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Government Affairs
New year, new forms. The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) on Jan. 1 released the Form 5500, Form 5500-SF, and Form 5500-EZ for reporting concerning the 2023 plan year.
The DOL released informational copies of these forms on Nov. 17; they were intended to...
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Call it the not so Solo 401(k). We’ve received questions from some American Retirement Association (ARA) members regarding the impact of the long-term part-time employee rules (LTPTE rules) on Solo 401(k) plans. Many sponsors of Solo 401(k) plans were given advice, and established plans with the...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reports that in 2023 it changed its actuarial valuation methods, but at the same time a report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) warns that the PBGC has more work to do with its financial recordkeeping.
Actuarial Changes
The PBGC in its...
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On December 20, the IRS released the long-awaited SECURE 2.0 guidance (a/k/a the “Grab Bag”) in the form of Notice 2024-02. The notice is 81 pages of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on various SECURE 2.0 provisions. As expected, there was no guidance related to student loan matching, pension-...
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A report by The Pew Charitable Trusts released on Dec. 22 revealed that state automated savings programs in the United States have collectively reached over $1 billion in assets as of November. This development is part of a broader initiative to assist private sector workers, especially those...
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The IRS has just released new guidance in the form of questions and answers addressing several key provisions contained in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.
The IRS advises that the notice (Notice 2024-02) is not intended to provide comprehensive guidance as to the specific provisions of the SECURE 2.0...
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The newest digital edition of ASPPA’s members-only magazine has been posted online!
You have a license to thrill—about the 2023 ASPPA Annual and the TPA Growth Summit! In this issue’s cover story, Genelle Brakefield and Melissa Terito discuss the highs and spies of those events. In our feature...
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The IRS on Dec. 20, 2023, issued the 2023 cumulative list of changes in plan qualification requirements for pre-approved defined contribution plans. The changes are contained in Notice 2024-03.
The 2023 Cumulative List is intended to assist providers applying to the IRS for opinion letters for the...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval to extend its collection of information contained in the regulation on special financial assistance (SFA).
The OMB’s approval of the collection of information expires May 31, 2024...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Dec. 15 issued the interest assumptions under the asset allocation regulation for plans with valuation dates in the first quarter of 2024.
The assumptions are contained in a final rule that amends the PBGC’s regulation on Allocation of Assets in...
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Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) introduced a bill on Dec. 13 that would allow retirement savers to roll over their Roth IRA savings into a Roth workplace retirement plan such as a Roth 401(k), Roth 403(b), or Roth 457(b).
The bipartisan bill, which the American Retirement...
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Electronic filing of the Form 5558, Application for Extension of Time to File Certain Employee Plan Returns, for form year 2023 may not be available starting Jan. 1, 2024 after all.
It appears that the Department of Labor (DOL) has communicated to third-party software developers that the...
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Proposed guidance implementing the SECURE 2.0 Act’s provision providing an exemption for certain automatic portability transactions has moved one step closer to being publicly released.
The Department of Labor on Dec. 5 submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review a...
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In prepared testimony to the Department of Labor's (DOL) leadership and staff, American Retirement Association (ARA) CEO Brian Graff highlighted “the significant regulatory gap” regarding plan-level advice on Dec. 12.
Graff’s comments—made in support of the DOL’s latest attempt to modernize the...
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A key theme that has emerged from Alight’s annual “hot topics” survey is that employers need more guidance on key provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act before fully embracing them.
In looking at changes employers intend to make to their retirement and financial wellbeing plans in the coming year, the...
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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the Fall 2023 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) regulatory agenda, an update that enumerates proposed rules as well as those in final form.
Valuation Assumptions Rule
A highlight of the fall update is the movement of the rule on...
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The IRS on Dec. 8 announced that there will be no changes to the Required Amendments (RA) List for individually designed plans qualified under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 401(a) and 403(b) for 2023. The IRS made the announcement in Notice 2023-79.
The RA List establishes the end of the...
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In a positive sign that lawmakers are committed to fixing several errors contained in the SECURE 2.0 Act, the House and Senate have just released a draft technical corrections bill, including changes to allow catch-up contributions and provide parity for Starter 401(k)s championed by the American...
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On Nov. 3, the Department of Labor published its proposal to (1) redefine an “investment advice fiduciary” under ERISA and (2) also modify the prohibited transaction exemptions available to such fiduciaries. That is, the proposal would (1) change who is an ERISA fiduciary and (2) the conditions...
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The rule temporarily reinstating the requirement that employers provide two identifying numbers in order to register with CalSavers could become permanent.
Employers originally had been required to provide (1) their employer payroll tax account number and (2) their federal employer identification...
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