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Retirement Plans Newsletter

February 22, 2023

3 New Job Opportunities 3 New Job Opportunities

 

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2023-19: Weighted Average Interest Rates, Yield Curves, and Segment Rates for February 2023 (PDF)

"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"  MORE >>

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Sponsor]

Defined Benefit Plans & SECURE 2.0: Learn all you need to Know!

ASC’s Actuarial Team analyzes SECURE 2.0’s provisions specific to defined benefit plans and shares how ASC plans to implement selected provisions. Details are mapped out in clear color coded summary tables. Download ASC’s DB Analysis Here.

Sponsored by ASC

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Rules That Payment of 401(h) Account Benefits to Pension-Eligible Active Participants Won't Jeopardize Plan Qualification

"The qualification concern arises under the Treas. Reg section 1.401-14(b)(1) requirement that a 401(h) account only pay medical expenses of 'retired' employees, their spouses, or their dependents. [PLR 202305001] ruled that the plan would not lose its qualified status because the 401(a)(36)-eligible active participants are eligible to receive pension benefits and, therefore, meet the definition of 'retired employees' under the terms of the plan."  MORE >>

Groom Law Group

[Guidance Overview]

Significant Expansion of Roth 401(k) and 403(b) Features Under the SECURE 2.0 Act (PDF)

"[1] Employees can elect to treat employer contributions as Roth.... [2] Mandatory Roth treatment of catch-up contributions for individuals who earned $145,000 in the prior year.... [3] Elimination of pre-death required minimum distributions (RMDs) for Roth 401(k) accounts.... [4] Roth treatment for SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA contributions."  MORE >>

Ivins, Phillips & Barker

[Guidance Overview]

SECURE 2.0 Act: Focus on Pension Plans

"The SECURE 2.0 Act provides for distribution relief for various unforeseeable events that allow participants to access their retirement savings ... The SECURE 2.0 Act updated the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) to allow more types of failures to be corrected by the employer through self-correction without a submission to the IRS through the Voluntary Correction Program[.]"  MORE >>

Haynes and Boone, LLP

[Guidance Overview]

How SECURE 2.0 Helps Protect Investors from Penalties and Excise Taxes

"Excise taxes and penalties can negate years of accumulated growth in an IRA or account under an employer plan.... [In one case, the ] taxpayer owed the IRS about $8.5 million from years of accumulation of the 6% excise tax that applies to uncorrected excess IRA contributions. Helping clients avoid such excise taxes and penalties can be challenging, but SECURE 2.0 makes the job easier."  MORE >>

Denise Appleby, in Morningstar

[Guidance Overview]

The DOL's New Fiduciary Rule: What We Can Expect

"The DOL's regulatory agenda indicates that in the near future, the DOL will be proposing a new fiduciary definition and proposing amendments to existing [PTEs] to align with the proposed regulation.... [The authors] anticipate that, at the least, it will include the DOL's expanded interpretation of fiduciary advice for rollovers (and might go beyond that). [They] also anticipate that many of the conditions in PTE 2020-02 will be included in the proposals for other exemptions[.]"  MORE >>

Faegre Drinker

Tenth Circuit Allows ERISA Arbitration, So Long as There Are No Limitations in Remedies

"[T]his case confirms that in the Tenth Circuit, mandatory arbitration of ERISA claims is allowed. However, mandatory arbitration cannot limit the remedies that are otherwise provided to litigants under ERISA. In other words, an arbiter must be allowed to fashion the same relief that would otherwise be available to a beneficiary in federal court." [Harrison v. Envision Mgmt. Holding, Inc. Bd. of Directors, No. 22-1098 (10th Cir. Feb. 9, 2023)]  MORE >>

Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.

An Absurdity Is Not an Oddity, Says Florida District Court in Vacating a DOL FAQ

"[T]he court concluded that FAQ 7 was not a reasonable interpretation of either the 1975 regulation or the 2020 PTE because it included, by way of example of ongoing advice, the provision of future advice on the performance of non-ERISA assets. Because such advice would not be tethered to a plan's investment decision, it could not form the basis of a determination that an advisor was acting as an ERISA fiduciary. The court rejected the Department's argument that this would lead to absurd results because the five-part test in the 1975 regulation applies to ERISA and non-ERISA plans alike, noting that 'an absurdity is not a mere oddity.' " [American Securities Association v. DOL, No. 22-0330 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 13, 2023)]  MORE >>

Kantor & Kantor LLC

Retirement Distribution Decisions Among DC Participants (PDF)

"Nearly 7 in 10 retirement-age plan participants ... have preserved their savings in a tax-deferred account. In total, 9 in 10 retirement dollars are preserved, either in an IRA or employer plan account. The 3 in 10 retirement-age participants who cashed out from their employer's retirement plan over five years typically hold smaller balances.... Most retirement-age defined contribution (DC) plan participants leave their employer's retirement plan within five years of separation from service, mostly for a rollover to an IRA."  MORE >>

Vanguard

Best Practices for Annuity Retirement Calculators

"Firms hoping to encourage retirement planners to pursue annuity solutions -- rather than simply help them increase retirement savings -- via a retirement income calculator experience should ensure that users can visualize a precise reflection of their retirement income outlook using intuitive calculator inputs. Excellent retirement income calculators expand prospects' annuity awareness by channeling them to annuity-specific resources, illustrate how annuities can fill a retirement income gap and offer sophisticated recommendations powered by a robust information gathering process."  MORE >>

Corporate Insight

Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]

IRS 2022-2023 Priority Guidance Plan: 2nd Quarter Update (PDF)

30 pages.  Employee Benefits items begin on page 4.  MORE >>

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Distribution and Loan Specialist
            for The Benefit Advantage

Distribution and Loan Specialist

The Benefit Advantage

Remote / West Bloomfield MI

View job as Distribution and Loan Specialist for The Benefit Advantage

View job as Plan Health Consultant
            for Vestwell Holdings Inc.

Plan Health Consultant

Vestwell Holdings Inc.

Remote

View job as Corporate Retirement Plans Supervisor
            for Occidental Petroleum

Corporate Retirement Plans Supervisor

Occidental Petroleum

Houston TX / Tulsa OK / Hybrid

View job as Corporate Retirement Plans Supervisor for Occidental Petroleum

Selected New Discussions

Plan Admin Checked Wrong Selection on QDRO Form

"The plan administrator checked 'establish an account in my name' as opposed to what she stated in MULTIPLE emails to me which was that she was asking ADP to expedite a cash out or me. So, I thought I was getting a check but the money went into another 401K plan and actually lost money because I thought I was getting a check AND nobody told me the money was in an account. I called daily/weekly asking for updates. So now what? I lost money because of this bungle. Also, Plan Admin is telling me she is not 'allowed' to talk to me on the phone because I'm not the client (my ex husband is the employee). She says she can email with me but not talk. Is that accurate? That seems incorrect."

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Non-Uniform Match Contribution

"Is it permissible for match contributions to be structured in a way so that different groups receive different match? This is a non-profit and there will not be any HCEs. The organization would like to give a match 100% match up to 6% of pay for Group A. For Group B, in year 1 they get 0%; year 2 50% match, and year 3 100% match. Is that acceptable?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Another RMD Error

"A non-owner participant was told that since she was over 72 she had to take an RMD for 2022, slightly over $1,000. Does this mean she has to continue in the future?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Webcasts and Conferences
(Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation)

Hot Topics In ERISA Litigation: A Reflection on 2022 and Previewing What May Be In Store for 2023

March 23, 2023 in NY

Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - New York Chapter

IRA Reporting Requirements

March 28, 2023 WEBINAR

Ascensus

Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal: An In-Depth Examination

May 2, 2023 WEBINAR

Strafford

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Trade Groups Seek Fix of SECURE 2.0 401(k) Catch-Up Glitch

Pensions & Investments

Text of IRS Final Regs: Electronic-Filing Requirements for Specified Returns and Other Documents

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

NTSA and 'The Big Lie'

403bwise

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BenefitsLink® Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

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