Some would say that retirement plan administration is a team sport! Putting together technical and compliance competence with ongoing investment and fiduciary expertise is key to keeping your plan healthy and participants happy. So, what roles and responsibilities should you look to fill for your firm to have a successful and compliant plan?The first and most important role is you, the Plan Sponsor. Plan Sponsors elect to establish the plan and offer it to their employees. Though many emplo...

Proper handling of employee 401(k) deferral contributions and loan repayments is one of the most important responsibilities a plan sponsor undertakes. Failure to timely deposit employee deferrals and participant loan repayments is considered by many service providers to be one of the most commonly made retirement plan errors. Although it may be a common error, the IRS and DOL consider timely deposits a top priority. If loan repayments and/or salary deferrals are deposited outside of the timefram...

On December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 was signed into law. The Act combines the $1.4 trillion omnibus federal spending package for the 2021 fiscal year and a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package that enhances and expands certain provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In addition to direct stimulus payments, extending unemployment benefits to many workers, and another round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, the COVID sti...

When we talk about retirement plans, many employers think of single employer retirement plans. A single employer retirement plan is simply a plan sponsored by one employer (or a related group of employers) for the benefit of its employees. In contrast, a multiple employer plan (MEP) is a retirement plan that is sponsored by two or more unrelated employers. Historically, MEPs have allowed employers, who may not have the resources to handle a retirement plan independently, to pool together to shar...

With so much discussion surrounding the CARES Act, it is easy to forget that 2019 brought us some of the most significant changes to retirement plan law since the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. This legislation came to us by virtue of The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act that was signed into law on December 20, 2019. While many of the SECURE Act provisions are currently in effect, there are important provisions still to come that plan sponso...

Upcoming Compliance Deadlines for Calendar-Year Plans 1st December 2020 Participant Notices – Annual notices due for safe harbor elections, Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIA), and Automatic Contribution Arrangements (EACA or QACA). 31st ADP/ACP Corrections – Deadline for a plan to make ADP/ACP corrective distributions and/or to deposit qualified nonelective contributions (QNEC) for the previous plan year with a 10% excise tax. Disc...

As the end of the year approaches, our to-do lists become longer but our bandwidth becomes condensed. To compound matters, when you sponsor a retirement plan, you know you will be in close contact with your TPA firm about the various year-end notices that must be distributed to plan participants. Below is a summary of some of the most common year-end notices that may apply to calendar year defined contribution plans:Safe Harbor Notice – Safe harbor plans must provide an annual sa...

2020 has been a difficult year with many unexpected challenges. For companies that sponsor retirement plans, some of these challenges came in the form of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. While the CARES Act provided much needed relief to plan sponsors and their participants, the relief also brought new complexity to retirement plan compliance.Coronavirus-Related Distributions (CRDs) – Under the CARES Act, a qualified individual is permitted to take a dis...

Approximately every six years, the IRS requires that pre-approved qualified retirement plans update (or restate) their plan document to reflect recent legislative and regulatory changes. Plan restatements are divided into staggered six-year cycles depending on the type of plan (e.g. defined benefit plans or defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans). In Announcement 2020-7, the IRS confirmed that the next restatement cycle for pre-approved defined contribution plans is a 24-mon...

On October 26, 2020, the IRS announced the Cost of Living Adjustments affecting the dollar limitations for retirement plans. Contribution and benefit increases are intended to allow participant contributions and benefits to keep up with the “cost of living” from year to year. Here are the highlights from the 2021 limits: The elective deferral limit remains unchanged at $19,500. This deferral limit applies to each participant on a calendar year basis. The limit applies to 401(k) ...