In April, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued its first guidance on cybersecurity practices for ERISA retirement plans. The guidance, which was largely in response to a US Government Accountability Office report urging the DOL to issue cybersecurity recommendations,...

Cryptocurrencies have increasingly gained traction throughout the last decade. As technology progressed, cryptocurrency, or crypto for short, has gained momentum as not only a medium for exchange, but also as an investment opportunity. There are thousands of different...

Retirement plans have experienced some regulation changes over the past year thanks to the SECURE Act. The SECURE Act was put into place to make retirement plans more accessible and beneficial to participants and employers. There is a new bill going through Congress...

Being a plan trustee comes with a stringent set of responsibilities and necessitates having certain knowledge of the plan document, provisions, administrative operations, IRS filing requirements, and ERISA guidelines. Here are five things that should be considered on...

There once was a time when employees worked 25-30 years for the same employer and were rewarded for their loyalty and hard work with the benefits that come from an employer sponsored defined benefit (“DB”) plan. Unfortunately, these employees retired at age 65 and had...

In July 2019, the AICPA issued a new standard, Statement on Auditing Standards (“SAS”) No. 136, Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements of Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA. SAS No. 136 brings significant changes to the auditor’s report in a...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought so many different concerns to the forefront for employers, whether it be business owners or executive directors, such as PPP Loans, SBA EIDL loans, CARES Act tax credits, unemployment insurance reimbursements and frankly, just keeping...

On Friday evening, August 28th, 2020, the IRS and Department of the Treasury released Notice 2020-65 providing brief guidance as it relates to the August 8th, 2020 executive order allowing for a potential employee payroll tax deferral. Executive Order Deferring...

Cybersecurity risks are not new. We’ve been dealing with data breaches for years, and if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that hackers are smart. Hackers can infiltrate even the most complex security systems in the pursuit of personal information. It was only a matter of time until retirement plans, rich with personal information and money, fell victim to data breaches too. And like most companies navigating the aftermath of a data breach, retirement plan sponsors and service providers can easily find themselves in the midst of intense litigation.

Pension plans should be an important part of every business’ benefits package. Not only do they let business owners/executives and employees to set aside funds for their retirement, but they provide the added ability for companies to assist in the process and make contributions on behalf of their staff, to help them better position themselves for retirement.