"Can a safe harbor match be added to an existing discretionary profit sharing plan mid year (i.e., after January 1?)"

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"My client created an LLC last year and purchased an existing nursing and rehab facility which employs about 40 people. There was no plan in place with the previous employer. Now they want to adopt a safe harbor 401k to benefit employees this year. Eligibility is one year of service (no credit for service with predecessor employer). Would this qualify as a 'new business' and thereby be exempt from auto enrollment for 3 years?"

"The question I am asking relates to the divorce of the plan administrator and their former spouse, this case takes place in Wisconsin. A brief overview of people involved:

• Person A: employee of company X, where they are not only the plan administrator but they are a partial owner (the other owners are family members as well)
• Person B: ex-spouse
• Lawyer A: Lawyer for Person A
• Fiduciary

Divorced was finalized in May of 2021. In January of 2022, the QDRO was filed and signed off by the judge with a May 2021 valuation date (this is key point for later on). The QDRO was signed by Lawyer A, with a December 2022 date, however, court records show that they had withdrawn from the case in June of 2022.

• Does the dates above invalidate the QDRO? Since the signature date of Lawyer A doesn't make sense?

As of August 2025 the QDRO was never executed and the assets in Person A's 401k were never split, Person A has been contributing to the plan since the divorce was finalized. In order to get things finished and complete the QDRO, person B asked for plan documents to understand what they were entitled to do with the money owed to them (like rollover, cash out etc) as they had not been given ANY documents prior to this.

• Person A supplied a SPD dated August 2021 and claimed that was enough information and that was all they had.
  • Under Miscellaneous: Domestic Relations Orders -- 'You may obtain, without charge, a copy of the Plan's QDRO procedures from the Plan Administrator'. If this document exists it hasn't been provided
• Person B spent weeks asking for more plan documents and then received a Adoption Agreement with the same effective date as the SPD (August 2021), Person A then stated again that they have provided everything they have and everything that Person B needs.
  • Only relevant information in this is that the valuation date is 'Each Business Day'
• More correspondence over another few weeks led to Person A sending Person B a Basic Plan Document and again stating that is all they had and is everything Person B needed.
  • this document says copyright 2002-2020 through ftwilliam.com

ISSUE: The QDRO filed, signed by Lawyer A and the judge has a valuation date that is 99 days prior to the Adoption Agreement passed in August 2021. During the correspondence outlined above, Person A, has suggested to the fiduciary and Person A that the valuation date should actually be a different day in May 2021. This new valuation date conveniently falls within 90 days prior to the Adoption Agreement in August 2021. Person A has repeatedly denied having any documents prior to the ones effective August 2021 and even asked the Fiduciary if they had any documents to try and avoid responsibility. The question then is. With the dates and timelines given, what, if any, legal actions can Person B take? Is an ERISA lawyer the best way to handle this? Or is another kind of lawyer that is versed in small/family business better?"

"I have a client with a solo 401(k) plan. Upon the recommendation of his CPA, he converted about $400,000 of pre-tax plan monies to Roth. The problem is that instead of moving the funds to a Roth account within the 401(k) Plan the funds were moved to a traditional IRA, then converted to a Roth IRA, where the funds currently are being held. The taxation for 2025 is correct and the funds are still invested. We explained to the client that this was an ineligible distribution and the funds need to be returned to the Plan, adjusted for earnings. When they reached out to the Custodian to request that they needed to 'undo' it all, they stated that they can't move the Roth IRA funds to a Roth 401(k) account because Roth IRAs can only roll into Roth IRAs. Any suggestions or insight on how to get the Custodian to correct the error? Outside of 'undoing' it, what corrective options do they have?"

"For decades OPM has required that when a Former Spouse submits a certified copy of a FERS Court Order Acceptable for Processing ('COAP') for approval, they must also submit a certified copy of the Judgment of Absolute Divorce ('JAD') and a copy of the Marital Settlement Agreement ('MSA') by whatever name it may be called, if there is one. I have a client pushing back on providing the MSA, even a redacted one, for privacy reasons. So I opened my CFR website and have spent HOURS looking for the regulation that required that the MSA be provided. I cannot find it. I contacted a few other COAP preparers that send in the MSA like me, but they don't know the source of that mandate, or any other Plan Administrators that want a certified copy of the JAD, let alone the MSA. Yes, I know that many Plans permit the transfer of pension and/or retirement benefits that are based on a 'legal separation' where there is no JAD and will not be until the expiration of some period of time in the future (ex: South Carolina), so the Plan must base its decision on the MSA. But that's not my situation. Ideas?"

"I've worked in the retirement industry for over 25 years with 401(k) providers and a TPA firm that was later acquired by a recordkeeper. My experience includes onboarding, client account management, reconciling plan records, and handling 5500s and compliance testing. I understand the business from sales through servicing. I'm interested in starting a TPA at some point, and I want to know the actual steps to get started. For those who've done it, what does the beginning really look like and where should someone start?"

"Seeing how popular the standard safe-harbor match was in the past and now the QACA, I was shocked when a client told me that Gusto Payroll cannot incorporate a tiered match formula into its system, and that the client (or we, as the TPA) would need to do it manually. Has anyone encountered this limitation with Gusto before? What is common among payroll companies/software?"

"Employer establishes a church plan and doesn't elect ERISA. Pastor is paid $100,000 a year; with a 10 percent employer contribution to a 403(b) plan. Pastor is expected to be paid this amount for each of five years. In year one, past says, don't pay me $100,000 in year 2; pay me $90,000; and the rest as an employer contribution so as to total $110,000; In a similar manner, in year 3 pay me $80,000 and year 4 $70,000 with the remaining amounts in employer contribution so as to total $110,000. What, if anything, is wrong with this design?"