I was raised in a middle-class family of six. My father worked while my mother stayed at home to look after the family. I come from what is defined as “Generation X”, or what others term the “middle-child generation” – a generation which is self-reliant, savvy, and somewhat calculating.

I was raised from day one to be independent. It was drilled into me at a very young age to never rely on anyone but myself. This was partly due to my parents having their hands full and being unable to dedicate all of their time to us, but it was also (more…)

• Begin preparing for the distribution of the plan’s Summary Annual Report to participants and beneficiaries by September 30, unless a Form 5500 extension of time to file applies (calendar-year plans).
• Submit employee census and payroll data to the plan’s recordkeeper for mid-year compliance testing (calendar- year plans).

• Confirm that participants who terminated employment between January 1 and June 30 elected a distribution option for their plan account balance and returned their election Contact those whose forms were not received.

With changes in the new tax law, you may have decided to lower your federal tax withholding so that you’re taking home more pay. It may be very tempting to use a fatter wallet to buy more things. But if you are falling short of your retirement goals, consider increasing your 401(k) contribution instead.

In projecting what you’ll need to save in order to generate enough retirement income, it helps to (1) prepare a realistic household budget and (2) understand what types of expenses you’ll have once you stop earning a regular paycheck.

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Just as you do with your personal income tax documents, you need to maintain records related to the plan. This is for a couple of reasons, one of which is being ready to defend actions and decisions if the plan is ever audited. We suggest you review the IRS and the DOL websites for complete information about what you need to keep and for how long.

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• Conduct a review of second quarter payroll and plan deposit dates to ensure compliance with the Department of Labor’s rules regarding timely deposit of participant contributions and loan repayments.
• Verify that employees who became eligible for the plan between April 1 and June 30 received and returned an enrollment form. Follow up for forms that were not returned.
• Ensure that the plan’s Form 5500 is submitted by July 31, unless an extension of time to file applies (calendar-year plans).

Surprising employer response in 2018

It’s interesting to compare changes year by year, but over time is when real results emerge. That’s often true in retirement plans; while there may be small, incremental changes in enrollment, investments and plan design one year to the next, comparing decades can be much more illuminating.

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