CRPS study plan

Differentiate qualified vs. nonqualified plans and defined contribution vs. defined benefit structures by building a comparison matrix from scratch

Rank eight plan types (traditional 401(k), safe harbor 401(k), SIMPLE, SEP, profit sharing, money purchase, traditional DB, cash balance) on eligibility, vesting speed, and funding flexibility

Apply coverage and nondiscrimination concepts to three hypothetical employer fact patterns and state which plan design would fail and why

Explain top-heavy determination, key-employee status, and the minimum contribution consequence in your own words without notes

Select the most suitable plan type for four client profiles and write a defense of each choice citing design tradeoffs

Diagram the installation timeline from adoption-agreement signature through first payroll deposit, marking every owner of each step

Map each required plan document and participant communication to its deadline and to the party responsible for producing it

Sequence the process for obtaining an IRS opinion or advisory letter versus an individual determination letter

Draft the checklist a third-party administrator uses to move a newly installed plan from signed document to live payroll

Reconstruct the full notice calendar for a calendar-year 401(k) with safe harbor and automatic enrollment features

Match plan-document provisions against actual operational practice in a sample plan and flag at least three document-versus-operation mismatches

Describe how a self-correction program would be applied to one failure discovered during installation

Calculate the elective deferral, annual additions, and compensation caps for a stated plan year using published limit figures

Run ADP and ACP tests on a sample census and identify the corrective distributions required

Distinguish eligibility computation periods, entry dates, and vesting service crediting across three employee timelines

Order the steps of a participant loan and a hardship distribution from request through recordkeeper processing

Sequence distribution events - normal retirement, early termination, and required minimum distributions - and list the tax reporting each triggers

Trace how forfeitures arise, where they are held, and the two permissible ways a plan may use them

Identify operational and fiduciary red flags in three sample plan administration fact patterns

Reconcile a plan trust statement against participant-level recordkeeping and explain each variance

Map each core ERISA fiduciary duty to a concrete plan decision where it is tested

Distinguish 3(21), 3(38), and 3(16) service roles and assign the correct role to five provider scenarios

Explain what a plan sponsor must actually do for 404(c) protection to apply and what it does not protect against

Classify five transactions as prohibited or permissible and name the party-in-interest issue in each

Assemble a twelve-month compliance calendar covering annual return filing, audit thresholds, fee disclosures, and summary annual reporting

Explain when each IRS and DOL correction program applies and choose the right one for three failure scenarios

Deliver a mock client advisory conversation on a suspected fiduciary breach, including recommended next steps

Re-test every item in your running error log from weeks 1 through 6

Complete two full-length timed practice exams under exam conditions with no notes

Re-derive the twenty-five most-missed concepts from memory on a blank sheet before checking answers

Close the error log so that no item remains unresolved or unexplained

Rehearse a two-minute plain-language explanation of each domain for a hypothetical client