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4 Questions About ERISA You Must Know

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4 Questions About ERISA You Must Know

What Is ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act)?

In 1974 to protect the retirement assets of workers in the U.S. the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) got formed.

The ERISA implemented rules to be followed by qualified plans to ensure that plan fiduciaries do not misuse plan assets.

Some non-retirement accounts, such as employee health plans was also covered by ERISA.

Under ERISA, the participants must be provided regularly with complete details about plan features and funding, and that too free of charge.

The ERISA provisions are overseen and enforced by The Employee Benefits Security Administration (), which is a unit of the Department of Labor ().

Understanding ERISA(Employee Retirement Income Security Act)

The employer-sponsored retirement plans, of defined benefit and defined contribution, are covered by ERISA.

Some of the common plans are , pensions, deferred compensation plans, plan, and profit-sharing plans.

Some of the non-retirement employer plans falling under ERISA are health maintenance organization ()plans, flexible spending accounts (FSA’s), disability insurance, and life insurance.

ERISA requires reporting of plan fiduciaries. A fiduciary is defined as anyone who exercises discretionary authority or control over a plan’s management or assets, which also includes anyone who provides investment advice to the plan.

If the fiduciaries do not follow the principles of conduct they will be held responsible for restoring losses to the plan.

ERISA also addresses fiduciary provisions and prohibits the exploitation of assets through these provisions.

Minimum standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual, and funding are set by ERISA.

The law defines before becoming eligible to participate in a plan, or reap benefits, and have a non-forfeitable right to those benefits a person may be required to work for a stipulated period of time.

Also, a detailed funding rule is established that requires retirement plan sponsors to provide adequate funding for the plan.

ERISA keeps participants informed of their rights, and it also grants them the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty.

If a defined-benefit pension plan is terminated then to take care that the participants do not lose their retirement contributions, ERISA guarantees payment of certain benefits through a federally hired institution known as the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ().

History of ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act)

ERISA was authorized to take care of irregularities in the administration of a few large pension plans.

Because these issues focused on a lack of protections for workers.

For example: in 1963, when Studebaker-Packard closed its Indiana factory because the pension plan was underfunded more than 4,000 workers lost some or all of their pension plan benefits.

In the 1960s, the Teamsters’ Central States Pension Fund, which was involved in controversial loans to Las Vegas casinos, resulting in the issue of fiduciary malfeasance related to retirement accounts that came into the public eye.

ERISA-qualified retirement accounts are protected from creditors, bankruptcy proceedings, and civil lawsuits.

The retirement savings are not at risk if the employer of an organization declares bankruptcy. And the creditors to whom you owe money cannot make a claim for the funds held in your retirement account.

Special Considerations

Because of its complicated rules, ERISA discourages few small-business owners from setting up retirement accounts for their employees.

Instead of ERISA, a more simple plan is  which doesn’t have confusing regulations, it can be used by small businesses with 100 or fewer employees as a retirement savings plan.

SIMPLE stands for “Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees.”

SIMPLE IRAs are easier to set up, even though they are covered by ERISA, they don’t have the reporting and administrative burden that qualified retirement plans like the 401(k)s have.

In SIMPLE IRA, the employer chooses and files the plan using IRS forms 5304-SIMPLE or 5305-SIMPLE.

ERISA rules stating which employees are eligible and how a company handles employee contributions should be followed by the employers, and they are required to clearly spell out details of the plan’s features within a summary plan description.

Conclusion

To prevent retirement plan fiduciaries from misusing plan assets rules and regulations are implemented by ERISA.

The minimum standards for participation, vesting, benefit accrual, and funding of retirement plans are also set by ERISA.

In case there is a breach of fiduciary duty, then ERISA grants retirement plan participants the right to sue for benefits.

All retirement plans are not subject to the terms of ERISA.

The IRAs or plans set up and maintained by government entities and churches are not covered by ERISA.

ERISA does not govern the plan if a company sets up a plan outside of the U.S. for its nonresident alien employees.

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