Qualified retirement plans have a number of weird rules. One of them is that sometimes one year doesn’t equal a year. For instance, under the traditional hours of service crediting method, an employee can earn a year of vesting service in as little a...
David J. Kupstas, FSA, EA, MSEA
Recent Posts
November
08
2019
Retirees receiving Social Security will see a small benefit increase in 2020. Savers in qualified retirement plans (but not IRAs) will have the ability to put a bit more money away in 2020.
October
16
2019
When it comes to depositing employer contributions into qualified retirement plans, we are often asked what the deadline is for making these contributions. Believe it or not, that is not an easy question to answer. I suppose one way to look at it is ...
August
21
2019
Recently, we shared the basic rules related to participant loans in qualified retirement plans. From time to time, there will be loans that are not in compliance with one or more of these rules. What happens then? Is there a fix? Today, we will go th...
July
10
2019
Many 401(k) and profit sharing plans are set up to be cross-tested plans. (Most of those that aren't probably should be.) There are times, however, when using cross-testing is not the best way to satisfy the nondiscrimination rules. Sometimes, you mi...
June
19
2019
Participant loans are a popular feature of 401(k)s and other qualified retirement plans. It is safe to say that if employees didn’t have the ability to borrow from their retirement account when times were tough, some number of these employees simply ...
April
17
2019
In a somewhat surprising reversal of guidance issued four years ago, the IRS announced recently that it is okay to offer retirees and beneficiaries who are currently receiving annuity payments under a defined benefit plan a temporary option to elect ...
February
13
2019
Taking too long to deposit an employee’s salary deferral contributions into a 401(k) plan is a big no-no. We hear all kinds of excuses why plan sponsors take too long to make their deposits. Reasonable as they may sound to the person making them, the...
January
09
2019
Our firm provides third party administrative services for both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans. There is a type of plan called “cash balance” that sort of falls in between. While they are technically DB plans, they have some ...
November
14
2018
It is generally the case that the more compensation one earns, the bigger the contributions and benefits he may receive from a qualified retirement plan. The limits on salary deferrals in 401(k) plans, annual additions in defined contribution plans, ...