Forfeiture
Plan assets surrendered by participants upon termination of employment before being fully vested in the plan. Forfeitures may be distributed to the other participants in the plan or used to offset employer contribution

Form 1099R
A form sent to the recipient of a plan distribution and filed with the IRS listing the amount of the distribution

Form 5500
A form which all qualified retirement plans (excluding SEPs and SIMPLE IRAs) must file annually with the IRS

G

Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs)
Accounts with an insurance company at a fixed rate of interest

H

Hardship or In-Service Distribution
A participant's withdrawal of their plan contributions prior to retirement. Eligibility may be conditioned on the presence of financial hardship. These distributions are taxable as early distributions and are subject to a 10% penalty tax if the participant is under age 59 1/2. (Roth 401(k)s have different rules.)

Highly Compensated Employees (HCEs)
An HCE, according to the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, is an employee who received more than $100,000 in compensation (indexed annually) during the last plan year OR is a 5% owner in the company

I

Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
Personal retirement vehicles that allows a person to make annual tax deductible or non-deductible contributions. These accounts must meet IRS Code 408 requirements, but are created and funded at the discretion of the individual. They are not employer sponsored plans

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The branch of the U.S. Treasury Department is responsible for administering the requirements of qualified pension plans and other retirement vehicles. The IRS also worked with the DOL and the PWBC to develop Form 5500, and is responsible for monitoring the data submitted annually on Form 5500 reports

K

Keogh Plan
A qualified defined contribution plan permitting self-employed individuals to contribute a portion of their earnings pre-tax to an individual account

KSOP
A plan arrangement that includes both 401(k) contributions and an ESOP

L

Leased Employee
An individual contracted to a leasing organization that provides services for the company

Lump-Sum Distribution
The distribution of a participant’s entire account balance within one calendar year due to retirement, death or disability

M

Matching Contribution
A contribution made by the company to the account of the participant in ratio to contributions made by the participant

Material Modification
A change in the terms of the plan that may affect plan participants, or other significant changes in a summary plan document (SDP)

Median Market Cap
An indicator of the size of companies in which a fund invests

Money Market Fund
A mutual fund seeking to generate income for participants through investments in short-term securities

Money-Purchase Plan
A type of defined contribution plan in which the employer's contributions are determined by a specific formula, usually as a percentage of pay. Contributions are not dependent on company profits

Multiemployer Plan
A pension plan receiving contributions from more than one employer contributes, and which usually is maintained according to collective bargaining agreements

Mutual Fund
A single account designed to create a portfolio of individual investments that may help to reduce the risk of owning individual investments

N

Named Fiduciary
One or more named individuals who have authority to control and manage the operations of the plan

Nonelective Contribution
An employer contribution that cannot be withdrawn or paid to the employee in cash. This contribution is neither a matching contribution or an elective contribution

Non-Highly Compensated Employees (NHCEs)
Employees who are not highly compensated. Generally, they are employees who earned less than $105,000 in 2008 (indexed for inflation). See highly compensated employees

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan
A plan subject to tax, in which the assets of certain employees (usually Highly Compensated Employees) are deferred. These funds may be reached by an employer's creditors

P

Participant Directed Accounts
Investment options offered to participants that allow them to choose their own investment mix

Party-In-Interest
Any individual or group having direct interest in the plan including: the employer; the directors, officers, employees or owners of the employer; any employee organization whose members are plan participants; plan fiduciaries; and plan service providers

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
A federal agency established by Title IV of ERISA for the insurance of defined benefit pension plans. The PBGC provides payment of limited pension benefits if a plan terminates and is unable to cover all required benefits

Plan Administrator
The individual, group or corporation named in the plan document as responsible for day to day operations. The plan sponsor is generally the plan administer if no other entity is named

Plan Loan
Loan from a participant's accumulated plan assets, not to exceed 50% of the balance or $50,000, whichever is less. Loans are an optional plan feature

Plan Sponsor
The entity responsible for establishing and maintaining the plan

Plan Year
The calendar, policy or fiscal year for which plan records are maintained

Portability
The ability of a terminating participant to transfer retirement funds from one employer's plan to another without penalty

Price/Book Ratio
The share price of a stock divided by its net worth, or book value, per share

Price/Earnings Ratio
The ratio of a stock's current price to its earnings per share over the past year. The P/E ratio of a fund is the weighted average of the P/E ratios of the stocks it holds

Prohibited Transaction
Activities regarding treatment of plan assets by fiduciaries that are prohibited by ERISA. These include transactions with a party-in-interest, including, sale, exchange, lease, or loan of plan securities or other properties. Any treatment of plan assets by the fiduciary that is not consistent with the best interests of the plan participants is a prohibited transaction

Profit Sharing Plan
A company-sponsored plan funded only by company contributions. Company contributions may be determined by a fixed formula related to the employer's profits, or may be at the discretion of the board of directors

Q

Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO)
A judgment, decree or order that creates or recognizes an alternate payee's (such as former spouse, child, etc.) right to receive all or a portion of a participant's retirement plan benefits

Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA)
An annuity with payments continuing to the surviving spouse after the participant's death, equal to at least 50% of the participant's benefit

Qualified Plan
Any plan that qualifies for favorable tax treatment by meeting the requirements of section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and by following applicable regulations. Qualified plans include 401(k) and deferred profit sharing plans

R

Rollover
The action of moving plan assets from one qualified plan to another or to an IRA within sixty days of distributions, while retaining the tax benefits of a qualified plan

Roth 401(k)
A 401(k) feature that allows employees to make elective contributions on an after-tax basis. Qualified distributions from these plans, including both the Roth contributions and their associated earnings, are distributed tax-free.

S

Safe Harbor Rules
Provisions that exempt certain individuals or kinds of companies from one or more regulations

Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees
See SIMPLE Plan

Schedule SSA
A form that must be filed by all plans subject to ERISA Section 203 minimum vesting requirements. The schedule, which is attached to Form 5500, provides data on participants who separated from service with a vested benefit but were not paid their benefits

Service Provider
A company that provides any type of service to the plan, including managing assets, recordkeeping, providing plan education, and plan administration

SIMPLE Plan (savings incentive match plan for employees)
A type of defined contribution plan for employers with 100 or fewer employees in which the employer matches 100% of employee deferrals up to 3% of compensation or provides nonelective contributions up to 2% of compensation. These contributions are immediately and 100% vested, and they are the only employer contribution to the plan. SIMPLE plans may be structured as individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or as 401(k) plans

Simplified employee-pension plan (SEP)
A defined contribution plan in which employers make contributions to individual employee accounts (similar to IRAs)

Stock Bonus Plan
A defined contribution plan in which company contributions are made in the form of company stock

Summary Annual Report
A report that companies must file annually on the financial status of the plan. The summary annual report must be automatically provided to participants every year

Summary of Material Modifications
A document that must be distributed to plan participants summarizing material modifications made to a plan

Summary Plan Description (SPD)
A document describing the features of an employer-sponsored plan. The primary purpose of the SPD is to disclose the features of the plan to current and potential plan participants. ERISA requires that certain information be contained in the SPD, including participant rights under ERISA, claims procedures and funding arrangements

T

Target-Benefit Plan
A type of defined contribution plan in which company contributions are based on an actuarial valuation designed to provide a target benefit to each participant upon retirement. The plan does not guarantee that such benefit will be paid; its only obligation is to pay whatever benefit can be provided by the amount in the participant's account. It is a hybrid of a money-purchase plan and a defined-benefit plan

Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA)
Also known as a 403(b) plan, a TSA provides a tax shelter for 501(c)(3) tax exempt employers (which include public schools). Employers qualifying for a TSA may defer taxes on contributions to certain annuity contracts or custodial accounts.

Top Heavy Plan
A plan in which 60% of account balances (both vested and non-vested) are held by certain highly compensated employees

Trustee
The individual, group of individuals, bank, or trust company having fiduciary responsibility for holding plan assets.

Turnover Rate (of a mutual fund)
A measure of the trading activity in a mutual fund

V

Vesting
The participants’ ownership right to company contributions

Vesting Schedule
The structure for determining participants' right to company contributions that have accrued in their individual accounts. In a plan with immediate vesting, company contributions are fully vested as soon as they are deposited to a participant's account. Cliff vesting provides that company contributions will be fully vested only after a specific amount of time, and that employees who leave before this happens will not be entitled to any of the company contributions (with certain exceptions for death, disability or retirement). In plans with graduated vesting, vesting occurs in specified increments.