3.1.  ERISA Requirements

Tax-qualified corporate plans must meet both IRS and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requirements. ERISA was enacted in 1974 to protect the retirement assets of people working in the private sector. All private, employer-sponsored, tax-qualified retirement plans must meet the following ERISA requirements:

• • The plan must be available to all employees who are at least 21 years of age and who work at least 1,000 hours a year (no employees that fit these requirements can be excluded from the plan).
• • Employees must be covered by a retirement plan within a reasonable time of their employment.
• • Pension sponsors must fully fund the participants’ benefits, and the contributed funds must be held separate from other corporate assets.
• • Participants must be furnished with a summary plan, in writing, that contains the plan’s terms and the benefits offered.
• • Participants must receive