For many employers, finding missing participants can seem an impossible task. Nevertheless, employers are required to take all reasonable actions to locate a missing participant. Employers have a fiduciary obligation under ERISA to locate or “make a reasonable effort” to find a missing participant of a terminated defined contribution plan. Failing to do so could …
One type of distribution your 401(k) may allow for is a hardship distribution, and while the criteria can vary from plan to plan, most are generally similar. A hardship distribution is used to satisfy the immediate and heavy financial need of the participant, the participant’s spouse or the participant’s non-spouse, non-dependent beneficiary. Common examples of …
When employee benefit plan participants find themselves in tough financial positions, they often look for ways to relieve their financial burden. One of the options is taking out a loan from your 401(k) plan. However, is this a good idea? The answer – it depends on the situation. For most people, the idea of taking …
Many 401(k) plans permit participants to borrow from the plan and it’s becoming a more and more common practice. The plan document must specify if loans are permitted. The majority of those loans are repaid according to the terms of the loan agreement. However, there are instances when a participant defaults – and then it’s …
Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are minimum amounts certain participants (or retirement account owners if the participant has passed) must take as distributions from their account on an annual basis. Generally, RMDs begin the year in which the participant reaches the age of 70 ½ or the year in which the participant retires, provided they are …
If your company has a 401(k) plan, one of the areas to understand is if your plan allows for different types of distributions, what they entail, and some key items to note regarding each type. The main types of distributions are hardships, termination/rollovers, and in-service. Hardship distributions Not all plans allow for hardship distributions; however …
Ever since Congress changed the rules to allow plan hardship withdrawals, hardship distributions have been continually increasing among plan participants. There are six safe harbor expenses which the IRS deems to be an immediate and heavy financial need: Purchase of a principal residence College tuition Funeral expenses Eviction from principal residence Medical expenses Repair expenses …
Some plans allow participants to make Traditional (pre-tax) contributions and also Roth (after-tax) contributions. Making a decision on which contributions are right for you can be a difficult choice, as there are current and future tax consequences that you should consider. With a Roth 401(k), you can eliminate concerns about your retirement tax rates, but …
IRS requirements are surprisingly vague regarding hardship distributions. In the absence of clear-cut rules, we sometimes see hardship distributions with very little or no supporting documentation. As a plan administrator you should not only comply with the IRS requirements, but also document your compliance with these requirements. Let’s look at a few of the requirements …
According to the IRS website, a retirement plan may, but is not required to, provide for hardship distributions. If a 401(k) plan provides for hardship distributions, it must provide the specific criteria used to make the determination of hardship. For example, a plan may provide that a distribution can be made only for medical or …