Division II · Retirement Plans
Part 5. Qualified Plan Testing, Eligibility, and Vesting
This Part covers the qualified plan's annual compliance cycle — everything that runs off one census in one testing season — plus the eligibility and vesting rules that determine who is in that census and what they have earned.
Chapters
Chapter 1. General Qualified Plan Testing (§410(b) and §401(a)(4))
The §410(b)/§401(a)(4) regulatory framework is long-settled (the 1991/1993 final regulations); the moving pieces are the annual indexed limits and the LTPT testing exclusion — verify those before relying on them.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Chapter 2. Minimum Participation and Vesting
The service- and eligibility rules are in active transition — long-term part-time (LTPT) eligibility, the SECURE 2.0 cash-out increase, and the forfeiture-use rules all changed post-2019 — so confirm the current guidance and indexed figures before relying on them.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Chapter 3. 401(k) and 401(m), ADP/ACP, §415, §416 Top-Heavy, and §404 Deductions
SECURE 2.0 implementation is still in motion — the catch-up final regulations (T.D. 10033) issued in 2025, mandatory automatic enrollment (§414A) and student-loan match are on proposed/notice guidance, and the annual indexed limits change yearly.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Also in this Part
- Issues to watchSubscribers
- Worked example: Cross-Testing: EBARs, the Gateway, Rate Groups, and the MidpointSubscribers
- Worked example: The Average Benefit TestSubscribers
- Worked example: The §414(s) Compensation-Ratio TestSubscribers
- Worked example: ADP Failure CorrectionSubscribers
- Worked example: QNEC TargetingSubscribers
- Worked example: §416 Top-Heavy Ratio and Minimum ContributionSubscribers
- Worked example: §415(c) Aggregation and the Limitation YearSubscribers
- Authorities cited in this PartSubscribers