(b)lines Ask the Experts – The Demise of 403(b)s?
January 11, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – “Down the road, do you believe that 403(b) plan designs will be eliminated in favor of 401(k) plans or a uniform plan design?”
Ask the Experts
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Definition of Participant for W-2
January 4, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – My payroll department has indicated to me that they must check off a box listed as "Retirement Plan" in Box 13 of...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Amending Plans for the HEART Act
December 28, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – Retirement plans should be amended for provisions of the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 by December 31, 2010,...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Aggregating Accounts for RMDs
November 30, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – If an individual is a participant in more than one 403(b) plan or the individual is invested in multiple 403(b) contracts, can...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Fee Disclosure and Annuity Contracts
November 23, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – Will the new fee disclosure rules for disclosures from service providers to plan fiduciaries and for disclosures to plan participants that are...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Fee Disclosure and Church Plans
October 19, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – “I heard that there are some new regulations that will require my retirement plan vendors to provide complete disclosure of any and...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – ERISA Status for Church-Related Entities
September 21, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A church sponsors a pre-school, which is not separately incorporated.
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Eligibility Requirement Restrictions for Dual Status Sponsors
September 7, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – In an ERISA 403(b) plan, a plan may require a two-year service requirement for employer contributions provided the participant is 100% immediately...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Requiring Transfer before Taking a Loan
August 31, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A plan sponsor wishes to disallow participant loans from vendors that are no longer receiving contributions and amend its plan to require...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – No Plan Document
August 24, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A 403(b) plan does not yet have a written plan document, what should the plan sponsor do?
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Dual Entities
August 17, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A hospital is both an instrumentality of a state or a political subdivision of a state within the meaning of Code section 414(d) and a separate corporation recognized...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Universal Availability and Excluding Compensation
August 3, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A reader asks: “Does the Universal Availability requirement mean that the plan document cannot exclude certain items of compensation for purposes of...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Universal Availability and Immediate Deferral
July 13, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A reader says: “I have been told that the new regulation for Universal Availability requires employees be allowed to defer immediately to...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Church Plans and State Laws
July 6, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A reader says: “What is the duty of a nonelecting church 403(b) plan to comply with state law, for example in the...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Summary Annual Reports
June 29, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A reader says: “I had heard that Summary Annual Reports (SARs) were not required for 403(b) plans. Has this changed with the...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Transfers vs. Rollovers
June 15, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A reader says: “Our 403(b) Plan document indicates that transfers from the plan to another 403(b) plan are not permitted. However the Plan document permits direct rollovers to...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Leased Employees
June 8, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – A reader asks: “Does 414(n) apply to a 403b? I know a 403(b) plan can only cover common law employees, however after...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Required Minimum Distributions
May 25, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – “Several years ago, we amended our 403(b) plan to comply with the changes in the regulations regarding minimum required distributions, so that...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Correcting for Ineligible Participant
May 18, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – “A governmental 457(b) plan covers only full-time employees, but a part-time employee has contributed to the plan since 2008. To remedy this...
(b)lines Ask the Experts – Who Counts as a Participant
April 27, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) – “Who should I be counting as a participant for the new requirement that large 403(b) plans obtain an independent accountant's opinion (i.e.,...