"[T]he redesigned Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments, and the new Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions, were available for use in 2022 and are required to be used starting January 1, 2023. In mid-December, the IRS released the final 2023 versions of these forms[.]"  MORE >>

"[A]ccording to wording in the current legislation, beginning in 2024, no participants will be able to make catch-up contributions (pre-tax or Roth).... ARA has already alerted the Treasury Department and the Joint Committee on Taxation to the issue, and the latter acknowledged that it does, in fact, appear to be a technical error. But getting it fixed on a timely basis is not certain at this point."  MORE >>

"Employees would not have to choose between paying down student loans and ... making 401(k) deferrals in order to receive the match. For employers, although it might mean making a matching contribution when it otherwise would not ... it would almost certainly be a unique benefit offering, and the matching contributions are deductible in the same manner as a traditional match."  MORE >>

"[A table] highlights 'what' is changed, 'when' the change takes effect, and 'whether' the change is automatic or optional. Although a number of the changes are 'automatic,' we will not know how to implement them until we receive further guidance from the IRS."  MORE >>

"SECURE 2.0 introduced several new distribution options and tax reporting rules for defined contribution plan sponsors. [This article provides] an overview of the new provisions and their potential implementation dates."  MORE >>

"[A chart] shows DOL's maximum 2023 penalties for single-employer defined benefit and defined contribution plans, with 2022 penalties shown for comparison. The increased amounts apply to penalties assessed after Jan. 15, 2023, for violations occurring after Nov. 2, 2015.... PBGC's 2023 maximum penalty under ERISA Section 4071 for single-employer DB plans is $2,586 a day (up from $2,400 in 2022) for each day a filing, notice or other information is overdue. The higher rate applies to penalties assessed after Jan. 12, 2023."  MORE >>

"Communication to Plan Sponsors came in first as the most challenging aspect of the Cycle 3 Restatement ... [C]lear documentation of how plans operated in good faith with CARES and SECURE Act 1.0 is critical.... [SECURE 2.0 features identified as] most challenging ... included: [1] Mandatory auto-enrollment; [2] Rothification of catch-up contributions; [3] Removal of Roth from RMD calculations; [4] Student loan match, collecting the necessary data and its impact on testing; [5] Required paper statements and the impact on cost."  MORE >>

"[A] common approach used in the updated Cycle 3 documents is to include language requiring a notice to be provided to the 'plan administrator' describing the matching contribution formula approved by the governing body in detail, including the period for which it applies ... These Cycle 3 documents also require an annual notice to plan participants summarizing the information that is included in the notice provided to the plan administrator.... In most cases, the annual notice will be required for the first time in 2023 for the plan's 2022 discretionary matching contributions."  MORE >>

"ven before SECURE 2.0, today's retirement savings plans bear little resemblance to the versions first adopted when Code Section 401(k) ('401k') was added to the tax code.... Retirement income security continues to improve, not worsen as predicted. Why? One reason is that DOL data shows the combination of worker and employer contributions have risen from less than 6% of wages to more than 8.5% of wages. Americans are also working longer, and more are delaying the commencement of Social Security."  MORE >>

"[E]ligible employees can opt to take an online financial education course and a series of one-on-one financial coaching sessions to earn a $750 kickstart for an emergency savings account. Employees must also commit to contributing to the account from their paycheck, with Delta matching up to $250 for the initial contribution.... Delta will pay the taxes on the $1,000 it contributes to the account[.]"  MORE >>

"Discount rates rose slightly in December, and not surprisingly, ended the year almost two times higher than the beginning of the year.... For those plans that were not well hedged from an interest rate perspective, 2022 may rank as one of the largest increases in funded status in the history of the plan. As evidenced by the table above, liabilities shrank by anywhere from 21% (shorter-duration liabilities) to a whopping 31% (FTSE full Pension Liability Index)."  MORE >>

"Given the ubiquity of cybercrime, the number of unusual activities that were taking place, and the amount of the transfer that was requested, a security alert should have been triggered to prevent the funds from being transferred without further verification. Machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques have reached a level of sophistication that almost all fraud is detectable; and only if organizations such as Alight Solutions are required to face potential liability will they have the incentive to implement such protections." [Disberry v. Employee Relations Committee of the Colgate-Palmolive Company, No. (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 16, 2022)]  MORE >>

"The Pension Rights Center recommends that the three-year limitation period remain applicable for fiduciaries using the prohibited transaction exemption for delinquent contributions.... [If] the Department chooses to eliminate the three-year limitation period, [PRC recommends] that such a change only be made on a trial basis so that the Department can monitor how often employers are using the VFC Program without the three-year limitation, and that the Department also prohibit use of the exemption in the case of a third failure to timely deposit participant contributions or loan repayments."  MORE >>

"[1] Politics and communication ... [2] ACA and school year contracts ... [3] Student employees ... 4. 457(b) plans ... [5] Retiree medical benefits."  MORE >>