Extra! Extra! The IRS has released the 2025 contribution limits.
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401(k) Plan
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The retirement plan landscape is ever evolving. We distill the details so you don’t have to!
We’ve corralled the best news from inside the beltway – not only regulations, but also new legislation from Congress as well as relevant guidance from the IRS and Department of Labor. In true DWC fashion, we don’t just repackage a recitation of the rules, we provide our thoughts and commentary about what those rules mean to you.
We know cash balance rules can be intimidating! Settle into the Cash Balance Corner and let us break it down for you.
Have 401(k) questions? We have 401(k) answers! We bring you answers to many of the common questions we receive.
A behind-the-scenes look not at how the sausage is made, but why we make it the way we do. (Hint: It’s all about the best interests of the client.)
We’re all about learning from other people’s (alleged) mistakes. We might not be attorneys, but we still follow benefits-related cases and summarize lessons and key take-aways. No hourly fee needed for these insights!
A deeper dive into retirement plan topics doesn’t have to be headache-inducing. Our Pension Primer articles provide depth of information without depth of jargon!
The last few years have brought significant changes to the 403(b) world. The IRS' first update to the regulations in more than 40 years directly imposed new plan document and oversight requirements, ...
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Twenty Questions: Retirement Plan Loan Style
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Which retirement plan design is right for you? With so many design options it can be difficult to keep them all straight. We've taken all the guess work out of it with our Plan Design Comparison ...
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Extra! Extra! The IRS has released the 2024 contribution limits.
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Extra! Extra! The IRS has released the 2023 contribution limits. In past years we would list only the limits that changed. With almost everything changing at historic levels, we have provided a few ...
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"Before Fidelity made its move, the Department of Labor had sent a warning about using crypto in retirement accounts. In March, the agency issued a compliance assistance release cautioning retirement ...
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Transamerica has been selected by Franklin Templeton as the recordkeeper for a new retirement plan solution. The Franklin Templeton Group Plan Solution is offered exclusively through Franklin ...
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Every year, the financial press seems to write about the so-called Backdoor Roth and Mega Backdoor Roth strategies in 401(k) plans, and this year is no exception. (Maybe the Super Duper Mega Backdoor ...
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Facts We have been thinking about setting a safe harbor 401(k) plan and have heard that there are some pretty stringent timing requirements depending on some of the provisions we select.
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Extra! Extra! The IRS has released the 2021 contribution limits. Since not everyone was awaiting them quite as eagerly as we were, here is a quick summary.
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Facts As a small business owner, I’m constantly looking for cost-effective ways to improve the benefits I offer my employees. My industry is a competitive one, and it’s important to me to have a ...
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Facts We are reviewing our company expense budget to identify any that we can eliminate or reduce. We’ve read that it is possible to pay expenses related to maintaining company retirement plans out ...
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Facts We’ve been debating implementing a 401(k) plan for 2020. After much back and forth, we’ve decided its “a go!” for this year. Since we are still in a more relaxed summer vacation mode, we’d like ...
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Facts We currently sponsor a 401(k) plan for our company. While we certainly want to be able to provide meaningful benefits to the owners, our goal is to encourage all our employees to save more for ...
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Facts We’ve had a 401(k) plan for years, but we are now looking at ways to make it a more strategic part of our overall compensation package. In one of your previous Questions of the Week, you ...
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DWC
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Can We Increase Profit Sharing Contributions and Decrease Salaries to Improve Testing and Save Money?
Facts We want to make job offers to some new employees and are looking strategically at our overall compensation package. Some of these candidates are seeking upwards of $130,000 which will make them ...
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Facts As the director of a not-for-profit organization, I’m looking at retirement plan options for our employees. The fiscal year ends June 30th and I’d love to implement something to benefit our ...
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The IRS has released the 2020 contribution limits! Since not everyone was awaiting them quite as eagerly as we were, here is a quick summary.
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Facts Our company has about 200 employees, and we launched a new 401(k) plan on October of last year. We were eager for all of our existing employees to get excited about this new benefit, so we ...
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Facts My company used to sponsor a 401(k) plan for my employees. Due to an unforeseen financial hardship, we terminated the plan two years ago. Now that we are back on solid footing, I would like to ...
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Facts We established our company on February 1st of this year, and now we are planning to launch our 401(k) plan. We know there are number of tests and determinations that require us to look at ...
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Facts I sponsor a small 401(k) plan for my employees. Sometimes, I get confused about which service provider to go to for different plan-related questions. Time and efficiency are important to me ...
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UPDATE | This QOTW has been updated to reflect changes included in the SECURE Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019. The updated article is available here. Facts Returning from sunny days at the ...
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Facts We recently had one of the participants in our 401(k) plan ask if it is possible to convert her balance from pre-tax to Roth. She has been a participant in our plan for many years and has both ...
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Facts Our company sponsors a safe harbor 401(k) plan. Each participant receives a safe harbor nonelective contribution equal to 3% of his or her annual pay. Our TPA calculates the safe harbor ...
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Facts One of the participants in our 401(k) plan is going through a divorce, and we just received a court order directing us to provide a portion of his account to his ex-spouse. I thought that ...
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Facts We’ve sponsored a SIMPLE IRA for our employees for years and while it’s served its purpose, we are beginning to feel the limitations inherent in the plan. As we begin to grow, we’d love to be ...
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The IRS has released the 2019 contribution limits! Since not everyone was awaiting them quite as eagerly as we were, here is a quick summary.
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DWC stays on top of what's trending, and our self-proclaimed pension geeks often offer their insights in industry publications. As we transition into the fourth quarter the theme has been, "What Plan ...
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While it might not seem like that big of a deal if 401(k) deposits are made a couple days or weeks late, the Department of Labor (DOL) considers those payroll withholdings to be plan money on the ...
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DWC
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Breaking News: The IRS PLR on Student Loan Benefits in 401(k) Plans is Much Ado About Not Much
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to highlight the IRS’ not-so-ground-breaking entrance into the world of student loan benefits in 401(k) plans.
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Feeling out of the loop on industry happenings this summer? DWC stays on top of what's trending, and our self-proclaimed pension geeks often offer their insights in industry publications. Get caught ...
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Facts People in the retirement plan business sure do like their acronyms. All these letters get thrown around, and I do not know what half of them mean.
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Corporate mergers and acquisitions can be stressful. When employees hear that their company is part of such a deal, they instinctively worry about their jobs. Even with reassurances that there's no ...
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Facts ABC Company maintains a 401(k) plan that includes the following provisions: It operates on a calendar year. Compensation is defined as W2 wages with pre-tax deferrals added back and no ...
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Facts Our company’s workload fluctuates throughout the year with big spikes during the summer. As a result, we often hire seasonal workers who help us out during the busy times, but do not work ...
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Facts A participant in our 401(k) plan took out a loan a couple years ago. She could only afford to make the bare minimum payments at the time, but is now in a financial position to pay down the loan ...
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Facts Our business is considering setting up a 401(k) plan for our employees. We know that it can include both employee contributions and company contributions, but we keep hearing about all sorts of ...
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Facts When we first established our 401(k) plan, the company didn’t have a lot of discretionary income, so we went with a low-cost provider and set it up so the plan would pay for its own fees. We ...
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DWC partner Jen Gibbs Swets recently spoke with Enterprise Radio host Eric Dye to discuss selling a business and the impact it has on retirement planning. Swets, who has more than 15 years of ...
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The reconciliation of the tax reform bills working their way through Congress is prompting retirement industry experts to speak up. Many are expressing concern that the unintended consequence of the ...
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The IRS has released the 2018 contribution limits! Since not everyone was awaiting them quite as eagerly as we were, here is a quick summary.
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"Bitcoin may be the hottest thing going in the investment world, but 401(k) plan participants aren’t likely to see it on their regular investment menus anytime soon," writes Jasmine Ye Han in ...
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"The 401(k) service sector has evolved considerably since its introduction in the Revenue Act of 1978," writes DWC Partner Keith Clark in 401(k) Specialist.
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Facts Our firm sponsors a 401(k) plan that includes a 3% of pay safe harbor contribution. The plan also includes a profit sharing provision, but the only company contribution we usually make is the ...
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January 31 | Forms 1099-R to the Participants The custodian/directed trustee of the plan generally delivers the 1099-Rs directly to the participants. Note that some custodians deliver the 1099-R ...
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When I was kid, I used to love Schoolhouse Rock during the commercial breaks of Saturday morning cartoons. Even now, I have them all on DVD as well as a CD of covers by various rock musicians, and I ...
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If you’ve spent any time working with retirement plans, you know how complicated they can be. It seems like every rule has an exception and an exception to that exception. It is no wonder that ...
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Back in March, Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi testified before a Senate committee, expressing concern about whether open MEPs can be treated as single plans under ERISA since there is no ...
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Qualified plans are complicated beasts regardless of size or design. This truth is sometimes forgotten at this time of year when sponsors and service-providers are busy dealing with nondiscrimination ...
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Over the last few weeks, I have spoken with at least four plan sponsors who just became aware that they missed the April 30, 2010 deadline to restate their plan documents for EGTRRA. For those in ...
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