The IRS recently announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2016. For the third time in six years, most of the limitations were unchanged because the increase in the Consumer Price Index did not meet the statutory thresholds for their adjustment: 401k Elective Deferrals: … Continue Reading
That’s limitations as in “limitation periods”. A recent court case reminds ERISA plans to have such limitation periods and to communicate it to someone claiming a plan benefit. Let’s start with the basics. What’s a “limitation period”? In layman’s terms, it’s a law set forth in a State statute of limitations that sets time limits … Continue Reading
It was just a brief note on the Form 8-K filed on August 17, 2015 by U.S. Steel Corporation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As described above, on August 17, 2015, the Corporation enacted a hard freeze of benefits accrued under its DB Plan effective December 31, 2015. Participants of the DB Plan … Continue Reading
The recent Department of Labor’s re-proposed Fiduciary Rule has generated many opinions on how it will affect fiduciary service models. One constant, however, cuts through all of the debate: the Plan Sponsor still has the fiduciary responsibility to select and monitor those service providers. But as you can see, there is a hierarchy of service … Continue Reading
I had the opportunity recently to make a presentation on qualified retirement plans to the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS). Actually, it was using PowerPoint to begin a dialogue with the members of the ICPAS Investment Advisory Services/Personal Financial Planning Forum The ICPAS describes their Forums as being “composed of members with shared interests who interact … Continue Reading
Some of the most difficult and contentious provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) are the employer mandate and upcoming reporting requirements effective in 2015. “Difficult” because the employer mandate requires applicable large employers, generally those with 50 or more “full-time” employees, to offer coverage to full-time employees and dependents (other than spouses). If the employer … Continue Reading
As we near the end of the year, many business owners rush to establish retirement plans to capture calendar fiscal year tax deductions. If you’re one of those small business owners, you may also be eligible to receive a tax credit for expenses you incurred to implement your plan. What’s the difference between a tax … Continue Reading
What’s an eligible rollover distribution and what’s not can be a complicated and confusing matter. Here’s a recent and handy rollover chart by the Internal Revenue Service updated for new rules that may be helpful. 1 Qualified plans include, for example, profit-sharing, 401(k), money purchase and defined benefit plans 2 Beginning in 2015, only one … Continue Reading
On October 23, 2014 the IRS announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2015. The chart below highlights the new limits for 401(k) and other defined contribution plans. The rest of the new limits and the fine print can be downloaded here.… Continue Reading
So, you’ve transferred your 401(k) retirement nest egg into an individual retirement account (IRA). This gives you more control over management and distribution of IRA assets. But, you may have concerns about creditors and their ability to attack your retirement assets, which are now conveniently consolidated from several employer plans into one convenient IRA. Will … Continue Reading
Remember DB(k) plans? If you were in the retirement plan business back in 2006, you probably do. If you’re new in the business, you may not know about them at all. A DB(k) Plan, formally called an “Eligible Combined Plan”, is a hybrid retirement plan that was created by Congress as part of the Pension … Continue Reading
That’s the collective sigh of relief by those business owners who, for whatever reason, haven’t filed Form 5500-EZ for their retirement plans. It’s a big deal especially for those business owners with so-called Solo-K plans. 401(k) plans were introduced in 1978, but it took a tax change starting in 2002 to allow business owners to … Continue Reading
Most business owners think they are undercompensated. The Internal Revenue Service does too for many business S Corporation owner employees. Their perspective is not exactly the same. The focal point is a sometimes hotly contested issue called “reasonable compensation”. The IRS has come out the big winner. Here’s the story. Since the publication of IRS Revenue Ruling … Continue Reading
For many participants in a 401(k) or pension plan, filling out that beneficiary designation is a one and done activity. Then, forgotten, but sometimes changing circumstances intervene to invoke the Law of Unintended Consequences. As in a recently decided case in which a U.S. Court of Appeals held that a pre-nuptial agreement does not waive … Continue Reading
I’m a big NBA fan, and I love those time traveling Kia commercials featuring Blake Griffin, the All Star forward of the Los Angeles Clippers.He’s in his Kia Optima and says, "Kia, take me back to 1992." There he meets himself and learns valuable life lessons. I can also imagine time traveling. Not with a … Continue Reading
Each year the Internal Revenue Service announces the cost-of-living adjustments applicable to qualified retirement plans for the following year. Unlike 2001 in which most limits did not change from the prior year, most limits increased: Following are the key retirement plan limits announced yesterday by the IRS: The 401(k) and 403(b) limit for employee contributions … Continue Reading
My blogging buddy security lawyer Bill Singer on his blog, Broke and Broker, An Irreverent Wall Street Blog (always a good read), posts frequently about investment scams and scoundrels. In one of his latest, Bill writes that Feds Bust Bank Guarantee Scam. But the Feds don’t have the manpower and resources to get to all … Continue Reading
A "T", or technical foul, is part of the game of basketball. If you’re a fan of the game, you know it’s any infraction of the rules which doesn’t involve physical contact such as unsportsmanlike conduct. The retirement plan equivalent of a "T" is when an employer misclassifies a worker in situations regarding whether: The worker is … Continue Reading
When I’m Sixty-Four is, of course, one of the classic songs by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and released in 1967 on their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The theme is about aging with a young man singing to his lover about his plans of them growing old together. It was also one of … Continue Reading
Geraldine Ferraro who died yesterday at age 75 was a political trailblazer. She was, of course, the first woman named to a major-party presidential ticket when Walter Mondale picked her to be his Democratic party running mate in 1984. But while the Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost 49 out of 50 states to the Republican ticket of President … Continue Reading
There’s a new retirement plan design available, and it’s called a DB(k) Plan. What exactly is it? As the name and visual metaphor suggest, it’s a combination retirement plan that allows an employer to provide both 401(k) benefits and pension benefits (traditional defined benefit or Cash Balance). DB(k) Plans were added to the Pension Protection … Continue Reading
Every year the Internal Revenue Service announces the cost-of-living adjustments applicable to qualified retirement plans for the following year. The limits will remain unchanged for the second consecutive year. Following are the key retirement plan limits for 2011 recently announced by the Internal Revenue Service: 401(k) and 403(b) Deferrals: $16,500 Catch-Up for Age 50 and … Continue Reading
That’s Declan Patrick MacManus pictured above, but we know him by his stage name Elvis Costello, the English singer-songwriter of Irish heritage. The picture is actually the cover art for Watching the Detectives, the 1977 single by Elvis Costello and his backing band, the Attractions, which gave him his first UK hit single. It’s my … Continue Reading
For a business owner choosing a retirement plan, it’s kinda like those compare and contrast essay questions on college exams. Except this time, it’s real life and a lot more complicated than the venn diagram pictured above. Fortunately, our friend Denise Appleby at her Appleby Retirement Dictionary has provided a handy and comprehensive chart comparing … Continue Reading
