What other Federal agencies regulate retirement plans?

The Treasury Department's Internal Revenue Service is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, which establishes the rules for operating a "tax-qualified" retirement plan, including funding and vesting requirements. A plan that is "tax-qualified" can offer special tax benefits both to the employer sponsoring the plan and to the participants who receive retirement benefits. The IRS maintains a toll-free taxpayer assistance line for employee plans at 877.829.5500.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, PBGC, a nonprofit, federally created corporation, guarantees payment of certain pension benefits under defined benefit plans that are terminated with insufficient money to pay benefits. The PBGC may be contacted at 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, telephone: 202.326.4000.

Your Right To Plan Information

This section outlines the disclosure requirements of retirement plans. It describes the documents that a plan administrator must make available to you, the information these documents should contain, and alternative sources for the information. The following questions are addressed:

• What information does the plan have to provide?
• What is a summary plan description and how often should you get it?
• Where can you get annual financial reports and other plan documents?
• What penalties can be assessed if a plan administrator does not provide certain documents?

What information is your plan required to disclose?

ERISA requires plan administrators ("the people who run plans") to give you in writing the most important facts you need to know about your retirement plan. Some of these facts must be provided to you regularly and automatically by the plan administrator. Others are available upon request, free-of-charge, or for copying fees. Your request should be made in writing.

One of the most important documents you are entitled to receive is a summary of the plan called the summary plan description, or SPD. Your plan administrator is legally obligated to provide to you, free of charge, the SPD automatically when you become a participant of an ERISA-covered retirement plan or a beneficiary receiving benefits under such a plan. The summary plan description is an important document that tells you what the plan provides and how it operates. It tells you when you begin to participate in the plan, how your service and benefits are calculated, when your benefit becomes vested, when you will receive payment and in what form, and how to file a claim for benefits. You should read your summary plan description to learn about the particular provisions that apply to you. If a plan is changed you must be informed, either through a revised summary plan description, or in a separate document, called a summary of material modifications, which also must be given to you free of charge.