PensionSoft Help

New Plan Wizard - Main

Basic plan components

Average Compensation: check this box if your plan incorporates Average Compensation in benefit calculation. This will create an Average Earnings Definition called avgComp for your plan.
Social Security Integration: check this box if your plan incorporates Social Security benefits in benefit calculation. This will create a Social Security PIA Definition called PlanPIA.
Earnings Amount: If Average Compensation or Social Security Integration has been checked, you must choose an Earnings Amount for these items to reference. The Wizard will display all Reported Amounts that have already been set up in your Sponsor as options. Choose the one that you would like to reference. If Average Compensation and Social Security Integration have both been unchecked, this box will be disabled.
Covered Compensation Integration: check this box if your plan incorporates Covered Compensation in benefit calculation. This will create a Covered Compensation Definition called covComp.
Project and Prorate (PS / TS): check this box if your plan incorporates Project and Prorate in benefit calculation. This will add a Project and Prorate component to the accrued benefit formula, provided that the Average Compensation box has been checked. If Separate Credited/Vesting Service has been checked, a Formula Derived Item called serviceCredited_NRD will be created. If Separate Credited/Vesting Service has been unchecked, a Formula Derived Item called serviceVesting_NRD will be created. The Formula Derived Item that is created will be referenced in the Accrued Benefit formula.
Career Average: check this box if your plan incorporates Career Average Earnings in benefit calculation. This will create an Average Earnings Definition called EarningsCA for your plan. This Average Earnings Definition will be referenced in the Accrued Benefit formula.
Cash Balance:
check this box if your plan includes a Cash Balance component. This will create an Account Definition called AccountCB. Formula Derived Items called AgePartCalcDate and CBAccrual will also be created, which are used in calculating Cash Balance deposits. If Benefit Statement Export has been checked, additional Formula Derived Items used for Statements display will be created as well.
- Use Whipsaw for Conversion: check this box if your plan uses the Whipsaw method for determining accrued benefit. This will create additional Formula Derived Items in order to roll forward the account balance, and convert to an annuity at NRD. This box can only be checked if the Cash Balance box has already been checked.
Employee Contributions: check this box if your plan includes an Employee Contributions component. This will create an Account Definition called AccountEEC, and an Average Earnings definition referenced to calculate contributions called EarningsEEC.

Factor rounding

Annuity Factor Rounding (decimals): select the appropriate factor rounding for your plan. If your plan does not round Annuity Factors, select No rounding.
Conversion Factor Rounding (decimals): select the appropriate factor rounding for your plan. If your plan does not round Conversion Factors, select No rounding.

Service/vesting

Separate Credited/Vesting Service: check this box if your plan has separate rules for accruing Credited Service and Vesting Service. Leaving this box unchecked will create one Service Definition used for both benefit calculation and vesting purposes, called serviceVesting. Alternatively, checking this box will create serviceVesting for vesting purposes, as well as an additional service definition called serviceCredited, for benefit calculation.
Hours Based Vesting Service: check this box if your plan's Vesting Service is hours based.
Hours Based Credited Service: check this box if your plan's Credited Service is hours based.
Hours Amount: if you indicated that any service definition in your plan is hours based, you must select an hours amount here. This list includes all the Reported Amounts that have been created in your sponsor.
Use Stored Service at Conversion:
if you indicated that any service definition in your plan is hours based, you may or may not choose to use a reported amount to override accrued service on a given date. This is used primarily when you do not have a complete hours history for the Plan that you are creating in DBP.
- Date Hours First Reported: if you indicated that you are using stored service at conversion, you must provide a date on which you have accurate service totals for your participants. If you have service totals for the plan participants on a particular valuation date, you would enter this date here. From this date forward, service would accrue using the Hours Amount that you selected earlier. If you had hours reported prior to the Date Hours First Reported, they would be overwritten by the Reported Amount that you select below.
- Vesting Service: if you indicated that you are using stored service at conversion, you may choose to select a Reported Amount that has been created in your Sponsor that reflects accurate Vesting Service accruals through the Date Hours First Reported that you chose.
- Credited Service: if you indicated that you are using stored service at conversion, you may choose to select a Reported Amount that has been created in your Sponsor that reflects accurate Credited Service accruals through the Date Hours First Reported that you chose.
Anniversary Participation Rules: check this box if your plan incorporates Anniversary Participation Rules (if a participant does not work 1000 hours during their first year of employment, they become a participant on the following first date of the plan year).
Vesting Schedule: select the appropriate Vesting Schedule for your plan. The default is set as a 5-year Cliff, which means that participants are 0% vested until they accrue 5 years of Vesting Service, at which point they become 100% vested in their benefit. A Derived Date called dateFullyVested will be created, as well as one called dateFirstVested, if a Graded option has been selected. The Vesting/Pre Retirement Death component of the Benefit Payment Set will also be populated with the proper coding.

Early/late

Early Retirement: check this box if your plan allows for Early Retirement. This will create a Derived Date called dateEarlyElig. This date will be referenced in the Benefit Payment Set as the date that a participant is eligible to receive a benefit. If your plan reduces early retirement benefits, check any or all of the following boxes that apply to your plan. The Formula Derived Items that are created using these checkboxes will be referenced in the Benefit Payment Set as the reduction to the benefit that a participant is eligible for at dateEarlyElig. If more than one checkbox is checked, the Early Retirement benefit will be the maximum of the Formula Derived Items created. These boxes will be grayed out if Early Retirement is not checked.
- Early Formula: check this box if your plan uses a formula to reduce early retirement benefits. This will create a Formula Derived Item called ERF_Formula.
- Actuarial Equivalent: check this box if your plan actuarially reduces early retirement benefits. This will create Annuity Factors called annFactor_ERF_Imm and annFactor_ERF_Def, and a Formula Derived Item called ERF_AEQ that references them.
- Early Reduction Table: check this box if your plan uses a table to determine early reduction factor (ERF). This will create a Plan Sheet called ERF_Sheet, which stores values that can be changed to match the values in your Plan's ERF table. Formula Derived Items used to calculate age, as well as one called ERF_Table, will also be created.
Late Actuarial Increases: check this box if your plan allows for late actuarial increases. This will check the box in the Late Retirement section of the Benefit Payment Set that states Apply actuarial increases to benefits for participants working past NRD. It will also create an Annuity Factor called annFactor_LRF, which will be referenced in the Late Retirement provision.

Exports

The New Plan Wizard creates a Word Document filled with merge fields tailored to the specifications of your plan. The wizard will remove and/or add items to the Export items based on which items have been selected to be included in your plan. Note: If your Sponsor has multiple plans, you should rename the Word files to include their Plan Number after they have been created. For example, after creating a Benefit Statement Export for Plan Number 001 using the wizard, the Word file should be renamed StandardStatement001.docx.

Benefit Estimate Export: check this box if you would like DBP to create a Benefit Estimate Export for your plan. This will create a one-page benefit calculation, complete with optional forms of payment that have been selected in the Benefit Options tab.
Election Forms Export: check this box if you would like DBP to create an Election Forms Export for your plan. This will create a multi-page package of forms that can be administered to participants to allow them to elect their desired benefit.
Benefit Statement Export: check this box if you would like DBP to create a Benefit Statement Export for your plan. This will create a one-page benefit statement, complete with vesting percentage, accrued benefit, and projected accrued benefit.
- Never display NRD as prior to statement date: check this box if you wish to display statement date in place of Normal Retirement Date (NRD) for participants who are past NRD when running statements.
- Display estimated PIA: check this box if you wish to display estimated monthly Social Security payments. This will create multiple Formula Derived Items that will be used to display estimated PIA payments, as well as a total of projected accrued benefit and PIA payments.

Other options

Frozen Plan: check this box if your plan has been frozen at any point. Upon completion of the New Plan Wizard, you will be prompted with the Plan Freeze Wizard dialog box.
Use stored benefit as the accrued benefit for term vested participants: if there is a Benefit Payment already stored for any participant, the benefit formula will be set up to use the stored benefit in place of a calculated accrued benefit.