The 2024 Cost-Of-Living Adjustments affecting employee benefit plans include the annual limits for Social Security Taxable Wage Base.
2024 Plan Limits Released
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Defined Benefit Plans
Defined benefit plans, also known as pensions, enhance employer retirement plan benefit packages by providing specific benefits to eligible participants upon their retirement date. Defined benefit plans are attractive to potential employees due to lifetime benefit payments, clear contribution rules, and low financial risk for non-contributing employees. Despite sounding straightforward, defined benefit plans carry a unique set of considerations and requirements for employers and plan administrators. Defined benefit plans almost always obtain funds entirely from employers, meaning employers carry the majority of investment risk, not plan beneficiaries. Defined benefit plans must prove financial stability on a yearly basis for plan funding and reporting purposes. Reduce your defined benefit plan risk by researching applicable defined benefit plan risk articles on the Watkins Ross blog. Our Watkins Ross retirement plan team has the experience and knowledge to design your defined benefit plans to fit your business’s goals; connect with us here to learn more.
Secure 2.0 for Defined Benefit Plans
Secure Act 2.0 has important updates for Defined Benefit Plans, including increased RBD age and reduced excise tax on missed RMDs. Stay up-to-date with these crucial changes to ensure your retirement plan is compliant.
In-Service Distributions from Defined Benefit Plans
The Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 allows in-service distributions for retirement plan participants to commence at age 59 ½. However, in a defined benefit plan, to receive in-service lump sum distributions at age 59 ½, the distribution must satisfy certain thresholds. Read on to learn more about defined benefit plan lump sum distribution requirements.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Employee Benefit Plan
Employee benefit plans are required to meet a number of requirements. In this article, we review the most common mistakes.
The American Rescue Plan of 2021: Pension Plan Benefits
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021. It contains many provisions affecting pension plans.
Impacts of the SECURE Act on Defined Benefit Plans
The market drop of December 2018 seems like ages ago, considering recent market volatility, Coronavirus, and the missing March Madness. However, the December 2018 drop did result in lower AFTAPs for many calendar-year plans. Unless your plan’s AFTAP has been certified...
2020 Plan Limits Released
The 2020 Cost-Of-Living Adjustments affecting employee benefit plans include the annual limits for Social Security Taxable Wage Base.
2019 IRS Operational Compliance List
The 2019 IRS Operational Compliance List has been posted! This guide helps plan sponsors understand the compliance changes effective in the upcoming year.
Reducing Pension Plan Risk – Updated to Reflect IRS Notice 2019-18
Reducing pension plan risk has become a prudent consideration, especially for those plans that have frozen benefits. De-risk your pension plan today!
Defined Benefit Plans’ Actuarial Equivalence Under Attack: Reasonable Becomes Unreasonable (Opinion)
Recent class action lawsuits are targeting the reasonability of actuarial equivalence factors used in defined benefit plans.