Benefit Insights Newsletter - Summer 2024
August 28, 2024
We are excited to deliver the Summer 2024 Newsletter.
In this edition, we discuss:
- Effective Communication with Participants
- Participant Notices: A Quick Overview
- Mastering the Art of Distributing Participant Notices
- Plan Ahead for 2025 Long-Term, Part-Time (LTPT) Employees
- Upcoming Compliance Deadlines for Calendar-Year Plans
As we approach the end of the year, it’s time for employers, plan sponsors, and participants to review the new retirement plan limits for 2026. Each year, the IRS updates the thresholds for contributions, compensation, and catch-up amounts to account for inflation and statutory changes. Staying on top of these numbers is critical for plan compliance, participant communications, and overall retirement strategy.
The Roth Catch-Up Trap: What High Earners Need to Know New rules can create costly surprises for older employees.
Welcome back to our series, How to “Break” a Retirement Plan” In Part I , we examined structural mistakes—the foundational missteps in plan design, contribution handling, and payroll processes that can quietly set a plan on the wrong path. Part II focused on operational blind spots, showing how day-to-day execution errors, from auto-enrollment missteps to mishandling former employees’ accounts, can derail even a well-designed plan. Now, in Part III, we turn our attention to what happens when the IRS takes a closer look. When a retirement plan is audited, the IRS isn’t searching for obscure loopholes; it’s looking for a familiar set of recurring problems. These are the same types of errors that often start small but can grow into significant compliance issues. Understanding where auditors tend to focus can help plan sponsors stay ahead of “issues” before they become “findings”.