401k retirement plan

Document Sample
scope of work template
							             for Small
401(k) PLANS Businesses
401(k) Plans for Small Businesses is a joint project of the U.S. Department of Labor's
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Internal Revenue Service.

This publication and other EBSA materials are available by calling toll-free:
1-866-444-EBSA (3272)
Or visit the agency's Web site at: www.dol.gov/ebsa

401(k) Plans for Small Businesses (IRS Publication 4222) is also available from the Internal
Revenue Service at:
1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676)
(Please indicate publication number when ordering.)



This material is available to sensory impaired individuals upon request:
Voice phone: (202) 693-8664
TDD:           (202) 501-3911




This publication constitutes a small entity compliance guide for purposes of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.
WHY 401(k) PLANS?                                       ESTABLISHING A 401(k) PLAN
401(k) plans can be a powerful tool in pro-             When you establish a 401(k) plan, you must
moting financial security in retirement. They           take certain basic actions. For instance, one
are a valuable option for businesses consider-          of your decisions will be whether to set up
ing a retirement plan, providing benefits to            the plan yourself or consult a professional or
employees and their employers.                          financial institution — such as a bank, mutual
                                                        fund provider, or insurance company — to
Employers start a 401(k) for a host of reasons:         help you establish and maintain the plan.

❑ A well-designed 401(k) plan can help                  Initial Actions
  attract and keep talented employees.                  Here are four basic actions necessary to have
❑ It allows participants to decide how much             a tax-advantaged 401(k) plan:
  to contribute to their accounts on a
  before-tax basis.                                     ❑   Adopt a written plan,
❑ Employers are entitled to a tax deduction             ❑   Arrange a trust fund for the plan’s assets,
  for their contributions to employees’                 ❑   Develop a recordkeeping system, and
  accounts.                                             ❑   Provide plan information to participants
❑ A 401(k) plan benefits a mix of rank-and-
  file employees and owner/managers.                    Adopt a written plan  — Plans begin with a
❑ The money contributed may grow through                written document that serves as the founda-
  investments in stocks, mutual funds,                  tion for day-to-day plan operations. If you
  money market funds, savings accounts,                 have hired someone to help with your plan,
  and other investment vehicles.                        that person likely will provide it. If not, con-
❑ Contributions and earnings generally are              sider obtaining assistance from a financial
  not taxed by the Federal government or                institution or retirement plan professional. In
  by most State governments until they are              either case, you are bound by the terms of
  distributed.                                          the plan document.
❑ A 401(k) plan may allow participants to take
  their benefits with them when they leave              Before beginning a plan document, however,
  the company, easing administrative burdens.           you will need to decide on the type of 401(k)
                                                        plan that is best for you — a traditional 401(k),
Beginning in 2006, 401(k) plans may be                  a safe harbor 401(k), or SIMPLE 401(k) plan.
established or amended to permit employees
to designate some or all of their contributions         A traditional 401(k) plan offers the maximum
(employee deferrals) as Roth contributions.             flexibility of the three types of plans. Employ-
These contributions are made on an after-tax            ers have discretion as to whether to make
basis, but distributions (including earnings)           contributions on behalf of all participants, to
are tax-free (if certain conditions are met).           match employees’ deferrals, or do both.
                                                        These contributions can be subject to a vest-
This booklet highlights some of a 401(k)                ing schedule (which provides that an employ-
plan’s advantages, some of your options and             ee’s right to employer contributions becomes
responsibilities as an employer operating a             nonforfeitable only after a period of time).
401(k), and the differences among the types             In addition, a traditional 401(k) allows partici-
of 401(k) plans. For more information, a list           pants to make pretax contributions through
of resources for you and for prospective                payroll deductions. Annual testing ensures
401(k) participants is included at the end of           that benefits for rank-and-file employees are
this booklet.                                           proportional to benefits for owners/managers.


                                                  -3-
A safe harbor 401(k) plan is similar to a                tions to and from the 401(k) plan. Since the
traditional 401(k) plan, but, among other                financial integrity of the plan depends on the
things, must provide for employer contribu-              trustee, this is one of the most important
tions that are fully vested when made.                   decisions you will make in establishing a
However, the safe harbor 401(k) is not sub-              401(k) plan. If you set up your plan through
ject to many of the complex tax rules that are           insurance contracts, the contracts do not need
associated with a traditional 401(k) plan,               to be held in trust.
including annual nondiscrimination testing.
                                                         Develop a recordkeeping system — An
Both the traditional and safe harbor plans are           accurate recordkeeping system helps track
for employers of any size and can be com-                and properly attribute contributions, earnings
bined with other retirement plans.                       and losses, plan investments, expenses, and
                                                         benefit distributions in participants’ accounts.
A SIMPLE 401(k) plan was created so that                 If you have a contract administrator or finan-
small businesses could have an effective,                cial institution assist in managing the plan,
cost-efficient way to offer retirement benefits          that entity typically will help in keeping the
to their employees. A SIMPLE 401(k) plan is              required records. In addition, a recordkeep-
not subject to the annual nondiscrimination              ing system will help you, your plan adminis-
tests that apply to the traditional plans.               trator, or financial provider prepare the plan’s
Similar to a safe harbor 401(k) plan, however,           annual return/report that must be filed with
the employer is required to make employer                the Federal government.
contributions that are fully vested. This type
of 401(k) plan is available to employers with            Provide plan information to eligible
100 or fewer employees who received at least             employees — As you put your 401(k) plan
$5,000 in compensation from the employer                 in place, you must notify employees who are
for the preceding calendar year. In addition,            eligible to participate in the plan about your
employees that are covered by a SIMPLE                   plan’s benefits and requirements. A summary
401(k) plan may not receive any contribu-                plan description, or SPD, is the primary vehi-
tions or benefit accruals under any other                cle to inform participants and beneficiaries
plans of the employer.                                   about the plan and how it operates. The
                                                         SPD typically is created with the plan docu-
Once you have decided on the type of plan                ment. You will need to send it to all plan
for your company, you will have flexibility in           participants. In addition you may want to
choosing some of the plan’s features — such              provide your employees with information that
as which employees can contribute to the                 discusses the advantages of joining your
plan and how much. Other features written                401(k) plan. Employee perks — such as pre-
into the plan are required by law. For instance,         tax contributions to a 401(k) plan (or tax-free
the plan document must describe how certain              distributions in the case of Roth 401(k)s),
key functions are carried out, such as how               employer contributions (if you choose to
contributions are deposited in the plan.                 make them), and compounded tax-deferred
                                                         earnings — help highlight the advantages of
Arrange a trust fund for the plan’s assets               participating in the plan.
— A plan’s assets must be held in trust to
assure that assets are used solely to benefit            OPERATING A 401(k) PLAN
the participants and their beneficiaries. The            Once you have established a 401(k) plan,
trust must have at least one trustee to handle           you assume certain responsibilities in operat-
contributions, plan investments, and distribu-           ing the plan. If you hired someone to help


                                                   -4-
in setting up your plan, that arrangement also          tribute a percentage of each employee’s com-
may have included help in operating the                 pensation for allocation to the employee’s
plan. If not, another important decision will           account (called a nonelective contribution),
be whether to manage the plan yourself or to            or you can match the amount your employ-
hire a professional or financial institution —          ees decide to contribute (within the limits of
such as a bank, mutual fund provider, or insur-         current law), or you can do both.
ance company — to take care of some or
most aspects of operating the plan. Elements            For example, you may decide to add a per-
of a plan that need to be handled include:              centage — say, 50 percent — to an employ-
                                                        ee’s contribution, which results in a 50-cent
❑   Participation                                       increase for every dollar the employee sets
❑   Contributions                                       aside. Using a matching contribution formula
❑   Vesting                                             will provide additional employer contribu-
❑   Nondiscrimination                                   tions only to employees who make deferrals
❑   Investing 401(k) monies                             to the 401(k) plan. If you choose to make
❑   Fiduciary responsibilities                          nonelective contributions, the employer
❑   Disclosing plan information to participants         makes a contribution for each eligible partici-
❑   Reporting to government agencies                    pant, whether or not the participant decides
❑   Distributing plan benefits                          to make a salary deferral to his or her 401(k)
                                                        account.
Participation
                                                        Under a traditional 401(k) plan, you have the
                                                        flexibility of changing the amount of non-
Typically, a plan includes a mix of rank-and-
                                                        elective contributions each year, according to
file employees and owner/managers.
                                                        business conditions.
However, some employees may be excluded
from a 401(k) plan if they:                             Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan
                                                        Under a safe-harbor plan, you can match
❑ Have not attained age 21;                             each eligible employee’s contribution, dollar
❑ Have not completed a year of service; or              for dollar, up to 3 percent of the employee’s
❑ Are covered by a collective bargaining                compensation, and 50 cents on the dollar for
  agreement that does not provide for                   the employee’s contribution that exceeds 3
  participation in the plan, if retirement              percent, but not 5 percent, of the employee’s
  benefits were the subject of good faith               compensation. Alternatively, you can make a
  bargaining.                                           nonelective contribution equal to 3 percent of
                                                        compensation to each eligible employee’s
Employees cannot be excluded from a plan                account. Each year you must make either the
merely because they are older workers.                  matching contributions or the nonelective
                                                        contributions.
Contributions
Another design option you will have in estab-           SIMPLE 401(k) Plan
lishing and operating a 401(k) plan is deciding         Employer contributions to a SIMPLE 401(k)
on your business’s contribution (if any) to             plan are limited to either:
participants’ accounts in the plan.
                                                        ❑ A dollar-for-dollar matching contribution,
Traditional 401(k) Plan                                   up to 3 percent of pay, or
If you decide to contribute to your 401(k)              ❑ A nonelective contribution of 2 percent of
plan, you have further options. You can con-              pay for each eligible employee.


                                                  -5-
No other employer contributions can be made              tions are always 100 percent vested.
to a SIMPLE 401(k) plan, and employees can-              In traditional 401(k) plans, you can design
not participate in any other retirement plan of          your plan so that employer contributions
the employer.                                            become vested over time, according to a vest-
                                                         ing schedule.
The maximum amount that employees can
contribute to their SIMPLE 401(k) accounts is            Nondiscrimination
$10,000 in 2005. For years after 2006, annual            Realizing 401(k) plan tax benefits requires
cost-of-living updates can be found at                   that plans provide substantive benefits for
www.irs.gov/ep.                                          rank-and-file employees, not only for busi-
                                                         ness owners and managers. These require-
An additional catch-up contribution is allowed           ments are referred to as nondiscrimination
for employees aged 50 and over. The addi-                rules and cover the level of plan benefits for
tional contribution amount is $2,000 for 2005            rank-and-file employees compared to own-
and $2,500 for 2006.                                     ers/managers.

Contribution Limits                                      Traditional 401(k) plans are subject to annual
Employer and employee contributions to all               testing to assure that the amount of contribu-
of an employer’s plans are subject to a per              tions made on behalf of rank-and-file
employee overall annual limitation — the                 employees is proportional to contributions
lesser of:                                               made on behalf of owners and managers.
                                                         Safe-harbor 401(k) plans and SIMPLE 401(k)
❑ 100 percent of the employee’s                          plans are not subject to annual nondiscrimi-
  compensation, or                                       nation testing.
❑ $42,000 (for 2005).
                                                         Investing 401(k) Monies
In addition, the amount employees can con-               After you decide on the type of 401(k) plan,
tribute before taxes under a traditional or safe         you can consider the variety of investment
harbor 401(k) plan is limited to $14,000 for             options. One decision you will need to
2005 and $15,000 for 2006.                               make in designing a plan is whether to per-
                                                         mit your employees to direct the investment
Traditional and safe harbor 401(k) plans can             of their accounts or to manage the monies on
allow the following additional catch-up contri-          their behalf. If you choose the former, you
butions for employees aged 50 and over:                  also need to decide what investment options
$4,000 — 2005                $5,000 — 2006               to make available to the participants.
                                                         Depending on the plan design you choose,
Vesting                                                  you may want to hire someone either to
Employee salary deferrals are immediately                determine the investment options to make
100 percent vested — that is, the money that             available or to manage the plan’s investments.
an employee has put aside through salary                 Continually monitoring the investment op-
deferrals cannot be forfeited. When an                   tions ensures that your selections remain in the
employee leaves employment, he/she is enti-              best interests of your plan and its participants.
tled to those deferrals, plus any investment
gains (or minus losses) on their deferrals.              Fiduciary Responsibilities
                                                         Many of the actions needed to operate a
In SIMPLE 401(k) plans and safe harbor                   401(k) plan involve fiduciary decisions —
401(k) plans, all required employer contribu-            whether you hire someone to manage the


                                                   -6-
plan for you or do some or all of the plan               operate a plan. And, since all these functions
management yourself. Controlling the assets              must be carried out in the same manner as a
of the plan or using discretion in administer-           prudent person would carry them out, it may
ing and managing the plan makes you or the               be in your best interest to consult experts in
entity you hire a plan fiduciary to the extent           the various fields, such as investments and
of that discretion or control. Thus, fiduciary           accounting.
status is based on the functions performed for
the plan, not a title. Be aware that hiring              In addition, for some functions, there are spe-
someone to perform fiduciary functions is                cific rules that help guide the fiduciary. For
itself a fiduciary act.                                  example, if your plan provides for salary
                                                         reductions from employees’ paychecks for
Some decisions with respect to a plan that               contribution to the plan, then these contribu-
are business decisions, rather than fiduciary            tions must be timely deposited. The law
decisions. For instance, the decisions to                states that this must be accomplished as soon
establish a plan, to include certain features in         as it is reasonably possible to do so, but no
a plan, to amend a plan, and to terminate a              later than the 15th business day of the month
plan are business decisions. When making                 following the payday. If you can reasonably
these decisions, you are acting on behalf of             make the deposits in a shorter time frame,
your business, not the plan, and therefore,              you need to make the deposits at that time.
you would not be a fiduciary. However,
when you take steps to implement these                   Limiting Liability
decisions, you (or those you hire) are acting            With these responsibilities, there is also some
on behalf of the plan and thus, in making                potential liability. However, there are actions
decisions, may be acting as fiduciaries.                 you can take to demonstrate that you carried
                                                         out your responsibilities properly as well as
Basic Responsibilities                                   ways to limit your liability.
Those persons or entities that are fiduciaries
are in a position of trust with respect to the           The fiduciary responsibilities cover the
participants and beneficiaries in the plan.              process used to carry out the plan functions
The fiduciary’s responsibilities include:                rather than simply the end results. For exam-
                                                         ple, if you or someone you hire makes the
❑ Acting solely in the interest of the partici-          investment decisions for the plan, an invest-
  pants and their beneficiaries;                         ment does not have to be a “winner” it was
❑ Acting for the exclusive purpose of pro-               part of a prudent overall diversified invest-
  viding benefits to workers participating               ment portfolio for the plan. Since a fiduciary
  in the plan and their beneficiaries, and               needs to carry out activities through a pru-
  defraying reasonable expenses of the plan;             dent process, you should document the deci-
❑ Carrying out duties with the care, skill,              sion-making process to demonstrate the
  prudence, and diligence of a prudent                   rationale behind the decision at the time it
  person familiar with such matters;                     was made.
❑ Following the plan documents;
❑ Diversifying plan investments.                         In addition to the steps above, there are
                                                         other ways to limit potential liability. The
These are the responsibilities that fiduciaries          plan can be set up to give participants con-
need to keep in mind as they carry out their             trol of the investments in their accounts. For
duties. The responsibility to be prudent cov-            participants to have control, they must have
ers a wide range of functions needed to                  sufficient information on the specifics of their


                                                   -7-
investment options. If properly executed, this             Once hired, these are additional actions to
type of plan limits your liability for the invest-         take when monitoring a service provider:
ment decisions made by participants. You
can also hire a service provider or providers              ❑ Review the service provider’s
to handle some or most of the fiduciary func-                  performance;
tions, setting up the agreement so that the                ❑ Read any reports they provide;
person or entity then assumes liability.                   ❑ Check actual fees charged;
                                                           ❑ Ask about policies and practices (such as
Hiring a Service Provider                                      trading, investment turnover, and proxy
Even if you do hire a financial institution or                 voting); and
retirement plan professional to manage the                 ❑ Follow up on participant complaints.
whole plan, you retain some fiduciary
                                                           (For more information, see Understanding
responsibility for the decision to select and
                                                           Retirement Plan Fees and Expenses and a sample
keep that person or entity as the plan’s serv-
                                                           fee disclosure form at www.dol.gov/ebsa.
ice provider. Thus, you should document
                                                           Click on “Publications,” then “Compliance
your selection process and monitor the serv-
                                                           Assistance Pension Publications” to access
ices provided to determine if a change needs
                                                           401(k) Plan Fees Disclosure Form.)
to be made.
                                                           Prohibited Transactions and Exemptions
Some items to consider in selecting a plan
                                                           There are certain transactions that are prohib-
service provider:
                                                           ited under the law to prevent dealings with
                                                           parties that have certain connections to the
❑ Information about the firm itself:
                                                           plan, self-dealing, or conflicts of interest that
  affiliations, financial condition, experience            could harm the plan. However, there are a
  with 401(k) plans, and assets under their                number of exceptions under the law, and
  control;                                                 additional exemptions may be granted by the
❑ A description of business practices: how                 U. S. Department of Labor, where protections
  plan assets will be invested if the firm will            for the plan are in place in conducting the
  manage plan investments or how                           transactions.
  participant investment directions will be
  handled, and proposed fee structure;                     For example, there is an exemption that per-
❑ Information about the quality of                         mits you to offer loans to participants through
  prospective providers: the identity,                     your plan. If you do, the loan program must
  experience, and qualifications of the                    be carried out in such a way that the plan
  professionals who will be handling the                   and all other participants are protected.
  plan’s account; any recent litigation or                 Thus, the decision with respect to each loan
  enforcement action that has been taken                   request is treated as a plan investment and
  against the firm; the firm’s experience or               considered accordingly.
  performance record; if the firm plans to
  work with any of it’s affiliates in handling             Bonding
  the plan’s account; and whether the firm                 Finally, persons handling plan funds or other
  has fiduciary liability insurance.                       plan property generally must be covered by a
                                                           fidelity bond to protect the plan against fraud
                                                           and dishonesty.




                                                     -8-
Disclosing Plan Information to Participants              An individual benefit statement (IBS)
Plan disclosure documents keep participants              shows the total plan benefits earned by a
informed about the basics of plan operation,             participant and information on their vested
alert them to changes in the plan’s structure            benefits. The IBS must be provided when a
and operations, and provide them a chance                participant submits a written request, but no
to make decisions and take timely action with            more than once in a 12-month period, and
respect to their accounts.                               automatically to certain participants who have
                                                         terminated service with the employer. In addi-
The summary plan description (SPD) —                     tion, many plans choose to provide on a quar-
the basic descriptive document — is a plain-             terly basis individual account statements that
language explanation of the plan and must be             show the value of a participant’s account, how
comprehensive enough to apprise participants             it is invested, and any increases (or decreases)
of their rights and responsibilities under the           during the period covered by the statement.
plan. It also informs participants about the
plan features and what to expect of the plan.            A summary annual report (SAR) is a nar-
Among other things, the SPD must include                 rative of the plan’s annual return/report, the
information about:                                       Form 5500, filed with the Federal government
                                                         (see Reporting to Government Agencies for
❑ When and how employees become                          more information). It must be furnished
  eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan;            annually to participants.
❑ The contributions to the plan;
❑ How long it takes to become vested;                    A blackout period notice gives employees
❑ When employees are eligible to receive                 advance notice when a blackout period occurs,
  their benefits;                                        typically when plans change recordkeepers
❑ How to file a claim for those benefits; and            or investment options, or when plans add
❑ Basic rights and responsibilities                      participants due to corporate mergers or
  participants have under the Federal                    acquisitions. During a blackout period, partici-
  retirement law, the Employee Retirement                pants’ rights to direct investments, take loans,
  Income Security Act (ERISA).                           or obtain distributions are suspended.

The SPD should include an explanation about              Reporting to Government Agencies
the administrative expenses that will be paid            In addition to the disclosure documents that
by the plan. This document must be given to              provide information to participants, plans
participants when they join the plan and to              must also report certain information to gov-
beneficiaries when they first receive benefits.          ernment entities.
SPDs must also be redistributed periodically
during the life of the plan.                             Form 5500 series
                                                         Plans are required to file an annual return/
A summary of material modification                       report with the Federal government. Depen-
(SMM) apprises participants of changes made              ding on the number and type of participants
to the plan or to the information required to be         covered, most 401(k) plans must file one of
in the SPD. The SMM or an updated SPD must               the two following forms:
be automatically furnished to participants with-         ❑ Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of
in a specified number of days after the change.             Employee Benefit Plan, or
                                                         ❑ Form 5500-EZ, Annual Return of One-
                                                            Participant (Owners and Their Spouses)
                                                            Retirement Plan


                                                   -9-
For 401(k) plans, the Form 5500 is designed           5500. You must also notify your employees
to disclose information about the plan and its        that the 401(k) plan will be discontinued.
operation to the IRS, the U.S. Department of          Check with your plan’s financial institution or
Labor, plan participants, and the public.             a retirement plan professional to see what
                                                      further action is necessary to terminate your
Most one-participant plans (sole proprietor           401(k).
and partnership plans) with total assets of
$100,000 or less are exempt from the annual           COMPLIANCE
filing requirement. A final return/report must        Even with the best intentions, mistakes in
be filed when a plan is terminated regardless         plan operation can still happen. The U S.
of the value of the plan’s assets.                    Department of Labor and IRS have correction
                                                      programs to help 401(k) plan sponsors cor-
Form 1099-R                                           rect plan errors, protect participants, and
Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions,             keep the plan’s tax benefits. These programs
Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans,        are structured to encourage you to correct the
IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc. is given to           errors early. Having an ongoing review pro-
both the IRS and recipients of distributions          gram makes it easier to spot and correct mis-
from the plan during the year. It is used to          takes in plan operations. See the Resources
report distributions (including rollovers) from       section for further information.
a retirement plan.
                                                              A 401(k) CHECKLIST
Distributing Plan Benefits
                                                              1.   Have you determined which type of 401(k)
Benefits in a 401(k) plan are dependent on a
                                                                   plan best suits your business?
participant’s account balance at the time of                  2.   Have you decided whether to make contribu-
distribution.                                                      tions to the plan, and, if so, whether to make
                                                                   nonelective and/or matching contributions?
                                                                   (Remember, you may design your plan so that
When participants are eligible to receive a                        you may change your nonelective contributions
distribution, they typically can elect to:                         if necessary due to business conditions.)
                                                              3.   Have you decided to hire a financial institution
❑ Take a lump sum distribution of their                            or retirement plan professional to help with
                                                                   setting up and running the plan?
  account,
                                                              4.   Have you adopted a written plan that includes
❑ Roll over their account to an IRA or                             the features you want to offer, such as whether
  another employer’s retirement plan, or                           participants will direct the investment of their
❑ Purchase an annuity.                                             accounts?
                                                              5.   Have you notified eligible employees and pro-
                                                                   vided them with information to help in their
TERMINATING A 401(k) PLAN                                          decision making?
 Although 401(k) plans must be established                    6.   Have you arranged a trust fund for the plan
with the intention of being continued indefi-                      assets or will you set up the plan solely with
                                                                   insurance contracts?
nitely, you (as an employer) may terminate
                                                              7.   Have you developed a recordkeeping system?
your plan when it no longer suits your busi-
                                                              8.   Are you familiar with the fiduciary responsibilities?
ness needs. For example, you may want to
                                                              9.   Are you prepared to monitor the plan’s service
establish another type of retirement plan in                       providers?
lieu of the 401(k) plan.                                      10. Are you familiar with the reporting and disclo-
                                                                  sure requirements of a 401(k) plan?
Typically, the process of terminating a 401(k)            For help in establishing and operating a 401(k) plan, you may want
plan includes amending the plan document,                 to talk to a retirement plan professional or a representative of a
                                                          financial institution that offers retirement plans—and take advantage
distributing all assets, and filing a final Form          of the help available in the following Resources section.




                                                   -10-
RESOURCES                                           SEP Retirement Plans for Small Businesses,
To Find Out More…                                   Publication 4333, provides a brief description
Expanded information on the topics                  of this type of retirement plan.
addressed in this publication is available on
the IRS and U.S. Department of Labor’s              Related materials available from DOL:
(DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security                  For small businesses:
Administration Web sites, www.irs.gov/ep            Understanding Retirement Plan Fees and
and www.dol.gov/ebsa. For the IRS, go to            Expenses
the IRS Web address and click on “More              Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities
Topics” in the “Topics” section and then click      Selecting an Auditor for Your Employee
on “Types of Retirement Plans.” For DOL, go         Benefit Plan
to the DOL Web address and click on                 Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee
“Publications” and “Compliance Assistance           Benefit Plans
Pension Publications.”
                                                    Troubleshooter’s Guide to Filing the ERISA
                                                    Annual Report (Form 5500)
The Web sites feature this publication as well
as additional information on 401(k) plans and
                                                    In addition, DOL sponsors two interactive
other retirement plans, as listed below.
                                                    Web sites — the Small Business Advisor, avail-
Publications can be ordered by calling the
                                                    able at the DOL Web address noted above, and,
appropriate agency’s toll free number — for
                                                    along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
the IRS, 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676)
                                                    and the Small Business Administration,
or for DOL, 1-866-444-EBSA (3272).
                                                    www.selectaretirementplan.org.
The following items, issued by both the IRS
                                                    For employees:
and DOL, are available on the Web and
                                                    A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees
through the toll free numbers:
                                                    What You Should Know about Your
Retirement Plan Correction Programs,                Retirement Plan
Publication 4224, provides a brief description      Savings Fitness…A Guide To Your Money and
of the IRS, DOL, and Pension Benefit                Your Financial Future
Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) programs.               Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement (also in
                                                    Spanish)
Retirement Plan Correction Programs CD-             Women and Retirement Savings (also in Spanish)
ROM, Publication 4050, provides in depth
information on the IRS, DOL, and PBGC pro-          Related materials available from the IRS:
grams.                                              Lots of Benefits, Publication 4118, discusses
                                                    the stages involved in the Retirement Plan
Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your             Life Cycle.
Small Business, Publication 3998, provides an
                                                    Retirement Plans for Small Business (SEP,
overview of retirement plans available to
                                                    SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans), Publication 560.
small businesses.

SIMPLE IRA Plans for Small Businesses,
Publication 4334, provides a brief description
of this type of retirement plan.

                                                                                   Revised September 2005




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U.S. Department of Labor

						
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