March 23 2020

Options for Accessing Retirement Plan Money Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) scare, we are getting reports that our clients are imposing layoffs, furloughs, and temporary shutdowns. It makes sense; if people aren’t coming to your business, there’s no work for the employees to do and no money to...

February 27 2020

Why Did We Fail Our ADP Test?

What does it mean when a plan fails its ADP test? An ADP test, Actual Deferral Percentage, is a discrimination test required by the law to ensure that the Highly Compensated Employees (HCEs) are not deferring at a much higher rate than the Non-Highly...

January 30 2020

What You Need to Know About the SECURE Act

By now you have likely heard about the SECURE Act recently passed by Congress. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act will increase access to workplace retirement plans and expand retirement savings, but what provision...

December 26 2019

Five Best Practices to Protect Your Retirement Nest Egg from Cybertheft

I remember when I was 10, there was no such thing as a debit card. In fact, growing up in the ‘80s meant no internet, no PayPal, no direct deposit or any type of remote banking. While they make things extremely efficient and easy for us, these techno...

November 08 2019

New Qualified Plan Limits and Social Security Adjustments for 2020 Announced

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.

September 11 2019

Three Things You Should Be Doing as a Plan Sponsor

If you sponsor a 401(k) plan, you are likely working with great partners. You probably work with an advisor who maintains the investment lineup. You are also probably working with a Third Party Administrator (TPA) who handles the daily administration...

August 21 2019

How to Fix a Participant Loan

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

When Cross-Tested Plans Become Integrated Plans

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 Loan Basics

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 ...

June 12 2019

401(k) Word Search

Hello summer. I have teenage girls so summer arrives with an energy in my house that is filled with sleepovers, karaoke, ice cream and late night laughter. Summer is a season where people slow down a bit to catch their breath. In a world so busy with...