FAQ 505: Vesting--Vested balance on terminees is incorrect

Problem: I have a participant whose correct vested percentage is reflected in their record but their vested balance is 100% of the ending balance, rather than 20%. I don't see anything in her record that would make her 100% in the vested balance. Her status is "N" and her date of birth is 1956. Even on the dates and status screen it shows fully vested in 2008. Any clue as to what would have caused this?

Solution: A couple of things could be affecting the calculation of the vested amounts, but the most likely cause is improper source spec coding. If you have terminated groups coded in the "Groups with Forfeitures in Suspense" field in the source specs, the system calculates the vested amounts by taking the ending balance minus the forfeitures in suspense stored in the "Amount Forfeited" field (on the Account Values screens), which in your case is probably zero. The easiest way to fix it is to change the "Groups with Forfeitures in Suspense" field in the source 2 and above specs to "0" (don't leave it blank, put a zero in the field) and re-run the Vested Amounts calculation. By coding the specs this way, the system will ignore the forfeitures in suspense and just apply the vested amount formula like it does for active employees. This coding of "0" is usually the default on the A9 Pattern Plan. If it is not on yours, go ahead and change it. This coding can work, which may be why you don't see it on most plans, but if you run only partial calculations or code forfeitures as input, it can cause this problem on terminees.