"The election must be made no later than the date the contribution is allocated to the participant's account and must be irrevocable.... Participants must be 100% vested in order to make the Roth election.... [A] plan may permit only Roth employer contributions.... Roth employer contributions are income in the year in which they are made regardless of when they would be treated as annual additions ... or the year in which they are deductible, and are not subject to FICA, FUTA or income tax withholding."  MORE >>

"Notice 2024-2 covers, in question and answer format, twelve provisions of SECURE 2.0.... [1] Mandatory automatic enrollment ... [2] Distribution for terminal illness ... [3] Safe harbor for correcting missed deferrals ... [4] Employer Roth contributions ... [5] De minimis financial incentives for contributing to a 401(k)/403(b) plan ... [6] Cash balance guidance ... [7] Plan amendments ... [8] Small employer start-up costs credit ... [9] Small employer military spouse credit ... [10] Increased contribution limits for SIMPLE plans ... [11] Replacing SIMPLE IRAs with safe harbor 401(k) plans ... [12] SIMPLE and SEP Roth IRAs."  MORE >>

"While no amendments are required for plans heading into 2024, plan operations may see some updates ... [1] Long-term, part-time employee eligibility and vesting ... [2] Catch-up contributions as Roth contributions ... [3] Required minimum distribution changes ... [4] Matching contributions for student loan payments ... [5] Emergency savings accounts linked to individual account plans ... [6] Penalty-free withdrawals ... [7] Mandatory cash-out limit increase."  MORE >>

"In a marked departure from the current fiduciary advice definition, the Proposal eliminates the current five-part test for nondiscretionary advice, including the 'regular basis' component of the test.... The DOL also proposes to amend the disclosure requirements of PTE 2020-02 and the self-correction process."  MORE >>

"[M]ore than one-quarter of advisors consider the age increase for required minimum distributions (RMDs) to be the most exciting component of the program.... [O]ver half are recommending or 'extremely likely' to recommend Roth account catch-up contributions and employer matching."  MORE >>

32 pages. "The SECURE Act ... contained provisions that were designed to help address what have been considered common challenges to adoption of in-plan guaranteed options at the plan level: Portability and Safe Harbor.... [A recent series of conversations] with several industry thought leaders ... about the DC retirement income landscape ... explored the pre-SECURE state of income options and expectations about how the law may impact this market." [Also available: 8-page Executive Summary]  MORE >>

"U.S. regulators are nearing a decision on whether to permit a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).... Participants in the industry anticipate that once these offerings are accessible, it won't only be high-risk traders but also retirement savers who will enjoy increased access to crypto as an asset class. This access may be facilitated either through their company's 401(k) plans or, if applicable, through solo 401(k)s and self-directed IRAs."  MORE >>

"In a joint letter to acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, seven Democratic senators and one independent asked for the department to extend the proposal's comment period.... Meanwhile, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy asked for the comment period to be extended by at least 60 days.... Separately, 11 Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee, led by Chair Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., asked for the department to withdraw the proposal altogether."  MORE >>

25 pages. "The purpose of this separate Actuarial Valuation Report is to provide greater detail concerning the valuation of future benefits than is presented in PBGC's Annual Report....For the single-employer program, the liability as of September 30, 2023, consisted of: [1] $73.8 billion for the 5,119 plans that have terminated: and [2] $668.1 million for two probable plans terminations and plans not yet identified as probable terminations (small bulk reserve)."  MORE >>

"While there is obviously a great benefit to paying off a 20% credit card and borrowing at 1% while investing at 8% is essentially a no-brainer, it just doesn't matter all that much when you're talking about moderate interest rates.... The best option is probably to live like a resident until your student loans are gone so you can both max out your 401(k) AND pay off your student loans."  MORE >>

560 pages. JCT General Explanation of Tax Legislation enacted during the 117th Congress, including explanations of over 170 tax provisions across eight different Acts, starting with the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and ending with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, including including SECURE 2.0.  MORE >>

"The plaintiffs alleged that management provided the appraiser with highly unrealistic projections about significant increases in revenues and profits, which they alleged were accepted to provide a higher than fair value.... [T]he court said the plaintiffs had failed to exhaust their legal remedies under the plan first by filing a complaint with the plan committee. The plaintiffs argued that would be futile given the composition of the committee and that the plan language, in any event, gave them the option to sue." [Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Employee Stock Ownership Plan, No. 22-4602 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 5, 2023)]  MORE >>