On March 29, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”, HR 2954). The vote was largely supported by both parties (414-5). The Senate will likely act on the bill later this spring. While we expect several changes in the Senate version, it is widely
Happy National Employee Benefits Day – – April 5, 2022!!
Last year about this time, we wrote of how far we had come collectively in the world of employee benefits roughly one year after the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We reveled at how we kept on keeping on, what we were able to accomplish in the face of unprecedented everything, and admirably pivot with
IRS Expands and Clarifies CARES Act Distribution Rules
Since March 27, 2020 when the CARES Act was signed into law, many questions have mounted related to implementing the retirement plan provisions. Now, with roughly 3 months under our belts since the issuance of the Act and countless CARES Act distributions and loan suspensions processed, the IRS clarified several eligibility, administrative, and taxation reporting
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
Required Minimum Distributions
The aging of the baby boomer generation has increased the level of scrutiny with which the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) will review the efforts of pension plans to locate missing plan participants who did not receive reported benefits. The focus of the EBSA which began with a review of the efforts
IRS Prohibits Future Annuity-to-Lump Sum Conversions for Defined Benefit Plan Retirees Currently Receiving Benefits
On July 9, 2015, the IRS released Notice 2015-49 (the “Notice”) informing taxpayers that the Service and the Treasury intend to amend the required minimum distribution regulations to eliminate the recent defined benefit (“DB”) plan risk management strategy of offering lump sum payments to replace annuity payments to retirees currently receiving joint and survivor, single
New Regulations Permit the Purchase of Longevity Annuities by Qualified Retirement Plans
Under the directive of providing individuals with additional lifetime income options, the IRS issued final regulations on July 2, 2014, permitting the purchase of longevity annuity contracts. The regulations apply to participants in certain types of retirement plans and IRA owners and allows them to purchase a “qualifying longevity annuity contract” (QLAC) with a portion