"401k plan is TH. Owner is over age 50. Owner does NOT want to make any employer contribution to the plan for plan year. I assume the owner cannot just make a $6,500 deferral for the year without triggering the top-heavy minimum to the non-key employees. I assume there is no way to classify a $6,500 deferral as catch-up only and thus avoid TH minimum because the plan would not fail ADP or violate 415 or 402(g)."

"I have a large company whose 401k excludes per diem employees. They have a 1 year, age 21 and 1,000 hours requirement for eligibility. Some of the per diem employees have met that eligibility requirement but are still per diem. Are they still excluded from the plan? Also, there are a few employees who were eligible for the plan then later on became per diem employees. Do they lose their eligibility to contribute?"

"My TPA firm is very small and 99% of our clients have less than 100 participants. Most have less than 40. I'm concerned that as time goes on, PEPs become more popular and my business is threatened. Is there an option for a small TPA firm to market PEPs? Can I join forces with a company that sponsors a PEP while I maintain TPA and consulting services for my clients? Thankfully, my market values local service but I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that clients won't jump ship if a PEP makes more sense for them and the popularity grows."

"An actuary brought up the following: A TPA that he works with set up a Cash Balance Plan. They're getting a maximum that is lower than the cash balance allocation per the formula. Does that sound right?"

"Back in the late 90's I opened a 401k for my solo consulting company. That 401k had Money Purchase and Profit Sharing Keough accounts at Fidelity. At some point in the 2000's the combined values of those two accounts exceeded $100k (neither was over $100k). I believe it was the year before the limit increased to $250k for requiring 5500's. I wasn't aware of that requirement and didn't find out until years later when I closed my consulting firm. I then got a bit freaked out about the possible penalties and just left the accounts sitting there. Dumb, I know. So, I need to finally deal with this. Can you confirm that it was the combined value of those two accounts that triggered the 5500 requirement? Or did each account have to get to $100k? If it's the combined value, how would you proceed? Send the final 5500 and hope for the best? Do the DVFC and pay the fines? Write a tear-stained letter begging forgiveness? Other options?"