Author: Betsy A. Olson

Betsy Olson advises plan sponsors on the design and operation of their qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and other benefit plans, programs, and agreements. She provides practical advice to plan sponsors to assist in strategic benefits planning and ongoing compliance with the complex statutory rules and regulations that apply to these benefits, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)the Internal Revenue Code. Betsy has experience drafting and negotiating service provider contracts, preparing government filings, resolving pension and health plan claims, correcting retirement plan qualification and operational failures under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) correction program, and responding to IRS inquiries and penalty assessments based on Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting. She also assists with U.S. Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation audits and inquiries and reviews and drafts plan documents, amendments, summary plan descriptions and employee communications.

DOL Lost & Found Database for Retirement Savings Goes Live

If you have ever found $10 in the pocket of a coat that you have not worn for some time, you are familiar with the delight of finding lost money that belongs to you. The Department of Labor’s new Retirement Savings Lost & Found Database (Database) seeks to recreate that feeling in the employee benefits realm by reuniting missing participants and beneficiaries with benefits they may have accrued under job-based retirement plans.

The importance of locating missing participants

Taking steps to find participants and beneficiaries who may be owed a benefit is important to companies that sponsor retirement plans for several reasons.

Continue reading “DOL Lost & Found Database for Retirement Savings Goes Live”

IRS Proposed Regulations for Plan Forfeitures

Today, employees are more likely than ever to seek new employment opportunities and change jobs. These employees may leave a company before becoming fully vested in their qualified retirement plan benefits – which may result in forfeiture of their unvested benefits. What is a retirement plan sponsor supposed to do with the forfeited amount? More importantly, what is the plan sponsor allowed to do with these forfeited amounts? This is an important question, as the use of forfeitures can raise compliance questions under both ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code requirements for qualified retirement plans.

For defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, the IRS has typically allowed plan sponsors to apply forfeitures to offset administrative expenses or reduce employer contributions. In proposed regulations, issued in February 2023, the IRS reiterates this position, indicating that defined contribution plan forfeitures may be used to offset plan administrative expenses or reduce employer contributions, or may be reallocated to participants pursuant to a nondiscriminatory formula.

Continue reading “IRS Proposed Regulations for Plan Forfeitures”