Most retirement plan sponsors know that ERISA - the federal law that imposes duties (and liability for breaching those duties) on certain individuals and entities that are defined as plan fiduciaries – is the primary source of fiduciary law for plans. Governmental plans are not subject to ERISA. Therefore, we must turn to other legal sources such ...
Beginning this year, plan sponsors may increase their qualified plan’s mandatory cash-out limit from $5,000 to $7,000. The increase was enacted by SECURE 2.0, and applies to distributions made after December 31, 2023. This seemingly small change could have large financial consequences for your plan, especially if you are a small employer.
Congress continues to pass laws that move 403(b) plans ever closer to 401(k) plans, but 403(b) plans remain distinct. Understanding these differences allows you to maintain a compliant plan that best serves the needs of your participants. Special aspects of 403(b) plans include the following:
Types of Plan Sponsors
Not just any type of employer ...
Unless an exception applies, all ERISA-covered benefit plans have to file an annual Form 5500 each year with the DOL and IRS (filed through the DOL’s website). Plan sponsors have the ability to combine their welfare plan filings (e.g., medical, dental, vision, disability, life, etc.) into a single Form 5500. Filing a single form can cut down ...
Late last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its first HIPAA settlement agreement involving a ransomware attack. In the press release announcing the settlement, HHS stated that they began investigating Doctors’ Management Services, a Massachusetts-based medical management company, in April 2019 after ...
If you were born before 1951, remember that you must take your required minimum distributions (RMDs) from funds held in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and other retirement plans before the end of the year.
RMDs are amounts that account owners must withdraw each year once they reach their required beginning date, currently age 72. RMDs ...
A handful of new ERISA litigation cases (including McManus v. Clorox Co., N.D Cal. No. 4:23-cv-05325) are taking aim at forfeiture accounts and trying to pull them into the never-ending list of ways in which retirement plan fiduciaries have purported to breach their fiduciary duty to plan participants.
The recent lawsuits argue that even ...
It’s that time of year again when calendar year 401(k) plans must send annual retirement plan notices. As you work with your service providers to make sure all notices are sent, now may be a good time to reacquaint yourself with the more common notices and related 401(k) plan documents that must be provided to employees. Mistakes can happen ...
The IRS released its annual update for the cost-of-living adjustments for 2024. Similar to the adjustments made last year, there are widespread increases for 2024. As you can see from our chart below, almost all IRS limits were affected by this year’s cost-of-living adjustments, with the exception of catch-up contributions.
Now that the ...
If you are serving as a fiduciary for your employer’s retirement plan, you have a duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to act prudently. Engaging in prudent behavior is only the first step a plan fiduciary should take, however. Equally important is for the plan fiduciary to be able to demonstrate at a future date when ...