THE SUMMARY PLAN DESCRIPTION

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Department of Labor require that each participant in a qualified retirement plan be given a summary of that plan. The summary must be in written format that can be easily understood by the average plan participant.

What follows is a sample Summary Plan Description (SPD) for your RCMA[SM] Retirement Plan. In order to ensure that the requirements of ERISA are met, you must take the following important steps:

  1. Prepare the SPD for your Plan using the sample as your guide. Choose those provisions that apply to your particular plan from the OPTIONS sections of the sample and insert the applicable information in the blank form fields. IF YOU MAINTAIN BOTH A PROFIT SHARING AND A MONEY PURCHASE PLAN, A SEPARATE SPD MUST BE PREPARED FOR EACH PLAN.
  1. Distribute a copy of the completed SPD to all Participants and Beneficiaries in the Plan. Prior to distribution, this SPD should be reviewed with your attorney or other tax advisor.
  1. A copy of the final SPD should be kept in your permanent Plan file with a copy of the executed adoption agreement it represents.
  1. An updated SPD must be distributed to all Participants and Beneficiaries every five years if amendments to the Plan have been made. If the Plan is amended, a Summary of Material Modifications must be provided to Participants and Beneficiaries within 210 days after the Plan Year in which the amendment occurred. Irrespective of any amendments, a completely restated SPD must be prepared and distributed to all Participants and Beneficiaries within 210 days after the end of the Plan Year which occurs ten years after the last date of change in the SPD.
  1. In some cases where a significant number of participants are non-English speakers and an English language SPD would fail to inform these participants adequately of their rights and obligations under the plan, foreign language assistance must be provided. This requirement applies in two cases: (1) to a plan that covers fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of a plan year, and in which 25 percent or more of all plan participants are literate only in the same non-English language; or (2) to a plan that covers 100 or more participants at the beginning of the plan year, and in which the lesser of (i) 500 or more participants, or (ii) 10% or more of all plan participants are literate only in the same non-English language. In these cases, the English-language SPD must “prominently” display a notice, in the non-English language common to these participants, offering them assistance. The assistance provided need not involve written materials, but must be given in the non-English language common to these participants and “calculated to provide them with a reasonable opportunity to become informed as to their rights and obligations under the plan.”

The SPD is an important plan document with legal and tax implications. Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Smith Incorporated does not provide legal and tax advice to the Employer. The Employer is urged to consult with its own attorney with regard to the use of this SPD and its suitability to its circumstances.

Summary Plan Description

for the [Insert name of RCMA Profit Sharing Plan, and if different, also include the name by which the plan is commonly known by its participants and beneficiaries]

01/2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[for Plans that contain a Pre-Tax feature]

[PLAN SPONSOR NOTE: You must select the appropriate Roman numeral for each section within the content of the SPD to match the Table of Contents beginning with Section V. Your Contributions to the Plan.]

I. Introduction to the Plan

II. General Information about the Plan

III. Eligibility and Participation

IV. Compensation

V. Your Contributions to the Plan

VI. Your Employer’s Contributions to the Plan

VII. Vesting

VIII. Investment of Contributions

IX. Benefits under the Plan

X. Statement of ERISA Rights

XI. Claims Procedures

XII. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[for Plans that do not contain a Pre-Tax feature]

[PLAN SPONSOR NOTE: You must select the appropriate Roman numeral for each section within the content of the SPD to match the Table of Contents beginning with Section V. Your Employer’s Contributions to the Plan.]

I. Introduction to the Plan

II. General Information about the Plan

III. Eligibility and Participation

IV. Compensation

V. Your Employer’s Contributions to the Plan

VI. Vesting

VII. Investment of Contributions

VIII. Benefits under the Plan

IX. Statement of ERISA Rights

X. Claims Procedures

XI. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAN

Your Employer has instituted this Plan to reward efforts made by Employees who contribute to the overall success of the company. The Plan is exclusively for the benefit of Participants and their Beneficiaries. The purpose of the Plan is to help you build financial security for your retirement and to help protect you and your Beneficiaries in the event of your retirement, death or Disability.

This Summary Plan Description (SPD) summarizes the key features of the Plan, and your rights, obligations and benefits under the Plan. Some of the statements made in this SPD are dependent upon this Plan being “qualified,” or approved by the Internal Revenue Service. Please contact the Plan Administrator with any questions you may have after you have read this summary.

[Insert the following 4 paragraphs only if your Plan contains a Pre-Tax feature (Article VI A(1) is selected):

“This Plan is a Defined Contribution Plan. It offers you a built-in savings system through Pre-Tax payroll deductions. It also offers attractive tax advantages, the freedom to choose investments according to your needs and the flexibility to change your investments as your needs change. Although it is hoped and intended that your Account value will reflect all contributions plus future earnings, there is no guarantee of the success of the investments.

Under the terms of this Plan, you may choose to defer a portion of your current salary, which your Employer then contributes to the Plan on a pre-tax basis. Contributions are not subject to federal income tax, and in most cases, are not subject to state or local income taxes. Because your contributions are not subject to federal income tax, your taxable income is reduced.

Throughout this SPD, Pre-Tax Contributions may also be defined as Elective Deferral Contributions.

In addition to your own current deferrals, if your Employer allows, you may make rollover contributions to this Plan of eligible rollover amounts that you receive from certain other qualified retirement plans.”]

End of Pre-Tax feature insert

The laws governing plans like this one contain many provisions that may affect your retirement. You should contact the Plan Administrator with any questions about the Plan before you make any decisions related to your retirement. For specific tax advice, you should contact your tax advisor.

Every effort has been made to make this description as accurate as possible. However, this booklet is not a Plan document. This SPD is not meant to interpret, extend or change the provisions of the Plan in any way. The terms of the Plan are stated in, and will be governed in every respect by, the Plan document. Your right to any benefit depends on the actual facts and the terms and conditions of the Plan document, and no rights accrue by reason of any statement in this SPD. A copy of the Plan document is available at the principal office of your Employer for inspection. You, your Beneficiaries or your legal representatives may request to inspect the Plan document at any reasonable time. You also have a right to a copy of the Plan document. For an explanation of your rights under federal law (ERISA), please refer to the “Statement of ERISA Rights” section in this SPD.

Nothing contained in this SPD creates or is intended to create a contract of employment between any Employee and the Employer. Nothing in the Plan or this SPD gives any person the right to be employed by the company nor does it interfere with the company’s right to discharge an Employee at any time. Generally, the terms and phrases that are capitalized in this SPD are defined in the Plan document.

II. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLAN

There is certain general information you may need to know about the Plan. This section summarizes that information for you:

Employer/Plan Sponsor
Name:
Address:
Telephone Number:
Employer’s Tax I. D. Number (EIN#):
Plan Information
Plan Name:
Plan Number:
Plan Effective Date:
Plan Original Effective Date:
Plan Fiscal Year and Plan Year Ending Date [must be the same]:
Type of Plan: Defined Contribution – Profit Sharing Plan
Type of Recordkeeping:
[Insert Appropriate Language from the Options Below:
Option 1: If you have hired an outside recordkeeper:
“Contract Administration”
Option 2: If the recordkeeping is performed “in-house”:
“Self Administration”] / Plan Trustee(s)
Name:
Title:
Address:
[Insert Trustee(s) principal place of business address]
Telephone Number:
Plan Administrator
Name:
Address:
Telephone Number:
All Plan records will be kept on the basis of the Plan Year.

The Trust Fund established for the Plan is the funding medium used for accumulation of assets and from which benefits will be distributed. The Plan Administrator keeps the records for the Plan, and is responsible for the interpretation and administration of the Plan. The Plan Administrator may engage the services of a third party record keeper to perform the administrative functions of the Plan. If you have any questions about the Plan, you should write to the Plan Administrator. The Plan Administrator and the Trustees are designated as the Agents for Service of Legal Process. [Option 1: If the service of process addresses are the same as their addresses listed above: “Service of legal process may be made upon the Plan Trustee or the Plan Administrator at the addresses provided above.” Option 2: If the service of process addresses are different from their addresses listed above: “Service of Legal Process may be made upon the Plan Trustee or the Plan Administrator using the following addresses:

Plan Trustee / Plan Administrator
Address / Address
Phone # / Phone #”]

III. ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION

Eligibility:

All Employees of the Employer are eligible to participate in this Plan, except Employees who are members of a union that bargained separately for retirement benefits that were subject to good faith bargaining during negotiations (unless the bargaining agreement provides for participation in the Plan) and non-resident aliens who receive no earned income from sources within the United States.

A “leased employee” is generally any person (other than a common law Employee of an Employer) who under an agreement between an Employer (or an Affiliate) and a leasing organization has performed services for the Employer (or an Affiliate) on a substantially full-time basis for a period of at least 1 year. Such services must be performed under the primary direction or control of the Employer (or Affiliate). Leased Employees are Eligible Employees under the Plan once they have performed services for an Employer (or an Affiliate) on a substantially full-time basis for a period of 1 year.

In all events, individuals who are not treated as common law employees by the Employer or any participating Employer of the Primary Employer on their payroll records (independent contractors) are excluded from Plan participation, even if a court or administrative agency later determines that these individuals are common law employees and not independent contractors.

If you are not excluded from participation due to the requirements listed above, you are considered to be an Eligible Employee for the Plan.

Participating Employers:

[Insert Appropriate Language from the Options Below:

Option 1: If only Employees of the Primary Employer can participate in the Plan, add the following sentence and insert the name of the Primary Employer:

“Only Eligible Employees of the [insert name of Primary Employer] may participate in the Plan.”

Option 2: If there are Participating Employers (within the controlled group) in addition to the Primary Employer, insert the following sentence and then list the names of the Primary and Participating Employers:

“Only Eligible Employees of the following Employers may participate in the Plan: [insert name(s) of Participating Employer(s)].”]

Participation Requirements:

[Insert Appropriate Language from the Options Below:

Option 1: If the participation requirement is performance of one Hour of Service:

“If you are not excluded from participation due to the above Eligible Employee requirements, you will become eligible to participate in the Plan upon completing 1 Hour of Service. An Hour of Service is generally defined as any hour for which you are paid or are entitled to payment for services rendered to your Employer.

In all events, if you are covered by qualifying military service, you will be credited with service for your period of military service to the extent required by federal law.

If you do not meet the eligibility and participation requirements, you will not be eligible to participate in the Plan.”

Option 2: If the participation requirement has an age and/or service requirement:

“If you are not excluded from participation due to the above Eligible Employee requirements, you will become eligible to participate in the Plan upon attaining age _____ and completing _____ Year(s) of Service.”]

A “Year of Service” is a 12 consecutive month period, beginning on your date of hire, during which you complete 1,000 Hours of Service. An “Hour of Service” is generally defined as any hour for which you are paid or entitled to payment for services rendered to your Employer.

For example, if you have attained the required age and are hired on July 12, 2014 and you complete at least 1,000 Hours of Service on or before July 11, 2015, then you will be eligible to participate in the Plan on the next Entry Date (defined below) on or after July 12, 2015.

If you fail to complete 1,000 Hours of Service during your initial 12 months of employment, you may still complete a Year of Service by being credited with 1,000 Hours of Service during any subsequent 12-month period ending on your employment anniversary date.

In all events, if you are covered by qualifying military service, you will be credited with service for your period of military service to the extent required by federal law.