Posts in expert
SECURE 2.0 Provides New Financial Incentive Option for Encouraging Employee Participation

Today, many employers offer long-term incentives, such as employer matching contributions, to boost participation in their retirement plans. But, as of plan years beginning after December 29, 2022, a small immediate financial incentive can also be offered to entice those not deferring in their employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) plan to start contributing to the plan. Inevitably, this has generated questions—the most popular of which we will answer here.

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Naming a Trust as IRA Beneficiary

Naming a trust your IRA beneficiary is much less common than naming one or more persons, but it is not altogether rare.  Unlike a will—which essentially only identifies who will receive a decedent’s assets—a trust can set conditions or limitations for receiving the assets and identifies one or more trustees to ensure that the decedent’s wishes expressed in the trust are carried out.

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Safe Harbor 401(k) Basics

A safe harbor 401(k) is a specific 401(k) retirement plan design that allows sponsoring employers to avoid certain compliance testing. Many aspects of 401(k) plans are subject to compliance testing to ensure that higher paid employees and owners don’t benefit from the plan disproportionately in comparison with the rank-and-file employees. Put another way, the plan’s provisions must not unduly discriminate in favor of owners and the highly paid.

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How a Qualified Plan’s Effective Date Contributes to a Plan’s Success

With the passing of key retirement legislation in the last few years, there are many incentives for employers to adopt a qualified retirement plan that can provide meaningful benefits to employees. While there are numerous factors to consider during the establishment process, employers should consider certain effective dates that will significantly affect the success of their plan’s initial year of operation.

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Demystifying Forfeiture and Suspense Accounts

Certain events in the life of a retirement plan may lead to some assets being temporarily allocated to special unallocated accounts, rather than being credited to a specific plan participant. This is the case with both forfeiture accounts and suspense accounts, which—perhaps not surprisingly—are sometimes confused with one another.

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