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Retirement Plans

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As signed into law, Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) required that effective as of January 1, 2024, participants in 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, or governmental 457(b) plans, who were age 50 or older and whose Social Security wages for the previous year exceed $145,000 (indexed), only be permitted…

On April 14, 2021, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration issued guidance on cybersecurity for the first time to help plan sponsors, fiduciaries, service providers, and participants protect personal information and retirement assets. In the guidance, the DOL identifies evaluating cybersecurity practices as part of the plan sponsor’s or other plan fiduciary’s…

The Department of Labor has issued final regulations that will enable employers to electronically provide required information and documents to more plan participants.  Although employers have been able to electronically provide some documents and information to some participants under existing rules, use of electronic delivery was limited because of an affirmative consent requirement that applied…

On May 4, 2020, the IRS provided guidance on coronavirus-related distributions (“CRDs”) and coronavirus-related loans and loan payment delays (“CR Loan Provisions”) in the form of FAQs.  In those FAQs, the IRS answered a few of the questions that many practitioners, administrators, and employers have been asking:

  • Does a spouse’s loss of income trigger eligibility

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On December 19, 2019, the President signed the SECURE Act. SECURE includes, among other things, provisions that are intended to make retirement plans more accessible, especially to smaller employers, address changing workforce demographics, address nondiscrimination issues facing defined benefit plans, encourage guaranteed income options under defined contribution plans, and increase penalties for noncompliance with certain…

Generally, for a tax qualified retirement plan to be adopted, the plan document must be signed and dated by the sponsoring employer and retained. However, in Val Lanes Recreation Center Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, T.C. Memo 2018-92, the Tax Court found that the employer’s failure to produce a signed plan document did…

On September 23, 2019 the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued final regulations amending the rules for hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations modify the hardship requirements to reflect statutory changes and directives introduced by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017…

The Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Services (“VETS”) issued a new fact sheet (“Fact Sheet”) to help employers better manage their pension obligations under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”). USERRA creates certain rights and protections for uniformed service members. For example, under USERRA, service members who were reemployed after…