Talk with your financial advisors. There is a new surcharge that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government sponsored mortgage agencies are imposing on mortgage refinancing. It is unbelievable that a government sponsored entity will increase fees on homeowners who are in need, suffering, and are barely able to make their payments. Something is clearly wrong here. The government-controlled...

On May 21, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced the publication of a final rule that will allow employers to communicate the required retirement plan disclosures and other plan information electronically. The rule finishes a 2018 DOL initiative aimed at reducing administrative burdens and costs associated with the delivery of...

The final rule, which was effective July 26, 2020, establishes a voluntary safe harbor for retirement plan administrators who elect to use electronic media to furnish retirement plan disclosures to “covered individuals.” For plan sponsors interested in taking advantage of the new safe harbor, there are three rules to which they must comply: The safe harbor only applies to retirement plan...

Under the final rule, documents that may be provided electronically include: Annual disclosure notices such as safe harbor, Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA), Fee Disclosures, and automatic enrollment.Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs)Summaries of Material Modifications (SMMs)Summary Annual Reports (SARs)Notice of blackout period for participant investment directionNotices relating...

The final rule allows the use of electronic media to furnish retirement plan disclosures to “covered individuals.” Covered individuals include plan participants (employees or former employees covered by the plan), beneficiaries (e.g., spouses and dependents covered by the plan), and other persons entitled to documents under Title I of ERISA who have provided the plan administrator or other...

The new safe harbor is an additional option for electronic disclosure and does not replace the prior DOL e-disclosure rule that allowed for electronic delivery to those employees that were “wired at work.” The new safe harbor rule only applies to retirement plans (and is voluntary) and not employee welfare benefit plans, such as plans providing group health or disability benefits. “A 2019 survey...

On June 29, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-52 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic providing welcome relief to plan sponsors who are considering suspending safe harbor contributions and also to those who may already have regardless of whether the employer is suffering an economic loss. The notice is significant in that it permits employers who sponsor 401(k) plans to reduce or suspend their...

September 2020 15th: Required contribution to Money Purchase Pension and Target Benefit Pension. Contribution deadline for deducting 2019 employer contributions for those sponsors who filed a tax extension for Partnership or S-Corporation returns for the March 15, 2020 deadline. Single employer DB plans were provided relief under the CARES Act to extend any required contributions due during 2020...

The financial markets went into overdrive as investors tried to predict the economic impact of both the coronavirus and the subsequent governmental fiscal and monetary response, especially as it relates to certain hard-hit industries like travel, retail, and restaurants. Despite all the negative headlines of increasing COVID-19 cases, rising unemployment, and social unrest during the quarter,...