The IRS did its part to make Friday, April 19^th a really good Friday for those who sponsor qualified retirement plans.  After not making many friends when it jacked up the user fees for the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) a year or so ago, the IRS has responded to industry requests (that DWC representatives helped draft) by now allowing plan sponsors to self-correct a number of more common missteps without the need to submit anything to the IRS at all.

Facts

I own a small manufacturing company that specializes in office supplies, and I sponsor a 401(k) plan for my employees. One of my former employees, Tim Halpert, worked full-time with me for the past several years but recently left to work for a staffing agency called Prestige Worldwide.  Tim was a great employee for many years, and Prestige has offered me the opportunity to have him continue to provide services for me through the staffing agency. Prestige Worldwide also offered the services of another employee, Toby Blenderson, who would work on a part-time basis for about six months.

Facts

Our company is thinking of setting up a cash balance plan.  In our research about what that entails, we keep running into information about the PBGC and paying premiums.

Facts

Our company has been very fortunate to have low turnover over the years.  Those that have left either were not eligible for our 401(k) plan, or they had very small balances and had their accounts forced out when they terminated.  We recently did have one longer-term employee leave us.  She was an active participant in our plan and has a sizeable balance that is well above our plan’s mandatory distribution threshold.  Our TPA said that we now have to file some new form – an 8955-SSA, I think – that has something to do with this former employee.

If you followed any news outlets at all on Friday, you probably read or heard headlines like this one from CNN: “Court Blocks Another Trump Attempt to Undermine Obamacare”. While the Washington, D.C. District Court’s decision in State of New York, et. al. v. United States Department of Labor, et. al. does impact health plans, its tentacles reach well into the retirement plan world as well.

Facts

We’ve had our retirement plan for a couple of years now and feel that we are finally getting the hang of the various deadlines for our plan.  There is just one deadline that I always have trouble remembering: the extended deadline for filing our Form 5500 with the DOL.  I’ve heard that if we extend our corporate taxes, it is the due date of our tax return.  I’ve also read that we can file an extension of the Form 5500 by filing a Form 5558 which will extend the filing deadline to two and a half months after the original filing deadline.  Obviously, these are two separate dates.  I just want to make sure that I am doing everything timely.

Facts

Our company sponsors a 401(k) plan, and we want to make sure we do everything correctly.  We have a great staff and have put processes in place to help ensure we operate the plan in a compliant manner.  With all the moving parts, however, there is still a concern that we might miss something.

All of us here at DWC thrive on the really geeky stuff, and some of the best discussions start with our pontifications about how different topics impact our clients and our industry.  We decided to bring the best of those conversations to you, still with a touch of geekiness but also distilled into easily digested, bite-sized pieces.

This is our busiest time of the year as we prepare our Annual ERISA Compliance Reviews for calendar year plans.  It is a great time to connect with our clients and their investment advisors to discuss the past year and look forward to what lies ahead. - As originally published in our Q1 2019 newsletter. Didn't get it? Sign up here.

Facts

Our company has several wholly-owned subsidiaries, and each of them has signed onto our 401(k) plan as participating employers.  We sold 100% of the stock of one of those subsidiaries – Glen’s Fiddich, LLC – to an unrelated company.  As a result of the sale, Glen’s Fiddich is no longer related to us and has discontinued participation in our retirement plan as of January 1, 2019. The employees of Glen’s Fiddich are now participating in the purchasing entity’s retirement plan, and a few of them are eager to roll their accounts from our plan into the new plan.

Facts

We have a participant who took a loan from his 401(k) account at the beginning of the year.  Yesterday, he gave us notice of his resignation, effective in two weeks, but he still has an outstanding loan balance.