401K Advisor articles from November 2005

401K Advisor archives from November 2005

PBGC notice requirement for underfunded plans.
November 1, 2005... If you maintain a defined benefit pension (DB) plan, you may have difficulty in determining whether you need to comply with the ERISA [section] 4011 Participant Notice for the 2005 plan year. Plans subject to the Pension Benefit Guaranty...

Waiting for Roth amendments.
November 1, 2005... As this issue of 401(k) Advisor goes to press, the Treasury has not announced whether it will release a model amendment to allow plan sponsors to implement Roth contributions by January 1, 2006. If a model amendment is not released, then...

Ten things you should know about the final 401(k) regulations.
November 1, 2005... The final 401(k) regulations are effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2006. The following are ten highlights of the final 401(k) Regulations: Bottom Up QNECs Are Severely Limited. Reg. Section 1.401(k)-2(a)(6)(iv):...

The personal rate of return.(INVESTMENT CORNER)
November 1, 2005... In order to understand what a personal rate of return might be, let's start with something simple. Assume you invest $10,000 in a 2-year certificate of deposit with your bank that pays 2% compounded annually. At the end of two years, you have...

Reviewing IRA provider agreements for automatic rollovers.(Q&A)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... From an interview with Roberta Casper Watson, Esq. IRA providers are in the process of signing up plan sponsors for their automatic rollovers. Agreements to implement those rollovers frequently fall short of meeting the conditions of the...

Testing non-uniform matching contributions.
November 1, 2005... A reader recently asked about the nondiscrimination requirements that apply when a 401(k) plan provides different levels of matching contributions (i.e., non-uniform) to two or more groups of participants. This testing question can arise when...

Pension plan limits for 2005-2006.(MATTHEWS ON 401(k))
November 1, 2005... The IRS has released the 2006 cost of living adjustments for limits that apply to qualified plans. The 2006 and 2005 limits are shown in the chart below. Plan Limitations for 2005 and 2006 ...

Treasury provides E-SIGN guidance.
November 1, 2005... This summer, the DOL proposed regulations on the "Use of Electronic Technologies for Providing Employee Benefit Notices and Transmitting Employee Benefit Elections and Consents." For the most part, these proposed regulations organize and...

Regulatory & judicial update.
November 1, 2005... REGULATORY & JUDICIAL UPDATE Item Statement Status FICA taxa- Withdrawal of Notice of Proposed Prior tion and Rulemaking issued November 14,2001 guidance...

48th Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans: profit sharing/401(k) Council of America, October 2005.
November 1, 2005... Editor's note: The Profit Sharing/ 401(k) Council of America's 48th Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans reports on the 2004 plan year experience of 1,052 plans with more than 9 million participants and $500 billion in plan...

Stable value fund files for bankruptcy!(LAST WORD ON 401(k) PLANS)
November 1, 2005... A reading of the DOL safe harbor guidance on automatic rollovers seems to give stable value funds an automatic stamp of approval. (See this month's Q&A.) If so, the recent collapse of Trust Advisors Stable Value Fund (Fund) trusteed by Circle...