Skip to main content

You are here

David Kupstas

When an employee in a qualified retirement plan dies, the employee’s account balance has to be distributed to the beneficiary at a certain rate over a certain timeframe. The money cannot stay in the plan forever. What is that timeframe? When do distributions have to start? A lot of people are... READ MORE
Lately, several people have asked me about a “mega backdoor Roth IRA.” I didn’t really know what this was, but anything with “backdoor” in the name is something I want to explore. It sounds a little devious. Maybe I could finally be a bad boy—more so than when I rip tags off mattresses or go... READ MORE
The last person to be receiving a Civil War-era pension has died. Irene Triplett, of Wilkesboro, NC, died on May 31 at the age of 90 due to complications from having fallen a few days earlier, according to the Washington Post and other news outlets. Ms. Triplett had been receiving $73.13 per month... READ MORE
Most qualified retirement plans need a fidelity bond. This has been the rule for more than 40 years. Even so, it is not the kind of thing the typical plan sponsor spends a lot of time focusing on. A what bond? Fidelity who? We run across a number of plans that either (1) don’t have the required... READ MORE
Pensions aren’t always monthly checks that arrive in the mail. Sometimes, a departing employee will receive his whole benefit at the time of retirement or separation from service. By David J. Kupstas EDITOR’s NOTE: This is a longer, more in-depth version of David J. Kupstas’ Actuarial/DB column... READ MORE
If you’re like me, your ASC 715 valuations around 2013 and earlier often used for the mortality assumption what I’ll call the “IRS funding tables” – specifically, the separate or combined static annuitant/nonannuitant tables in effect for a given year published in IRS Notices. (And, if you’re like... READ MORE