Tuesday, September 24, 2024

How to Hit Your Stride as a Small-Business Retirement Plan Advisor

Small-business retirement plans are in demand and pose an excellent opportunity for getting ahead. Through your relationship with plan sponsors, you have the chance to provide much-needed support to participantsand ultimately give a boost to your wealth management business.

Consider Adding Roth for SECURE 2.0 Compliance

As SECURE 2.0 reshapes retirement planning, Provision 603 brings Roth (post-tax) contributions into focus. High earners must make catch-up contributions as Roth deferrals starting in 2026, with a transition period for 2024 and 2025.

If you intend to amend your plan(s) and don’t currently offer Roth deferrals, now's the time to add this feature to ensure all participants can make catch-up contributions. With further Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance pending, consider adding Roth to your plan amendments for flexibility and compliance. Contact your client service team for guidance on how to amend. It’s not just about meeting new standards; it's about enhancing your retirement plan(s) for the future. Learn more
 about Provision 603.

Prepare for Year-End Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

To help you prepare for year end, we'll send you two more RMD email notifications if your plan has RMD participants. 

These communicatio
ns are more than reminders; they're a comprehensive resource packed with legislative updates, critical deadlines, reference materials, and action steps. When you receive them, review the accompanying report on the plan website to verify the accuracy of all information.

Look for the next RMD email around
October 18, followed by another around November 18.

Understanding the Department of Labor’s (DOL's) Final Fiduciary Rule

In April 2024, the DOL released the Retirement Security Rule, which expands the definition of an investment advice fiduciary and requires that advice given to a broader range of retirement investors meets fiduciary standards. This rule also makes amendments to several prohibited transaction exemptions (PTEs), including PTE 2020-02 and PTE 84-24 regarding eligibility and conditions for exemption. The final rule was scheduled to go into effect on September 23, 2024. But, in July 2024, two separate U.S. District Courts ruled that the DOL may not enforce the final rule and associated amendments to the PTEs. These temporary orders will remain in effect until final decisions have been rendered in each case.

Understand these changes and how they may affect retirement planning and investment decisions for you and participants by reading more.

Check Out the Streamlined Compliance Testing Landing Page

All your compliance testing is now on one page. Simply go to your plan website and click Plan > Compliance to access the compliance package, census alert report, and interim testing package.

The compliance package section enables you to review an active test package or view authorized packages. If you're looking ahead to your plan year end, you can run a census alert report to help identify errors in your census data or generate an interim testing package. Run an on-demand interim package to estimate test results from the beginning of the plan year through the business day before the package was generated. Newly available for safe harbor plans, the interim package has also been updated with an easier-to-read format, plus supportive text and a glossary to help you understand your estimated results and recommended next steps.