On December 19, 2019, the Senate passed, as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2020 (Public Law No. 116-94), the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (Division O pg. H.R. 1865-604). It is touted as the most significant retirement act since the Pension Protection Act of 2006. President Trump signed
defined contribution
2021 Cost of Living Adjustments for Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations on benefits and contributions for retirement plans generally effective for Tax Year 2021 (see IRS Notice 2020-79). Most notably, many of the retirement plan limitations, including the limitation on annual salary deferrals into a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, remain unchanged. The…
North Carolina Court Awards $41 Thousand-Plus Penalty for Failure to Produce Documents Requested by Plan Participants
Section 104(b)(4) of ERISA provides that a plan administrator must respond to a written request for certain documents (including the plan documents and summary plan description) by a participant or beneficiary by providing the requested documents. Section 502(c)(1) of ERISA and Regulation § 2575.502(c)-1 provide that a plan administrator who fails to do so within…
Don’t Overlook Your Employee Benefit Plans as You Evaluate the Effect of the Final Overtime Rule
Before employers implement their proposed workforce changes resulting from the finalization of the new overtime rule, released September 24, 2019, see our article for more information, employers should consider what impact those proposed workforce changes may have on their employee benefit plans.
Employee benefit plans with criteria for eligibility, contribution, etc. based on the classification…
The Final Regulations For 401(k)/403(b) Hardship Distributions
By Rose Marie Plato on
Posted in Amendments, Basic Plan Document, Bipartisan Budget Act, defined contribution, Distributions, DOL, EBSA, ERISA, Hardships, IRS, QMAC, QNEC, Retirement plans, Uncategorized
On September 23, 2019, the Treasury Department and IRS published final regulations for hardship distributions from both 401(k) and 403(b) plans (the “Final Regulations”). Essentially the hardship distributions changes relax the hardship distribution requirements (i.e., making it easier for participants to obtain hardship distributions) and eliminate many burdens following a hardship distribution (i.e., allowing participants…