The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for retirement plans for 2022. Most of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2021 will increase, with...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2021. Nearly all of the dollar limits...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an information letter in June 2020 indicating that, in limited circumstances, it will allow defined contribution retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans) to indirectly invest in private...more
9/14/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Information Letters ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
New Guidance ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Coronavirus (COVID-19) raises serious concerns for employers of all shapes and sizes, across all industries and in every business sector. As the impact of COVID-19 continues to grow, many employers are faced with new...more
The IRS recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2020. Nearly all of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2019 will...more
11/7/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Contribution Limits ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Summary Plan Description
Beginning September 1, 2019, the IRS is expanding its retirement plan determination letter program to apply to certain individually designed statutory hybrid and merged plans. Employers sponsoring hybrid plans not previously...more
The US Supreme Court recently agreed to review the Eighth Circuit’s decision in Thole v. US Bank, in which the Eighth Circuit held that participants in an overfunded defined benefit pension plan lack standing to sue for...more
7/23/2019
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Certiorari ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Funds ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing
This month, Allison Wilkerson, Brian Tiemann and Sarah Engle join host Judith Wethall to talk through the value of conducting a proactive self-audit of 401(k) plans. They will provide best practices designed to reduce the...more
The IRS recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2019. Although some of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2018...more
Socially responsible investing often sounds like an intriguing idea, but investing plan assets in a socially responsible manner is a notoriously tricky proposition. Earlier this year, the US Department of Labor issued...more
The PBGC’s missing participants program, which previously applied only to single-employer defined benefit pension plans, has been expanded to defined contribution plans, multiemployer defined benefit plans and small...more
On Monday, November 27, 2017, the Social Security Administration announced that the it is lowering the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax for 2018 to $128,400. The Social Security Administration...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2015-86, which provides some additional clarification, in the form of questions and answers, on the treatment of same-sex spouses under tax-qualified retirement plans...more
On June 26, 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court of the United States determined that it is unconstitutional for a state to ban same-sex couples from exercising the fundamental right to marry. As a result of this...more
7/1/2015
/ Domestic Partnership ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Marriage ,
Marriage Equality ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Popular ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS
As federal and state agencies and courts further examine the implications of the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling on same-sex marriage in U.S. v. Windsor, the laws and regulations governing employee benefits for...more
With same-sex marriages to begin in the state of Illinois next year, employers should expect an increase in requests for spousal benefit coverage from employees who have legally married their same-sex partners. The new law...more
Employers extending benefit coverage to employees’ same-sex spouses and partners should review their payroll procedures to ensure that such coverages are properly taxed for federal income and FICA tax purposes. Employers...more
Recent guidance issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) provides some initial...more
10/1/2013
/ Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DOMA ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Healthcare ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
State of Celebration ,
US v Windsor
Employers providing benefits for employees' same-sex spouses may want to consider the availability of federal payroll tax refunds if the Supreme Court of the United States finds Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)...more
On March 26 and 27, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in cases challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8. A Supreme Court...more
Two recent cases challenging benefit eligibility for same-sex spouses highlight the need for employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans to clearly define "spouse" for eligibility purposes. Employers may want to review...more