Q2 2025 Newsletter
July 11, 2025
At Primark Benefits, we’re committed to helping employers and advisors navigate the complexities of retirement plans with clarity and confidence. This quarter, we’ve published a range of new articles designed to inform, debunk misconceptions, and highlight opportunities—especially those that can still make a difference for 2024. Next quarter, we'll be continuing our "Retirement Plan Myths Busting" Series and featuring a new case study showing how smart plan design solved a tricky compliance issue.
Here's What You Need to Know
It’s Not Too Late! Employers Can Still Set Up Retirement Plans and Get Large Tax Deductions for 2024
Recent changes in tax law have expanded the flexibility employers have when it comes to establishing and funding retirement plans. If you haven’t yet set up a retirement plan for 2024, we have good news: it might not be too late!
When most people think about retirement plans and pensions, what comes to mind are the big-name players: government systems, large corporations, and the financial institutions that support them such as banks, brokers, and investment firms. These organizations tend to be the visible “faces” of retirement savings, managing assets, issuing account statements, and promoting their expertise through marketing and media. But behind the scenes, there’s another essential player who often goes unnoticed: the Third-Party Administrator, or TPA. In a previous post, we explored how TPAs have emerged to meet vital client needs that large investment firms often overlook, such as tailored plan design, compliance, and personalized service. If you missed that article, click here to read it before diving into today’s topics: The risks of relying solely on asset-driven providers, and why personalized plan administration still matters.
Navigating the numerous retirement plans offered in the marketplace can be confusing, even before considering the many myths surrounding the topic. In our work with clients, we hear about these misconceptions that often steer employers in the wrong direction. In this second installment of an ongoing “myth-buster” blog series, we address three more of the most common retirement plan myths that we hear. For our first installment, click here .
Part I: A Brief History of TPAs When discussing retirement plans and pensions, many people immediately think of public sector entities and large corporations and the financial institutions that support them, such as banks, brokers, and investment firms. These entities tend to appear as the visible “faces” of retirement savings: managing assets, issuing account statements, even airing commercials touting their investment expertise. But what many folks don’t realize is that there's another key player behind the scenes: an entity called a Third-Party Administrator, or TPA. In today’s post, we explore the history of the Third-Party Administrator, beginning with the rise of retirement plans in the U.S.
Navigating the numerous retirement plans offered in the marketplace can be confusing, even before considering the many myths surrounding the topic. In our work with clients, we hear about these misconceptions that often steer employers in the wrong direction. In this first installment of an ongoing “myth-buster” blog series, we address three of the most common retirement plan myths that we hear.
Many business owners assume that once tax season passes, the opportunity to reduce last year’s tax bill is gone. That’s often not the case. If you filed a tax extension, you still may have time to establish and fund a retirement plan for the prior year and generate meaningful tax deductions .
As we move further into 2026, one thing is clear: retirement plan administration continues to get more complex and more important to get right. This past quarter, we published several articles addressing common (and costly) misconceptions, emerging compliance challenges, and structural issues we’re seeing across plans of all sizes. Below is a quick summary of what you may have missed, along with a few important reminders for the year ahead.
Due to its seasonal nature, the winery industry operates on a business cycle fundamentally different from most other industries. From harvest and tourism season workforce spikes, to fluctuating tasting room staffing, wineries manage a highly variable employee base throughout the year. In addition, many wineries operate across multiple business lines—production, distribution, and retail, for example—often structured as separate legal entities. Aside from the day-to-day operational complexity these factors imply, they also have important and material implications for a winery’s retirement plan(s), primarily from a federal tax perspective. The complexity inherent in the classification of various employee types introduces unique challenges, which we discuss below.