Administering a retirement plan is a complicated task fraught with potential missteps. Fortunately, employers are now able to self-correct most errors and thereby avoid the considerable time and expense of filing an...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published Notice 2024-2, which provides guidance on several sections of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. This article highlights some of the more significant changes affecting retirement...more
1/10/2024
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
IRS ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 sets forth a number of changes affecting retirement plans that go into effect over several years. This article focuses on key changes for 2024 that may be implemented....more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 was enacted at the end of last year as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The act sets forth a number of changes affecting retirement plans that go into effect over several years....more
1/11/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Collective Investment Schemes ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Contributions ,
EPCRS ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
New Legislation ,
Overpayment ,
QLAC ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Self-Correction Programs
In response to the continued proliferation of lawsuits against retirement plan fiduciaries, fiduciary liability insurers are raising rates, limiting coverage, and expanding their due diligence of fiduciary processes...more
Under Notice 2022-33, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended the deadline for adopting amendments to qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to reflect certain changes made by the Setting...more
As costly class action retirement plan litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) proliferates, mandatory individual arbitration has become an increasingly appealing alternative for certain benefit...more
On January 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a short unanimous opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University. The importance of the opinion will likely be modest. At a basic level, all the Supreme Court did was reinstate a...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-02 to further delay enforcement of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (PTE 2020-02), which sets forth several requirements that financial...more
10/28/2021
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
IRA Rollovers ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
In response to ongoing pleas for guidance, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published an informal outline expressing its views on how retirement plan administrators should be addressing missing or unresponsive participants....more
The recently enacted COVID-19 Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, both of which are part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” includes the following...more
1/4/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 required, for the first time, that administrators of defined contribution plans (such as 401(k) plans) provide participants with disclosures...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued proposed regulations to revise the DOL's existing investment duties regulation regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments (sometimes referred to as “socially...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2020-50 to provide retirement plans with guidance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The extensive guidance provides helpful...more
6/24/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Certifications ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Repayment Options ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a notice providing temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for participant elections required to be witnessed by a plan...more
The President recently signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or “CARES Act.” The CARES Act is primarily a stimulus package that addresses the current coronavirus crisis, and it includes...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) was enacted last year as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The SECURE Act provisions include a number of changes...more
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a budget bill, HR 1158, and a related bill, HR 1865, to enact the "Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act," referred to as the “SECURE Act.” The SECURE...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finalized revisions to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final regulations make some subtle but important changes to the regulations...more
9/25/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
New Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Planning
Last week, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019” (H.R. 1994) by a vote of 417-3. The bill makes numerous changes affecting...more
5/29/2019
/ 529 Plans ,
Annual Reports ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Form 5500 ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Management ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Returns
Through Revenue Procedure 2018-52, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has updated its system of correction programs for retirement plans known as the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). EPCRS permits plan...more
Through Revenue Procedure 2018-52, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently updated its system of correction programs for retirement plans known as the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). EPCRS permits...more
10/2/2018
/ 403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Audits ,
Tax Penalties ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Correction Program
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a private letter ruling approving of an employer’s program to provide employees a retirement plan contribution conditioned on student loan repayments. Specifically, the IRS found...more
Earlier this year, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, H.R. 1892, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. In addition to providing a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, the Act includes a change...more
401(k) plans may allow an employee to receive a distribution of elective contributions (employee deferrals) on account of a hardship. The regulations provide that a distribution is made on account of hardship only if the...more