When the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA of 2018) was signed into law in February of 2018, sweeping changes to the process of obtaining hardship distributions accompanied it. These changes were not required to take effect until January 1, 2020. Don’t miss: Changes to hardship distribution rules While the BBA of 2018 initiated these …
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic uncertainty, employers are faced with decisions that could have significant impacts on their 401k retirement plans. A serious decision that employers face is a potential reduction in employees. It is important to consider the impact this decision can have on the retirement plan. A …
In response to the impact of COVID-19 Congress placed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act or the “CARES Act”. What does this 883-page law mean for retirement plans and their participants? The CARES Act includes provisions that expand the availability of retirement funds to those who have been impacted by COVID-19. …
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 …