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Hello, I am writing this time as a member of the Retirement Reform Group, an informal, nonpartisan group of active and retired employee benefits attorneys working to address lagging savings for lower- and moderate-income workers. If you are interested in this issue (and I hope you are), our website is: retirementreform.org. Members of the Retirement Reform Group participating in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Annual Meeting Education Program in San Diego, CA (October 10, 2026) are pleased to share handouts prepared for the meeting. While the seminar itself is not open to the general public, the following materials are available on our webpage: - The Urgent Need and Incredible Opportunity to Expand Retirement Coverage through Efficient Plan Design (Richard Shea) - The Challenges and Promise of Lifetime Income in a Defined Contribution World (Norman Stein) - The IRA Protection Gap: Missing ERISA Safeguards, Rollover Vulnerabilities, and Paths to More and Safer Retirement Savings (Phyllis C. Borzi, Cynthia Van Bogaert) - Improving Access to Non-Conflicted Retirement Information for Individuals and Small Employers (Maria O'Brien, Mark Iwry /Matthew I. Whitehorn, Lisa Germano ) -Why Aren’t They Saving? Real Plan Design and Demographic Barriers for Lower- and Moderate-Income Workers (Lisa M. Gomez) We invite policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders interested in improving lagging retirement savings for lower- and moderate-income workers to access these

Simple investment question.... 401(k) plan with maybe 20 participants. The investments are held with an RIA... individual investment accounts. The 2 trustees are not always available to sign the LOA to pay out a participant. Can someone at the business other than a trustee be listed on the investment to sign these LOAs to pay out a participant?

Can a plan add a true up provision mid year? Seems like they should be able to, as it benefits participants...

If eligible employees do not set up their SIMPLE IRA accounts in a timely manner, can the employer set up the SIMPLE IRAs on the employees' behalf and if so is there any IRS reg or guidance that permits or requires this? Thank you in advance!

The 5500 was prepared with all capital letters. 5558 was prepared with both upper and lower case letter. Vendor check generated an error stating the 2 forms do not match which was not error before. Vendor said it is probably because of the above. This is something new? Why should it be an error? Checked both forms for other mismatched information but there was none. Anyone encountered anything like this?

I;m having a disagreement with someone regarding this: Once a loan is taken, obviously it can't be more than 50% of the vested balance (up to $50k). What happens once the loan is taken? Does the 50% still stand? If a participant with a loan then wants to take an in-service distribution (as allowed by the document), can they not take it if it brings the loan balance to be greater than 50% of the balance (i.e. if someone who is eligible opts to take 100% of their balance, leaving the only current asset as the loan balance)? I've been told by a record keeper that the 50% rule no longer stands once the loan is taken, but I wanted to confirm. Is there anything in the regs that I can cite, if I'm correct? Thanks in advance!

Hi all, As a current volunteer Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) member, I am working to get the message out that taxpayers have a real voice in raising concerns about IRS customer service issues. In case you weren't aware, through outreach, TAP finds out what those concerns are and presents suggested solutions to the IRS. (We don't address individual issues, just systemic improvements.) I am currently working on making RMD tables and worksheets in the publications more user-friendly, and I want to hear about your experience. How can we make these calculations understandable for the average taxpayer, employer, and plan administrator? I am reaching out to the BenefitsLink community also to see if you have other concerns with the IRS tax forms and pubs regarding the retirement plan/IRA world. You can make suggestions directly (even anonymously) at improveirs.org . Let's use our collective experience to back a good cause and make the system work better for everyone. Thank you, Cindy Van Bogaert TAP member

I have a plan that is a profit sharing only plan that has a plan year end of 11/30 and corresponds to the Employer fiscal year. However, the employer is changing to calendar and wants to change the plan year to calendar year. There will be a short plan year from 12/1 to 12/31. They do not was to make the discretionary profit sharing for the plan year ending 11/30 but would rather make the profit sharing for the entire calendar year. I think filing deadline has fried my brain. Is that possible? If so, what are the steps to make that happen?

Has anyone heard of a TPA called Definiti? Apparently a large TPA who buys smaller TPAs. Thoughts on them - pros? Cons? TYIA/

Now that inflation measures through August are released [ https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm ], is anyone up to calculate an estimate of likely 2027 inflation-adjusted amounts for retirement plans?

Owner only 401k plan. Owner deducted 23k for 2025 on the w-2 but deposited just now. What kind of correction is needed, if any? If need to adjust, I am assuming DoL calculator cannot be used, correct? What other means can be used? Let's say the correction is $100, is this a deductible expense? If yes, would be for 2026, correct? Thank you

I have a new client who started a Solo K for her and her spouse in 2017. When they set it up they chose Immediate Eligibility. They excluded Hourly employees as a class (some of them reaching Age 21 - 1 YOS.) They have had hourly employees (over 23 of them) over the years - some reaching Age 21 and 1 YOS - but have never allowed them in the plan. My question is - can you exclude Hourly employees (w-2) as a class - but also select Immediate Eligibility? It would seem to me that this is discriminatory....but I do know that Hourly can be a little tricky. I just wanted to make sure I am not misunderstanding this. Thanks for the help!