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Hi to All, If a 401(k) plan is on a platform like John Hancock, and JH produces the 404(a)(5) notice, how must it be distributed? It's available on the participant's account page at JH. Is it enough to tell the participants via an email or a written memo how they can access it themselves on their account page? Or must the employer access it off the Plan Sponsor page, download it, and either distribute paper copies or email it to the participants? Must this be done every quarter? I am not picking on John Hancock - I could have used any platform provider - we just happen to have a number of plans with them. Thanks for any information you can provide. Yes I realize we should already know this and we are getting to the table late but better late than never!

Hello All, I find myself in a difficult position with requesting a hardship withdrawal from the 401k account I have through my employer. The reason for the withdrawal is medical, but I'm reluctant to provide documentation due to the sensitive nature of the expenses. I am a cancer survivor, and part of my treatment involved the use of strong opiates to deal with pain. While the cancer seems to be defeated (at least for now), the opiate addiction isn't. While these are legally prescribed opiates, they are clearly having a negative impact on my personal and professional life, but I find myself unable to quit on my own. My doctor has recommended that I check in to an in-patient rehabilitation clinic for opiate addiction. Such a facility, however, is very expensive, and is not fully covered by my medical insurance (my responsibility could be anywhere from 10k to 50k, depending on a variety of factors - my retirement funds can comfortably cover even the largest estimate, so I can "afford" it in that regard). Due to various other medical and personal expenses, I have already leveraged my loans and non-hardship withdrawal - this is my only remaining option. For obvious reasons, I do not want to inform my employer that I am attending an in-patient rehabilitation clinic for drug addiction. My plan seems to require that I submit documentation detailing the costs, but I feel that doing so would jeopardize my continued employment or impact my career negatively in other aspects (regardless of whether or not it is legal or proper for them to do so, I find it likely that this will occur due to the nature of my industry). What can I do to provide the requested data without revealing that it is related to drug addiction? Is it a crime to falsify this data by altering the bills to make it look as though it's for a different medical expense? What other recourse do I have? I'm desperate to get clean before it ruins my career, marriage, and life, but revealing this information may well do that anyway. I feel hopeless and trapped - is there anything I can do? Thank you in advance for any information or advice you can provide.

ERISA Section 105 requires benefit statement to include a statement of "vested percentage of such benefits (or the earliest date on which benefits will become vested)". Do you agree that the "earliest date" is the date on which a participant becomes partial vested? That is, on a 2/20 vesting schedule, does a participant "become vested" when they become 20% vested or when they become 100% vested? Thanks