Q2 2026 Newsletter

July 15, 2026

As we wrap up the second quarter of 2026, one trend continues to stand out: retirement plans are becoming increasingly specialized. Whether driven by changing regulations, unique workforce structures, or evolving business goals, employers are finding that a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't work.


This quarter, we explored the unique retirement plan challenges facing several industries—including medical and dental practices, construction companies, architecture and design firms, wineries, and California employers navigating CalSavers requirements. We also continued our series on the hidden risks of low-quality retirement plan services, highlighting how operational complexity, fragmented accountability, and misaligned incentives can create costs that extend far beyond administrative fees.


For employers still evaluating their retirement plan options, we also discussed opportunities that many business owners overlook, including the ability to establish retirement plans after filing a tax extension and potentially generate meaningful tax savings.


Below is a recap of the articles we published this quarter. We hope they provide practical insights to help you reduce risk, improve plan performance, and make more informed retirement plan decisions.

What We're Seeing

Across Retirement Plans:

Mega Backdoor Roth Contributions: Powerful Opportunity or Testing Trap?

July 2, 2026
The Mega Backdoor Roth strategy has become one of the most talked-about retirement planning techniques in recent years. Financial publications regularly highlight its potential to help participants contribute far more than the standard deferral limits allow. However, while the strategy can be extremely valuable, an important limitation is often overlooked: due to nondiscrimination testing requirements, some employer-sponsored retirement plans may prevent certain participants from taking full advantage of it. Before assuming a Mega Backdoor Roth will work in your plan, it is important to understand how the strategy operates—and where it can run into trouble.

CalSavers Penalties Are Here: Why Some California Employers Are Reconsidering Their Retirement Plan Strategies

June 4, 2026
For years, many California employers viewed CalSavers as something they would “deal with later.” As the state gradually rolled out mandatory retirement program deadlines based on employer size, it was easy for smaller businesses to push the issue down the road. Now, those deadlines have passed, the employee headcount threshold is now ONE— and enforcement is becoming very real.

The Hidden Risks of Low-Quality Retirement Plan Services Part II: Misaligned Incentives and Fragmented Accountability

May 12, 2026
In Part I of this series , we explored how differences in retirement plan service models can influence risks related to compliance, oversight, and fiduciary areas. In Part II, the focus shifts to a more concrete question: How do these differences ultimately affect the total cost of maintaining a retirement plan over time? While administrative fees are often the most visible expense, they represent only a portion of a plan’s true cost. The broader financial impact—what is often referred to as total cost of ownership—includes the downstream effects of operational efficiency, compliance accuracy, and the ability to fully utilize the plan’s design. 

Why Medical and Dental Practices Face Unique Retirement Plan Risks

May 7, 2026
Medical and dental practices often assume their retirement plan options are relatively straightforward and should be simple to administer. In reality, these businesses frequently present some of the most complex retirement plan challenges among small-to-mid-sized employers.

It’s Not Too Late: Employers Can Still Set Up Retirement Plans and Unlock Significant Tax Savings for 2025

April 23, 2026
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 .

Seasonal Workforces and Retirement Plans: What Wineries Need To Know

April 14, 2026
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.

Retirement Plan Design Challenges Facing Architecture and Design Firms

April 14, 2026
Architecture and design firms face a unique set of retirement plan design challenges that differ significantly from those of other professional services organizations. Unlike firms with stable, predictable compensation structures, these firms often operate with project-based revenue, fluctuating bonuses, and gradual ownership transitions.

2026 Compliance Calendar 


Beyond tracking dates, effective compliance requires coordination between payroll, plan documents, and regulatory requirements. To help you stay ahead, we’ve put together a 2026 Retirement Plan Compliance Calendar outlining key deadlines throughout the year for calendar-year plans.

Click here to download the Compliance Calendar

2026 Annual Limits Reminder 


Updated contribution limits and thresholds are now in effect and may impact both plan administration and participant strategy.

We continually update the Annual Limits page on our website.

Click here to access and bookmark it

We hope you enjoyed our article roundup! If you have ideas for topics you'd like us to cover, our team of experts at Primark Benefits is here to assist you and answer any questions you may have.

Retirement Plan Rescue Story #3: Good Intentions Aren't a Compliance System

September 28, 2026
Sometimes retirement plan problems begin with bad decisions. Other times, they begin with good intentions.

Retirement Plan Challenges for Law Firms

September 28, 2026
Law firms often have compensation structures that are more complex than those of other business types. This is attributable to having both equity and non-equity partners, large year-end bonuses, variable associate compensation, and high contribution goals for senior attorneys -- all these factors and more affect how a retirement plan operates. While these structures can create opportunities for sophisticated retirement plan design, they can also create testing volatility and compliance risk, especially if changes in compensation (or partnership/ownership) are not addressed throughout the year as they occur.

When an Automated Retirement Plan Creates Compliance Risk

September 28, 2026
Technology is quickly transforming retirement plan administration. Today, employers can launch a retirement plan, connect payroll, enroll employees, process contributions, and access reports, all electronically and with far less manual effort needed than in the past.
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