Thursday, January 24, 2008

Terminating Retirement Plan

Terminating Retirement Plan: What is Involved

The issue of terminating a retirement plan is one of great importance and one that not that many people are well educated on. Before learning about terminating a retirement plan however, it is important to be informed on what a retirement plan actually is and what it entails.

What is a Retirement Plan?

In simplest terms a retirement plan is an arrangement that a person makes so that they are provided with an income or pension during retirement, which is the time where they are no longer earning a steady income from employment. There are various different retirement plans that are available, and these plans may either be set up by employers or other institutions, such as employer associations or trade unions.

Terminating Retirement Plan

There are some situations in which terminating a retirement plan is the best option. Basically the goal of plan termination here is to liquidate the pension fund completely. To terminate a plan, it is required that the plan administrator and the employer must perform several tasks within the prescribed time limits. This way the termination process will respect the Supplemental Pension Plans Act as well as the rights and obligations of all interested parties.

There are a few obligations that the plan administrator has in this situation, including respecting the time limits provided by the Act to prepare various documents including the declaration of termination, termination report, statements of benefits to the members and beneficiaries, and public notice of termination in a daily newspaper.

The next step to terminating a retirement plan involves the administrator taking the necessary measures in order to ensure payment of the required contributions until the specified termination date. They will also need to proceed with the payment of benefits to plan members and beneficiaries.

A termination of a retirement plan should only take place when the administrator of the plan is absolutely sure that it is going to be the most profitable idea, and when they are sure that they are not going to be making a mistake. The best idea is for anyone considering terminating their retirement plan speaks to a financial advisor or other knowledgeable professional in this area in order to have someone ensure that they are doing the right thing here.

It is important to remember that in the event of surplus assets, if a plan has surplus assets the employer must deal with the question of their allocation within a certain time limit.

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