Are filed 5500 forms public information that anyone can obtain ?

[Guest Moe Howard2]

I recently heard a local rumor that anyone can freely download a copy of any plan's 5500 off some website.

For example: It's possible for ANYONE to go to some website and download the 2002 Form 5500 of the Mayo Clinic- 401(k) Plan, Bob's Hardware Store-PSP, etc.

I never thought that was possible or legal.

I knew that Form 990 of charitable organizations were pubic information and open to public inspection because of their nonprofit status. There are a few websites from which anyone can download a copy of any annual 990 return of any organization.

But I never thought that a copy of a plan's 5500 was available on line to the general public.

Please tell me this is nonsense!

[Lori Friedman]

Check out www.freeerisa.com

All 5500 forms filed with the U.S. Department of Labor under ERISA are open for public inspection.

[Harwood]

Form 5500 and virtually all Schedules have in the upper right: "This Form is Open to Public Inspection"

[Tom Poje]

the exception being (of course) the SSA since that has social security numbers

[Lori Friedman]

Another exception: I believe that the public disclosure requirement applies only to ERISA plans, and self-employment plans (the common vernacular, but nontechnical term, is "Keogh") aren't covered by ERISA.

So, if Bob's Hardware Store has any eligible employees, the PSP's Form 5500 will be disclosed to the public. But, if just Bob, his wife, and Bob's partners benefit from the plan, there shouldn't be a Form 5500 disclosure requirement.

Have we just discovered a compelling reason to file Form 5500-EZ instead of Form 5500? Does the Dept. of Labor automatically exclude Form 5500-EZ from public distribution?

[david rigby]

Schedule E is also not open to public inspection.

[SoCalActuary]

One of the sites to check is freeERISA.com where you can get some back 5500 information. The times I have checked, it gave some useful information. However, it is generally ancient news by the time posted.

[Lame Duck]

There are also vendors, such as Larkspur Data or Judy Diamond, who will compile and then sell the information contained on the 5500 forms. This is often more effective than freeerisa.com, although the data is usually a couple of years old. This is a frequent tool of financial advisors searching for new markets with existing assets.