10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
These 10 free RPA questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Retirement Plans Associate blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
An executive is fully vested in an unfunded supplemental retirement arrangement. The employer has placed sufficient assets in a rabbi trust with an independent trustee. The executive argues that vesting and the trust together protect the entire benefit if the employer becomes insolvent. Which exposure remains?
Correct answer: C - Claims of the employer's general creditors against the trust assets, despite the executive's vested entitlement.
For the coming full year, an employee will earn $80,000 in salary and a $20,000 bonus. The 401(k) plan's valid definition of compensation excludes bonuses. Its traditional basic safe-harbor match is 100% of the first 3% deferred plus 50% of the next 2%. The employee currently elects 3% of salary. What is the smallest additional annual deferral that will capture the full match, and how much additional employer money will it produce?
Correct answer: D - $1,600 more deferred; $800 more in employer matching contributions
A 42-year-old public-school employee has used the entire ordinary annual elective-deferral limit through a 403(b) plan. The district also offers an eligible governmental 457(b) plan, and an unrelated part-time employer offers a 401(k). There are no catch-up rights or prior 457(b) contributions, and compensation is sufficient. Where can the employee make additional pretax salary deferrals for the same year without exceeding an individual deferral limit?
Correct answer: D - The governmental 457(b), using its separate limit; the 401(k) shares the limit already used by the 403(b).
A 48-year-old taxpayer converts $30,000 from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Total unrecovered nondeductible basis across all of the taxpayer's traditional IRAs is $18,000. At December 31 of the conversion year, the combined value of all traditional IRAs is $150,000, excluding the amount already converted. There are no other contributions, distributions, outstanding rollovers, or adjustments. How much of the conversion is included in ordinary income?
Correct answer: A - $27,000
Two managers have the same investment mandate. Over the same five years, Manager Alder has a Sharpe ratio of 0.80 and an information ratio of 0.30; Manager Birch has ratios of 0.55 and 0.60, respectively. Both reports use net returns, the same benchmark and constant risk-free rate, and identical measurement conventions. What do these results establish?
Correct answer: C - Alder earned more excess return per unit of total volatility; Birch earned more active return per unit of tracking error.
At a pension committee meeting, a member proposes dismissing the small-cap value manager for trailing the S&P 500 over the past year. The manager exceeded the agreed small-cap value benchmark after fees over both the one- and five-year review periods. Holdings remain within the mandate; personnel, fees, and investment process are unchanged. Which response follows from the evidence presented?
Correct answer: B - Retain the mandate with ongoing review against the agreed benchmark; the cited large-cap comparison does not establish failure.
A new hire's cash-balance pension statement shows pay credits and a fixed annual interest credit to a hypothetical account. The pension trust loses money during the year, and the plan's crediting terms have not changed. How should the administrator explain the effect on the promised benefit?
Correct answer: B - The promised credits still apply; the employer bears the investment risk supporting this defined benefit promise.
A recordkeeper's SOC 1 Type 2 report covers the full plan year and contains an unmodified opinion. It lists the sponsor's review of contribution exception reports as a complementary user entity control. The sponsor never performed that review. How should the committee interpret the report when assessing the plan's controls?
Correct answer: D - The opinion does not establish that the sponsor's review control operated; that control gap remains.
Four months ago, a 67-year-old retired from an employer with 300 employees, ending both employment and active-employee health coverage. The retiree has Medicare Part A, elected COBRA, and plans to delay Social Security retirement benefits until age 70. Part B was previously deferred while covered through that employment. What should the retiree be told about Part B enrollment?
Correct answer: A - Enroll in Part B now; COBRA does not extend the employment-based special enrollment period.
Twenty minutes before a distribution batch is released, a recordkeeper flags a new email address, changed bank instructions, and a full withdrawal request on one retirement account. Contacted through a previously verified telephone number, the participant denies all three changes. The payment remains queued. What must the incident team do before the batch is released?
Correct answer: A - Hold the disputed payment, disable the compromised access, and preserve the transaction and access logs.
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