Plan Terminations and Partial Terminations
Employers are allowed to terminate 401K benefit plans offered to employees for a variety of reasons. Employers are not required by law to provide retirement savings plans, and can terminate them as a...
View ArticleHow to Prepare for Your 401(k) Audit
There are a few simple steps that can be taken during the planning phase of the audit in order to gain efficiencies during the fieldwork phase. You should be in communication with your auditor before...
View ArticleForming a 401(k) Plan Committee
As a Plan Sponsor, you have important fiduciary responsibilities which, according to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) within the Department of Labor (“DOL”), include: Acting...
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Plan Sponsor Record Retention Guidelines
As plan auditors we are frequently asked how long documents relating to a plan should be retained by the plan sponsor. Like anything related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), there is no one...
View ArticleDoes Your EBP Have a True-Up Provision?
Plan sponsors have an option to incorporate a true-up provision into their employee benefit plan(s). True-up adjustments are done at the end of the plan year in order to ensure that the amount of...
View ArticleThe Importance of Knowing Your Plan’s Definition of Compensation
As I reflect on my last 401k audit season, I remember running into some operational issues that were a result of plan administrators not using the correct form of compensation, as defined by their plan...
View ArticleHow to Handle a Blackout Period
What is a blackout? A blackout is a period of three or more consecutive business days during which participants’ are temporarily limited in or restricted from the ability to perform the following...
View ArticleParticipant Loans – IRS Requirements
If you participate in your Company’s 401k Plan, you are probably already aware that your Plan may offer an option for you to take out a loan from your 401k balance. These loans are tax free and...
View ArticleFASB’s Employee Benefit Plan Reporting Simplification
On July 31, 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2015-12, Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Topic 960), Defined Contribution Pension Plans (Topic 962),...
View ArticleOpt-Out Forms: Employees that Decline to Participate in Your 401(k)
You’ve got your process figured out – 401k benefit packages are given to employees the date they’re hired, or maybe when they become eligible to participate, or maybe you rely on your TPA to...
View ArticleDo I Need an Audit?
As a sponsor of an employee benefit plan, along with annual reporting requirements, you may be required to undergo an audit of your plan’s financial statements. What are the reporting requirements and...
View ArticleWhere Are You Saving Your Money?
As an auditor of employee benefit plans, I often talk with clients about their plan’s participation rates and suggest ideas on how to increase participation. As part of my daily routine, I read...
View ArticleKey Qualities to Evaluate When Selecting an Auditor for Your Employee Benefit...
When your Company hits over 120 participants within your plan, it’s time to start looking for an auditor that is right for you! As the plan administrator, one of the things you must do is evaluate your...
View ArticleFull Scope vs. Limited Scope Audits
When a 401(k) or other retirement plan requires an annual audit, a plan administrator may have a choice to engage an audit firm to perform a full-scope audit or a limited scope audit of the financial...
View ArticleSupreme Court Rules that Plan Sponsors Have Duty to Monitor Investment Options
On May 18, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the Tibble v. Edison Int’l case. In 1999 and 2002, Edison International added 6 retail mutual fund options to the available investment...
View ArticleLanguage Barriers of 401(k) Disclosure
I would like to address disclosure versus communication. They are two very different things, but they shouldn’t be. Have you ever tried to read ERISA or DOL regulations? The average person doesn’t read...
View ArticleReduced Corrective Contributions
During April 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2015-28 that made amendments to the safe harbor corrective contributions for employee benefit plans. The Employee Plans...
View ArticleInternal Control for Plan Management
Plan administrators are faced with numerous rules and restrictions put in place not only by those in charge of retirement plan regulation, but also as stipulated in the plan document itself. Strong...
View Article401K Plan Fee Assessment
When companies are selecting the services for their 401K plan, are they assessing the fees that they are paying for these services? As it has been required for these fees to be more transparent, this...
View ArticleWarning Signs Your Employer May be Misusing Your 401(k) Savings
I was browsing the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) website the other day and I came across an interesting article that talked about employer abuse of employees’ 401(k) contributions. I...
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