I have been in the plan. Shouldn't I be getting something, even though I am not vested, as I am putting money in this plan ($244.34 as of 7/8/2010)? My part-time employer is one of the largest employers here in central FL and we do have a company intranet, but I have never been able to find info on the plan specfic to me here. Thanks for your thoughts.

i don't know the markets for Boston or Seattle, but in the Philadelphia area, there are quite a few options. whether there are openings is another story.... I have said to my family that if I got laid off at my job here, I would move back home (braving the snow again) as there are more opportunities there. (sorry, I am from Philadelphia).

A co-worker just came to me with this strange question/scenario. Potential client is an American co that apparently has a satalite office that is in Canada. The office is staffed by Canadians and paid in their country's money. The potential client is thinking of setting up a 401(k) plan. Can they set up a plan that excludes this office?

OPR has told me that any CE earned prior to my enrollment does NOT count towards what I need for the year. I passed exam #2 in February this year, but did not have my enrollment granted until 5/7/10. Any CE earned after that date counts. I have this in writing from them (email). I think I had 2 CE credits with ASPPA that I wanted to apply that I earned this year and they said no. I think you are SOL. They also told me that Circular 230 tells you what number of credits you need for the year you get your certification - 2 for each month from the month you are granted the enrollment (including that month). So for me, it was 16, which I have been scrambling to get. The IRS does sponsor phone forums which are free, so check out their newsletter.

Participant in her own plan requested a loan in April 2009 for $25,000. We told her she could only take $20,000, due to the fact that she had had another loan in the previous 12 months. She already took the money anyway, so we gave her a deemed distribution of $5000. She received a 1099-R for this in January. I thought her loan should then be set up for the $20,000, with her taking the extra $5000 as a distribution when doing the 2009 annual valuation. Boss disagreed with me and had me set up the loan for $25,000. The participant was supposed to make 3 quarterly payments in 2009 and 1 in 2010 to pay the loan off. We FINALLY received all the data to complete this val last week (she's under $250k so no EZ) and she indicated that she only made a payment of $1500 (her quarterly payments were at least $6k each). She made this payment in the 3rd qtr of 2009. The loan is now in default, but needs to wait for a distributable event to offset. It will continue to accrue interest. The problem is that now my boss thinks we should have the loan as $20,000, not $25,000, and apply the payment of $1500 to that lower number, since she received the deemed distribution of $5000. What are your thoughts on which way is correct? As an added bonus, the loan was taken out so that she could help her husband buy a car (he is not in the plan, not an employee of the company). He was supposed to be paying it back. Guess what - they are getting a divorce...

good one! I'm going to wait to let the client know/send the 5558 until early next week, in case Datair comes thru on Monday. although all my 5500s were completed as of last week, I sure am looking forward to some vacation time! I just hope the rain is kept to a minimum in England & France - been planning this trip for 2 years and am excited to go to Disneyland Paris for Halloween, as they do it up right!

I have a plan that disbursed the last of their assets in March of this year. This means that the Final 5500 should be filed at the end of this month. The client did obtain signer credentials for EFAST2 for their 2009 filing. Datair had said that they were going to have their 2010 forms ready for their software update by october, but now they have changed their minds on me (shocker, I know). I wasn't sure if we could file a 5558 to extend the deadline of the 5500 for a final or not. My boss says no, but Datair says yes. Forgive me if i don't trust the software provider.... So can I file a 5558 for this client? I also have one due 11/30, but I hope that Datair will have their promise fulfilled by then. I leave for a two week trip to Europe on the 22nd of this month, so I was trying to get the 10/31 filing done before then. We aren't going the IFILE route BTW. Thansk for your opinions...

I agree w/ you. If after asking for this "stuff" for 9 months they still can't get their act together, then it's their own fault. Sometimes I get so sick of being a babysitter to these people. My old boss used to say "we aren't the pension police." I just filed my last 5500 with EFAST2. I have one client that has not returned a signed copy of their EZ to us; they'll get a reminder on Monday, but that's it.

I agree. I have done 3 of these and am scheduled for the 9/30 forum. Can't beat free!! I am also pushing for the DOL Speaks live stream that ASPPA is offering next week. $250 for 7 ERPA (and ASPPA) credits is pretty good (especially we you need 16!)

Your comment about us service professionals being well informed, etc is all well and nice, but while I sit here asking one of my clients AGAIN to confirm if they are making a profit sharing contribution for 2009, I am wishing that what the OP heard is true. I cannot finish their 5500 if I don't know what's on it!!!!! and it could be that the OP is in the same boat! I have 4 slackers and 5 clients that I am waiting for them to get their credentials (we don't sign for them), so all I can say is if these don't get done, it's certainly not my fault!

I have a plan that allows for a participant to direct their salary deferrals only; their safe harbor and their profit sharing go into a pooled account that is directed by the trustee. Would you consider this 404© compliant? My boss wants me to code their 5500-SF with a 2F and I disagree.

mine too..... The worst part is that, in working for a small business that apparently has no money, I am going to end up paying for this fee, plus for obtaining all the required CE credits that used to be paid for by the employer who wanted me to get the ERPA designation in the first place. I already work two jobs! :angry:

If a plan meets the eligibility requirements to be able to use the SF, are they required to do so? Or is it a matter of choice? Some of my plans are with carriers that I will file an A and possibly a D; some are not. Does it make a difference that I am using the 5500 instead of the SF? I can't find anything in the instructions that requires you to use the SF if the plan qualifies....

The participant was working at the company still when she died. The employer has a copy of the death certificate, I assume for other reasons related to her employment. I don't think this is a scam - she's really dead. I have asked the client if they are sure that she was not married. I had a participant die in a suspious car accident back when I worked at BISYS, and he had indicated to the ER that he was not married and named his 2 sons as benes. As it turned out, he WAS married (never got divorced) and she was trying to claim the plan assets. she was also a "person of interest" in the car "accident." We told the client to consult a lawyer..... We are looking at about $60k here; I'm leaning the cautious way....

I just got back from vacation to find a message on my answering machine about a dec'd participant in one of my plans. We always tell the client to obtain an original copy of the death certificate when processing the distribution(s) for a participant's beneficiary(ies). this participant died earlier this year and apparently her bene is not a family member. The clerk of courts won't give this person an original death certificate, and the family is upset ~ apparently they are not happy with who the named bene is.... The client has a copy of the death certificate, but not an original. Under these circumstances, and assuming that the dec'd enrollment form (on file with the client, not us) states that this person is the bene of this unmarried participant, do you think we could proceed with the distribution - or would you just advise the client to speak to an erisa atty?

Where are you seeing a signature? I have been sending my clients a link to the posting on the EFAST website and all it does is print the person's name in the box where they would have signed the paper? Or maybe you are referring to the Sch B attachments (which I don't work with)?

Ah, how I miss Relius! As one of those people in a TPA firm that hasn't started filing yet, that is NO fault of ours. We have Datair, which was only recently approved by the DOL (within the past week or two), but hasn't updated the software, so I am still sitting here with my thumb in my ear.....waiting!

Thanks for the thoughts. We were told that we are going to get extra time off, earned each pay period. Better than nothing and it works for me, since I work 7 days a week!

Thanks. We were thinking that if she gives us some additional time off, until she can give us a pay rasie, it would be pretty cost effective for her. It's a plus for me, since I work two jobs, so I don't get a day off unless the office is closed or I take a day off from either job.

Thanks for replying. At least your employer made some effort and did communicate to the employees. In our case, the whole thing was just ignored by mgmt in 2009. About a week & a half ago, I brought up the subject at our last staff meeting, and made the suggestion that if for some reason the company can't afford some kind of pay raise, maybe some time off compensation would be a solution. The owner liked that idea, but has yet to meet with our boss (the vp) to discuss it. We are a small office of about 8 people, but can't help feeling like we are forgotten or getting the shaft. anyone else have some thoughts to share?

I have been in this industry since 1991 and experienced a year without a pay raise only once before, in 2002. With the problems in our economy and the market, we have not recieved any raises in our office since April 2008 (we all get a raise in pay by the end of April, as opposed to our anniversary). We did our EGTRRA restatements from November 2009 through April 2010, and billed for them too. While our employer hasn't let us know if we aren't getting a pay raise, she's hinting that it won't happen for the second year in a row. We are concerned. Is anyone else out there in this business experiencing this? Yes, we have lost some clients - some have gone out of business and some have elected to terminate the plan to save money. We have aquired some new plans, but not as many as we have lost. My co-workers and I are worried that we billed out so much extra with the restatement, yet no raise? We also completed the ERPA at our owner's request. Your thoughts?

Philly still misses Harry Kalas (the Voice of the Phillies) and Gene Hart (the Voice of the Flyers).

I have had a slightly different issue. A client requested a distribution via his broker on 12/30/09. The plan is terminating, but he wanted a portion in cash asap; the broker was trying to get it done before year end. They told me over the phone that the client/owner/trustee wanted a $20k lump sum with the rest rolled over. Twice I gave them specific instructions for a 20k lump sum - $20,000 gross, $4000 tax and $16,000 net. Early January I get a tax check for $5000. When i questioned the broker about it, he told me to send it back & it would be reissued. As it turns out, they wanted the client to get a NET check of $20k, so the tax check was correct. Needless to say, by the time it was sent to the IRS, it was the end of January. The client ended up getting some kind of noice that the payment was late. Because of the broker's screw-ups, they elected to take care of it themselves (they are the CPA as well, and can speak to the IRS - we have 2 ERPAs here & I am waiting on my confirm, but we would have charged to make the call). I just got a VMM form another client that may have gotten the same type of letter. I have asked her to send it over, but it is making me wonder what is going on there?