401(k) Q&A | Plan & Industry Content From DWC - The 401(k) Experts

Overtime Is Up and Bonuses Are Down: Will This Year's Irregular Compensation Impact our Retirement Plan?

DWC 12/1/20

DWC 401(k) Q&A: Will Irregular Compensation in 2020 Impact Your Retirement Plan?

Facts We sponsor a 401(k) plan for our employees and provide a company matching contribution to those who defer. Our plan specifies that in calculating that match, we only consider employee base pay and exclude “irregular” forms of pay (specifically bonuses and overtime). This allows us to be more precise when we are building the expected cost of ...

DWC's Thanksgiving Dinner Prep Playlist

DWC 11/24/20

Facts All year long we've been leaving little rock 'n' roll Easter eggs in our Cash Balance Corner feed. ICYMI: Each post title incorporates one of our favorite songs. And for our 20th century rock music fans, our retirement plan-savvy business owner, Robert Smith's name should ring some bells. (Hint: His music has the cure for what ails you.)

How Do Furloughed Employees Impact Our Plan at Year-End?

DWC 11/17/20

DWC 401(k) Q&A Question of the Week: Impact of Furloughed Employees on Retirement Plan at Year-End

Facts Like many businesses, we had to furlough some employees earlier this year in response to the coronavirus shutdowns. We’ve been fortunate enough to bring back a few of these employees, but a number still remain in limbo. As we approach year-end, we’ve started wondering how this might affect our 401(k) plan and potential company contributions.

Cash Balance Compliance: "Takin' Care of Business"

DWC 11/5/20

DWC's Cash Balance Corner: Cash Balance Plan Compliance

Wow! We have covered a lot of ground over the last few entries, learning about how cash balance benefits are earned and funded. So far, our plan sponsor Robert Smith, Inc. has dealt with the complexities of an owner-only plan. Now, it’s time to take a step back to take a look at some of the more mundane-sounding but still very important ...

Which Common Plan Fees Can (and Should) We Pay from Plan Assets?

DWC 08/18/20

DWC 401(k) Q&A Question of the Week: Which Common Plan Fees Can (& Should) We Pay from Plan Assets?

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 of plan assets. We sponsor both a 401(k) plan and cash balance plan for our employees, so shifting some of those fees from the company to the plan ...

Can We Offer Higher Profit Sharing Contributions to Employees Based on Performance?

DWC 07/28/20

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 mentioned that we cannot really give employees the choice between higher pay or a profit sharing contribution, but we would like to explore ways to use ...

Can We Increase Profit Sharing Contributions and Decrease Salaries to Improve Testing and Save Money?

DWC 07/21/20

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 highly compensated employees (HCEs) in 2021. We are thinking about negotiating a lower salary of $100,000 with a promise of $30,000 in profit sharing ...

Do We Have to Consider Pay Before a Participant is Eligible When Calculating Matching Contributions?

DWC 06/9/20

DWC 401(k) Q&A: Do We Have to Consider Pay Before a Participant is Eligible When Calculating Company Matching Contributions?

Facts Each year, after our last payroll in December, I submit my census information to the TPA for our 401(k) plan. Even though I’ve looked at each participant’s total deferrals for the year to determine the matching contributions, the TPA almost always has true-up contributions for me to make. Taking a closer look, it seems like these true-ups ...

How Much Fidelity Bond Coverage Are We Required to Have?

DWC 05/12/20

Facts We are in the process of reviewing all our various business insurance policies to determine which ones we need to keep, update, or eliminate. One the coverages on our review list is the fidelity bond for our 401(k) plan. Although our plan does invest some in regular mutual funds (about $200,000), the plan also holds some non-traditional ...

What Retirement Plan Filings and Records Must We Keep?

DWC 05/5/20

Facts We’ve sponsored a 401(k) plan since 2002 and the amount of paperwork and related records we’ve accumulated is incredible. Cleaning up these records has always been on my to-do list for a while, but it’s not the most exciting task. As much as I would like to I know I can’t just throw it all away, but it seems like the mountains of old filings ...

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