"I've been working for a TPA/Recordkeeper for a good 6 months now and I'm absolutely loving it. I'm definitely learning a lot as I go from my boss & coworkers, and I'm quite knowledgeable about the plans we work on, but we have a fairly narrow scope. Currently we only ever have done DC 401k & PS plans, most of them safe harbor, all of them quite similar in the grand scheme of things. That said we're running into more and more instances where it would be nice to have a good understanding of other types of plans and various fundamentals outside our usual operations, and I'm also someone who likes to really invest in what I do and become an expert. Are there any good books out there that break down the ins and outs of anything related to the retirement planning industry or DB/DC plans, or otherwise good resources written in human-readable language?"

"Can an ESOP plan allocate shares uniformly to all eligible participants? So for example, 1000 shares will be allocated and there are 20 employees, each gets 50 shares."

"Our TPA firm just had a 401k plan sponsor non-profit 'disappear'; It appears the organization is shutdown. Website no longer valid, emails bounced back as undeliverable, and phone calls disconnected. We would like to have a QTA involved but am not sure how to go about reaching one. Is there a government approved list to use or other procedure to follow to move this forward? Plan assets are held in individual accounts and are with Voya."

"I have several plans as a TPA that submit payroll deducted 401k loan repayments. The employees model loans from the recordkeeper custodian site. Loans are granted by filling out a paper form that is submitted to the recordkeeper along with a loan amortization schedule generated from their site. Employees in one plan receive bonuses and pay off loans early or increase their weekly 401k loan payment deductions to pay off the loan earlier. 

"The recordkeeping company has new software for applying loan payments. It applies the current payment on the schedule and if there is an amount in excess of that payment the excess is applied to the next full interest and principal payment, if less than a full payment the excess is applied to future interest on the schedule only rather than principal. 

"It has been so long since I have done a deep dive into participant loan repayment details but it seems to me that violates some type of rule. It appears to me that you can't pay interest on a loan that is not due or has not accrued. I think you would run into a situation where the actual interest rate on the loan, based on loan interest payments, was greater than the schedule if you then paid it off early. I also think this would cause an issue administrating accrued loan interest if a loan defaulted, what interest would accrue if you already made future interest payments. 

"There also might be a potential for some type of discrimination if someone paid a loan off early about the same time frame on the schedule another employee paid larger payments on than shown on the schedule then paid off the remaining balance early specifically if in these 2 examples one employee was HC and another NHC. I may be off base or confusing some other regulation, but it would be logical to assume, even in a simple lending agreement, you cannot apply a payment to interest in excess of the normal payment that is not accrued or in the future and not due as shown on the schedule that was used to establish the loan and the note."

"What is everyone doing for SECURE 2.0? I realize the amendment is not yet due and we are tracking the very few optional provisions elected by clients. I don't believe I've seen an interim amendment from FIS other than for a terminating plan. We've notified clients of the LTPT rule for 2024 and then again for the 2025 change. I'd like to get a SMM out with that, along with the higher cash-out limit."