Secure 2.0 Amendment deadline overlap with DC Cycle 4 Restatements

[RayRay]

For better or worse, we made a call early on after the enactment of Secure 2.0 to have our clients use the increased force out limit of $7,000. We informed them of same and have been administering the plans accordingly, figuring we'd have been able to get the amendments done over a fair span of time. When the formal amendments from our doc provider not coming until December 2025, we've been in a pinch for time to get those done. On top of that, the Cycle 4 DC restatement window opens later this year. We're not thrilled about having to complete the amendments and then immediately restate the documents for everyone. 

Has anyone heard any rumblings of an extension on the amendment deadline to coincide with the restatement window? That would make a lot of sense and make my life MUCH easier for the next 12-16 months. 

[Peter Gulia]

I have no access to IRS gossip that might help answer RayRay’s question.

About the retroactive-amendment cycles, consider the effects of waiting until 2026 to make plan amendments that reach back to 2019.

A trade-off for not expecting a plan’s sponsor to document a change promptly after it has been put into effect is dealing with a work compression when a documenting cycle arrives.

I recognize a TPA often works with processes one had little or no practical ability to decide or even influence.

Could a further delay of either SECURE Act’s or cycle 4’s retroactive-amendment cycle lead to other problems?

[RayRay]

Perhaps? I don't have access to data from other TPAs around the country, but I'd venture that we're not alone in our situation here. We use FTWilliam documents, and not long after SECURE 2.0 was effective, they provided a SECURE 2.0 checklist for us to use to monitor the elections our clients made. Only a small percentage have actually elected to use some of the new optional provisions, and I suppose we're not alone in that either. In my experience, which is decidedly less than many other users, sponsors are opposed to making any optional changes, preferring to leave well-enough alone when able.