PBGC Heading
Date
Plan Contact’s Name
Street Address
City, State, ZIP Code
Dear __________:
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) will be conducting a survey of 400 plans that first paid PBGC premiums in 2006. The study will help us better understand why sponsors are establishing new plans and how we can improve our service to sponsors of newly insured plans. Your plan (Plan Name ___________________________, EIN: __________, PN: ___) was randomly selected to participate in the survey.
The Office of Management and Budget has approved this survey under OMB Control No. 1212-0053 (expires 12/31/2009). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
A contractor for PBGC will conduct this survey by telephone during November and December 2008. The survey should take only about 15 minutes. PBGC plans to use the survey responses to improve customer service. PBGC will protect the confidentiality of the survey responses to the extent provided by law.
The PBGC’s mission includes encouraging employers to continue managing healthy pension plans. We cannot do this effectively without feedback from plan administrators like you. Your participation in our study is completely voluntary. However, your responses to this survey will help us both meet this aspect of our mission and identify ways we can improve our service to the plans we insure.
If you have any questions, concerns, or would like the contractor to contact a different person for this survey, please contact Mr. Joost Bottenbley at (202) 326-4080, extension 6587. Again, I appreciate your time and sincerely hope you will participate in our study.
Sincerely yours,
David Gustafson
Director
Policy, Research, and Analysis Department
Questionnaire for Newly Insured Plans
Hello, I am ___________________ calling on behalf of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). We are conducting a survey of defined benefit pension plans that recently paid PBGC premiums for the first time. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved our collecting the data in this survey.
[If asked, tell the respondent that the Office of Management and Budget has approved this survey under OMB Control No. 1212-0053 (expires 12/31/2009) and that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.]
The purpose of the survey is to help the PBGC improve services to you and other plan sponsors. Your answers are voluntary, but your opinions are very important for this research. PBGC plans to use the survey responses to improve customer service. PBGC will protect the confidentiality of your responses to the extent provided by law.
This interview will take approximately 15 minutes. Is this a good time to talk?
___Yes ___No
If “Yes,” say, “Thank you. Just to be clear, I would like to talk with you about ___(read the plan name, EIN, and PIN from the master list).”
If “No,” ask, “Is there a time I can call back when you would have about 15 minutes to answer a few questions about the plan.”
_______________________________ (Record date and time to call back.)
1. PBGC sent a letter indicating we would be calling. Did you get it?
___Yes ___No
If the respondent indicates he or she did not receive the letter, summarize its content as follows:
The letter requested your participation in a voluntary survey of plans that first paid premiums to PBGC in 2006. The results of the survey will be used to
improve PBGC's customer service to plans like yours. PBGC’s efforts to encourage employers to maintain plans rely greatly on feedback from plan sponsors.
The letter also stated that the Office of Management and Budget has approved this survey under OMB Control No. 1212-0053 (expires 12/31/2009) and that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
2. Identify the responder (Name, title, function (owner, administrator, actuary, attorney, etc.) if different from the designated plan contact person:
Name ________________________________________________
Title _________________________________________________
Function ______________________________________________
3. Is this a spin-off from another plan? (That is, did another plan that included this plan’s participants split into two (or more) plans with some participants staying in the original plan and others coming to this plan?)
___Yes ___No
If the answer to Q3 is “Yes,” skip to question 5.
4. Did this plan replace another defined benefit plan?
___Yes ___No
5. The plan’s 2006 PBGC premium filings indicated the plan was adopted in _____ (read year from master list). Does that sound right?
___Yes ___No
If “No,” in what year was the plan adopted? ____
If the plan was adopted in 2003 or earlier, ask question 6, otherwise, skip to question 7.
6. The plan was adopted in ____ (read year from Q 5), but reported it first paid premiums to PBGC in 2006. There are valid reasons why some new defined benefit plans do not pay PBGC premiums when they are first created. We would like to know why this plan began paying PBGC premiums in 2006 even though it was established much earlier.
Please listen to the following responses and tell me if any applied to this plan.
a. ____ The plan paid PBGC premiums before 2006 (under what EIN, PIN, Plan
name?).
___________EIN ___PN _______________________Name
b. ____ The plan was exempt from paying premiums.
(Why? __________________________________________________)
c. ____ The plan was not aware that premiums were required until 2006.
(Did you pay all missed premiums?) ___Yes ___No
d. ____ The plan was told premiums were not required.
(By whom?) _____________________________________________
e. ____ Other (specify reason): ______________________________________ __________________________________________________________
7. Does this plan cover all company workers or only a subset?
___All ___Subset
If the answer to question 7 is “All”, skip to the instructions above question 8. Otherwise, ask 7a and 7b and determine if 7c should be asked.
a. Approximately what percent of company workers are covered by this plan ?
______ %
b. Which workers does this plan cover? _____________
(Hourly, salaried, management, owners, other group)
If the answer to question 7b is “management” or “owners,” ask question 7c, otherwise skip to the instructions above question 8.
c. You may not be aware that the PBGC usually does not insure plans that are set up solely for the benefit of company owners or to provide managers with benefits that exceed certain limits. Are you sure this plan should be paying premiums to PBGC?
___Yes ___No (Unsure)
If you are unsure of whether you should be paying premiums to PBGC, check with your attorney or benefits consultant. You may also contact PBGC at 1-800-736-2444, and it will determine if your plan is covered under PBGC’s insurance program.
If there is a “small professional service provider” flag for this plan on the master list for this plan, ask question 8. Otherwise, skip to question 9.
8. PBGC’s records indicate your business may be what they classify as a professional service provider. These businesses include those of doctors, dentists, chiropractors, attorneys, public accountants, actuaries, and architects, among others. PBGC can only insure the plans of professional service providers if those plans had at least 26 active participants at some point in time. By law, PBGC does not insure plans that do not qualify for its insurance coverage, even if the plan has been paying premiums for such coverage. Are you sure this plan qualifies for PBGC’s insurance coverage and that it should be paying premiums to PBGC?
___Yes ___No (Unsure)
If you are unsure of whether you should be paying premiums to PBGC, check with your attorney or benefits consultant. You may also contact PBGC at 1-800-736-2444, and it will determine if your plan is covered under PBGC’s insurance program.
If asked, inform the respondent that an active participant is someone covered by the plan who is working for the plan’s sponsor. It does not include retirees or former workers whose benefits in the plan have vested. Once covered by PBGC, the plan will remain covered even if the number of active participants falls below 26.
9. What factors prompted the company to create this defined benefit plan? Please listen to the following responses and then tell me which ones applied to this plan. (Check all applicable responses.)
___ Wanted to reward or provide an incentive for employees
___ Wanted to change type of retirement plan
___ Recommended by ___________________ (title of person/group)
___ Desired by employees
___ Could contribute more than with a defined contribution plan
___ Could give credits for service before plan was established
___ Law changed, making a defined benefit plan more attractive
___ Benefits insured by PBGC
___ Other (Please specify) _______________________________
If the respondent doesn’t know, ask “Is there someone I could talk with who would know?”
__ Yes __ No
If “Yes,” ask for name ________________________________ and phone number ______________________.
Continue to ask all remaining questions of current respondent. If another person is identified as an appropriate contact for answering question 9, then contact that person after this interview to obtain a response to question 9.
On a scale of one to five with one being a minor consideration and five being a very important consideration, how would you rate ___? (Read all items that are checked and enter the reported level of importance by the check mark.)
10. What issues most concerned the company when it was considering establishing this plan? Please listen to the following responses and then tell me which ones applied to this plan. (Check all that apply.)
___ Funding costs
___ Accounting costs
___ Funding predictability
___ Funding or Accounting volatility
___ Administrative burden
___ Size of tax deduction
___ Changes to law
___ PBGC premiums
___ Other (please specify): _________________________________
If the respondent doesn’t know, ask “Is there someone I could talk with who would know?”
___Yes ___No [these were italicized; I changed to regular]
If “Yes,” ask for name ________________________________ and phone number ______________________.
Continue to ask all remaining questions of current respondent. If another person is identified as an appropriate contact for answering question 10, then contact that person after this interview to obtain a response to question 10.
On a scale of one to five with one being a minor consideration and five being a very important consideration, how would you rate ___ ? (Read all items that are checked and enter the reported level of importance by the check mark.)
11. Now that the company has some experience with the plan, what plan-related issues are of most concern to the company? Please listen to the following responses and then tell me which ones applied to this plan. (Check all that apply.)
___ Funding costs (amounts)
___ Accounting costs
___ Funding predictability
___ Funding or Accounting volatility
___ Administrative burden
___ Size of tax deduction
___ Changes to law
___ PBGC premiums
___ Other (Please specify) _________________________________
If the respondent doesn’t know, ask “Is there someone I could talk with who would know?”
___Yes ___No [these were italicized; I changed to regular]
If “Yes,” ask for name ________________________________ and phone number ______________________.
Continue to ask all remaining questions of current respondent. If another person is identified as an appropriate contact for answering question 11, then contact that person after this interview to obtain a response to question 11.
On a scale of one to five with one being a minor consideration and five being a very important consideration, how would you rate ___? (Read all items that are checked and enter the reported level of importance by the check mark.)
12. In your opinion, how adequate is the guidance you receive to help you comply with defined benefit plan rules and regulations?
___Very adequate ___Adequate ___Less than adequate ___Very poor
13. Can you suggest any actions the PBGC or other federal agency can take that might make administering this plan easier? __________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Can you suggest any actions the PBGC or other federal agency can take that might make defined benefit plans more attractive to other employers?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Knowing what you know now, if you had the decision to make again, would you still create a defined benefit plan?
___Yes ___No
Please tell me why or why not? ______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Conclusion
That is all the questions I have for you. Is there anything you would like to ask?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
If asked a question, write it down and tell the respondent that you will forward the question to PBGC and that PBGC will be in touch with an answer.
Thank you for your time. If a question was asked, say: We will give your question(s) to PBGC and they will get back in touch with you with an answer.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Questionnaire for Newly Insured Plans |
| Author | Michael Packard |
| Last Modified By | Catherine Klion |
| File Modified | 2008-11-21 |
| File Created | 2008-11-21 |