Hardship Distributions

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06/8/24

DWC | 06/8/2024

Distributions from a Retirement Plan

Ask just about any service provider who works with retirement plans what their most frequently asked questions are, and they will likely tell you that they all relate to how and when participants can ...

Haden McDonald | 10/12/2023

Trust But Verify...But Not For Hardship Distributions

DWC | 12/8/2020

CARES Act Relief for Retirement Plan Loan Payments is Ending, Now What?

Facts Earlier this year, we implemented the coronavirus relief provisions that allowed our participants to suspend loan payments for the remainder of 2020. As a result of reduced hours and other ...

DWC | 09/1/2020

Is There an "Easy Button" for Setting Up a New Retirement Plan?

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 ...

DWC | 08/25/2020

How Can I Minimize my Risk When Reviewing and Approving Hardship Withdrawals?

Facts As a plan sponsor, I want my employees to have access to their retirement accounts in the event of a financial emergency. I know that offering hardship withdrawals could satisfy that goal, but ...

DWC | 07/14/2020

Must I Complete the Upcoming Mandatory Plan Document Restatement Before Terminating My Plan?

Facts I currently sponsor a 401(k) plan for my employees. As I start to consider retirement myself and eventual dissolution of the business, I’m compiling a list of all the things I need to do to ...

DWC | 03/31/2020

Can We Allow a Distribution for a Coronavirus-Related Hardship?

Facts Some of our employees are dealing with financial challenges due to the coronavirus situation, and they are asking whether they can access their 401(k) accounts. Our plan allows for loans and ...

DWC | 03/30/2020

DWC News Update | The CARES Act: Federal Coronavirus Relief

On Friday afternoon, March 27th, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act - sweeping legislation intended to provide much-needed ...

DWC | 02/25/2020

Do We Still Need to Suspend Deferrals Following a Hardship Distribution?

Facts Larry and Kent are both participants in our company’s 401(k) plan. Both recently went back to school on a part-time basis to pursue graduate degrees and will continue working for us. Each of ...

DWC | 10/24/2019

DWC News Update | Two Years in the Making: The Final IRS Hardship Distribution Regulations Are Here

It’s been a while, but we finally have them! Late last month, the IRS published the final hardship distribution regulations, nearly two years after Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act and the ...

DWC | 05/28/2019

What Does Safe Harbor Mean, Exactly?

Facts When we set up our new 401(k) plan last year, we decided not to add a safe harbor provision because we were not in a position to commit to the required contribution. Then we heard our TPA say ...

DWC | 03/12/2019

Can Employees from a Former Subsidiary Take a Distribution from our 401k Plan?

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 ...

DWC | 12/18/2018

Hardships & Hurricanes: What are the Hardship Rules Following a Natural Disaster?

Facts Our company sponsors a 401(k) plan. One of our participants lives in the Florida panhandle and lost her home in Hurricane Michael. She is under age 59 ½ and is not eligible to take in-service ...

DWC | 12/11/2018

Are We Still Required to Suspend Deferrals Following a Hardship Distribution?

Facts I sponsor a 401(k) Plan for myself and my staff. I recently processed a hardship distribution for the purchase of my primary residence in October 2018. I know the rules require me to suspend my ...

DWC | 11/13/2018

Breaking News: Hardship Distributions Becoming Even Less of a Hardship Than Previously Expected

Nearly a year after Congress passed changes to the hardship distribution rules in the Bipartisan Budget Act and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the IRS has published proposed regulations to fill in some ...

DWC | 10/30/2018

What Costs can be Covered Under a Hardship Distribution for Purchase of a Primary Residence?

Facts One of the participants in our 401(k) plan submitted a request for a hardship distribution for the purchase of a primary residence. On review of the supporting documentation, we discovered that ...

DWC | 09/13/2018

Q3 Pension Pontifications

All of us here at DWC thrive on the really geeky stuff, and some of the best discussions start with Adam and Keith’s pontifications about how different topics impact our clients and our industry. We ...

DWC | 05/8/2018

401(k) Distribution Rules: After Taking a Hardship Distribution, How Quickly Must a Participant Stop 401(k) Contributions?

Facts A participant in our 401(k) plan recently took a hardship distribution. We know we are supposed to suspend his deferrals for six months following the distribution, but we are not entirely clear ...

Adam C. Pozek | 02/9/2018