The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) covers two types of retirement plans: defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. A defined benefit plan promises a specified monthly benefit at retirement.
By locating the company's Form 5500, an annual report required to be filed for employee benefit plans, you should be able to find contact information and who the plan's administrator was during your employment. You may also be able to find information on lost accounts through FreeERISA.
ERISA prohibits certain transactions between an employee benefit plan and "parties in interest," which include the employer and others who may be in a position to exercise improper influence over the plan, and such transactions may trigger civil monetary penalties under Title I of ERISA.
Your IRS/ERISA Plan Number can be found in your Summary Plan Description in section.
All private employers and employee organizations, such as unions, that offer health plans to employees have to follow ERISA. Only churches and government groups are exempt.
The easiest way to find out whether you are enrolled in a self-funded ERISA plan or whether you are enrolled directly in the state-regulated HMO or insurance company is to ask your employer. At the time of this writing, Congress was considering adding consumer protections and mandated benefits to ERISA plans.
Common types of employer-sponsored retirement accounts that fall under ERISA include 401(k) plans, pensions, deferred-compensation plans, and profit-sharing plans. In addition, ERISA laws don't apply to simplified employee pension (SEP) IRAs or other IRAs.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, protects the assets of millions of Americans so that funds placed in retirement plans during their working lives will be there when they retire. ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for retirement plans in private industry.
Plans must meet minimum ERISA requirements The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration currently oversees ERISA. Your retirement plan administrator should be able to tell you whether or not your retirement plan qualifies for ERISA.
ERISA originally required that plan participants could retire with full benefits (“normal retirement”) at the later of age 65, 10 years of service, or full vesting. This was amended to reduce the service requirement to 5 years, which is consistent with the change in vesting requirements.