Category: Retirement Plans

In Case You Missed It: Spotlight on Benefits – 2024 Winter

Written by members of Faegre Drinker’s benefits and executive compensation team, this blog features analysis and information on matters related to retirement plans, health and welfare plans, ESOPs, fiduciary governance, and other benefits issues.

This quarterly digest provides links to our most popular posts during the past few months so that you can catch up on what you missed or re-read them.

ERISA Moments, Ep. 13: Rollover Recommendations Will Be Fiduciary Advice … And What About Withdrawals?

By Bradford Campbell and Fred Reish
We’re looking at the DOL’s fiduciary proposal and the prohibited transaction exemptions associated with it. In this episode, Fred and Brad are talking about rollovers. The proposed definition of fiduciary advice basically says that a one-time investment recommendation can result in an adviser or insurance agent becoming a fiduciary.

Five Habits of the Healthy Health Plan Fiduciary

By Kendra L. Roberson
As it is often said, “the only constant in the world is constant change.” So it is important for health plan fiduciaries to periodically review the fundamentals for consistency and compliance to avoid risk and costly mistakes. We provide a health plan fiduciary checklist — with five actions that health plan fiduciaries can take to help keep an organization safe and successful.

Roth Employer Contributions

By Doug Heffernan and Mark Rosenfeld
On December 20, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2024-2, which provides question-and-answer guidance on various aspects of the SECURE 2.0 Act. This post focuses on the ability to make employer contributions (match or nonelective) as Roth contributions under SECURE 2.0 Act, Section 604.

Can ChatGPT be Your ERISA Counsel?

Is ChatGPT sufficiently reliable to provide advice on employee benefits matters? Not yet, but ChatGPT and generative Artificial Intelligence may likely be useful tools for employee benefits attorneys in the future.[1]

As it is late March, we asked ChatGPT 3.5 to solve a common issue: an individual made deferrals above the Internal Revenue Code § 402(g) limit (although typically these are referred to as “excess deferrals,” in the ChatGPT 3.5 reply it uses both “excess contribution” or “excess deferral” interchangeably. In the Faegre comments, we use the term “excess deferral.”). As background, the Internal Revenue Code limits the amount of employee deferrals that can be made within a participant’s taxable year (almost always the calendar year). In 2023, that limit was $22,500. An individual who participates in more than one 401(k)/403(b) plan is responsible for monitoring whether they exceed the limit with respect to all plans in which the individual participates.

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IRS Announces Phase 2 of Pre-Examination Compliance Pilot Program

Recently, the IRS announced phase two of its expansion of the Pre-Examination Compliance Pilot Program. Under the pilot program, an employer may limit or entirely avoid an impending IRS audit if they promptly correct any identified errors via the IRS’s Self Correction Program (SCP). During phase two, the IRS will notify employers by letter that their retirement plan was selected for upcoming examination. The employer then has 90 days to review their plan’s documents and operations to determine if they meet current tax code requirements.

If the employer identifies any errors, they may self-correct the errors under the SCP. Errors that aren’t eligible for correction under the SCP can be corrected by requesting a closing agreement, and the IRS will use the favorable Voluntary Correction Program fee structure to determine the sanction amount payable.

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Roth Employer Contributions

On December 20, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2024-2, which provides question-and-answer guidance on various aspects of the SECURE 2.0 Act. This post focuses on the ability to make employer contributions (match or nonelective) as Roth contributions under SECURE 2.0 Act Section 604.  (For an overview of SECURE 2.0 for defined contribution plan sponsors, click here.)

Overview of SECURE 2.0 Language on Employer Roth Contributions

Section 604 SECURE 2.0 Act permits employers to make employer contributions, both matching and nonelective contributions, as Roth contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) plan. To be designated as a Roth contribution, the employer contribution must be fully vested (nonforfeitable) when made. The Roth contribution is not excluded from gross income. The ability to make Roth employer contributions was effective with respect to employer contributions made after December 29, 2022, the date of enactment of the SECURE 2.0 Act.

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In Case You Missed It: Spotlight on Benefits – Winter 2024

Written by members of Faegre Drinker’s benefits and executive compensation team, this blog features analysis and information on matters related to retirement plans, health and welfare plans, ESOPs, ERISA litigation, fiduciary governance, and other benefits issues.

This quarterly digest provides links to our most popular posts during the past few months so that you can catch up on what you missed or re-read them.

IRS Announces 2024 Retirement Plan Limits

By Sarah Bassler Millar, Mark Rosenfeld, Dawn Sellstrom and Inés Sosa
The IRS recently announced the 2024 cost-of-living adjustments to various benefit and contribution limits applicable to retirement plans. The IRS modestly increased the applicable limits for 2024.

Introducing ERISA Moments: Bite-Size Vodcasts on the Latest ERISA Developments

By Fred Reish and Bradford Campbell
Take a quick dive into the exciting world of ERISA with Faegre Drinker benefits and executive compensation attorneys Fred Reish and Brad Campbell. In this quick-hit series of updates, Fred and Brad offer a high-level view of current trends and recent ERISA developments.

When One Door Closes, Another Opens…Maybe Fourth Circuit Holds that Surcharge Is Not Equitable Relief Available Under ERISA but Paves the way for Unjust Enrichment Claims

By Rick Pearl
In an ERISA case for wrongful denial of health insurance benefits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit addressed when a plaintiff may recover monetary relief under §§ 502(a)(1)(B) and (a)(3). The Fourth Circuit unsurprisingly held that ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B) limits recovery to benefits due under the terms of a plan, and a plaintiff cannot recover the cost of a denied surgery because the cost is not a “benefit” due; coverage for the cost, and payment to the provider, is the benefit. Unless a plaintiff pays the bill first, the plaintiff cannot recover the cost from an insurer.

De Minimis Financial Incentives to Participate in a 401(k) or 403(b) Plan

On December 20, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2024-2, which provides question-and-answer guidance on various aspects of the SECURE 2.0 Act. This post focuses on the “de minimis financial incentives” under SECURE 2.0 Act Section 113.  (For an overview of SECURE 2.0 for defined contribution plan sponsors, click here.)

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IRS Announces 2024 Retirement Plan Limits

The IRS recently announced the 2024 cost-of-living adjustments to various benefit and contribution limits applicable to retirement plans. The IRS modestly increased the applicable limits for 2024. The following limits apply to retirement plans in 2024:

  • The limit on elective deferrals under 401(k), 403(b), and eligible 457(b) plans increased to $23,000.
  • The limit on additional catch-up contributions by participants aged 50 or older remains at $7,500. This means that the maximum amount of elective deferral contributions for those participants in 2024 is $30,500.
  • The Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 415 annual addition limit is increased to $69,000 for 401(k) and other defined contribution plans, and the annual benefit limit is increased to $275,000 for defined benefit plans.
  • The limit on the annual compensation that can be taken into account by qualified plans under Code Section 417 is increased to $345,000.
  • The dollar level threshold for becoming a highly compensated employee under Code Section 414(q) increased to $155,000 (which, under the look-back rule, applies to HCE determinations in 2025 based on compensation paid in 2024).
  • The dollar level threshold for becoming a “key employee” in a top-heavy plan under Code Section 416(i)(1) is increased to $220,000.

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Reminder: Gag Clause Attestations Due by Year-End

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 generally requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to submit a Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation (Attestation) each year to demonstrate compliance with the prohibition on including gag clauses in certain agreements.  The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) issued FAQs last February requiring affected plans and issuers to submit their first Attestations no later than December 31, 2023, covering the period beginning December 27, 2020 through the attestation date, with subsequent Attestations due annually thereafter.

Prohibition on Gag Clauses

Group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage are prohibited by ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code from entering into an agreement with a health care provider, network or association of providers, third-party administrator (TPA), or other service provider offering access to a network of providers that would directly or indirectly restrict a plan or issuer from (i) disclosing provider-specific cost or quality-of-care information to referring providers, plan sponsors, enrollees or eligible individuals; (ii) electronically accessing de-identified claims and encounter information or data for plan participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees, and (iii) sharing such information or data with business associates, consistent with applicable privacy regulations. A similar prohibition applies to health insurers offering individual health insurance coverage under the Public Health Service Act.  These prohibited restrictions are referred to as “gag clauses.”

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In Case You Missed It: Spotlight on Benefits – Fall 2023

Written by members of Faegre Drinker’s benefits and executive compensation team, this blog features analysis and information on matters related to retirement plans, health and welfare plans, ESOPs, ERISA litigation, fiduciary governance, and other benefits issues.

This quarterly digest provides links to our most popular posts during the past few months so that you can catch up on what you missed or re-read them.

DOL Issues Long Awaited Mental Health Parity Guidance

By Sarah Bassler Millar, Yael Kalman and Dawn Sellstrom
Plan sponsors, insurers, and third-party administrators should pay close attention to the new guidance to facilitate health plan compliance with complex nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses requirements.

Another 401(k) Plan Fiduciary Defeats Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims at Trial

By Kimberly Jones and James E. Crossen

401(k) plan fiduciaries recently defeated a lawsuit alleging the fiduciaries imprudently managed and paid excessive record keeping an investment fees. The victory for the fiduciaries follows a jury trial win of Yale University’s 403(b) plan. The court opinions in both of these cases serve as a good reminder that offense is the best defense, and ERISA plan fiduciaries best protect themselves against ERISA breach of duty of prudence claims by proactively implementing strong fiduciary governance practices, such as keeping thorough committee meeting minutes.

IRS Issues 2-Year Delay for Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirements

By Mona Ghude and Mark Rosenfeld

On August 25, 2023, the IRS announced a two-year delay for the Roth catch-up contribution requirement for employees making $145,000 or more in the prior calendar year that would have applied in 2024. The Roth catch-up contribution requirement will now be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

IRS Issues 2-Year Delay for Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirements

On August 25, 2023, the IRS announced a two-year delay for the Roth catch-up contribution requirement for employees making $145,000 or more in the prior calendar year that would have applied in 2024. The Roth catch-up contribution requirement will now be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. (For an overview of SECURE 2.0 for defined contribution plan sponsors, click here.)

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