Employee Benefits Blog

The IRS Takes Aim at De-Risking of Defined Benefit Plans

Many defined benefit plan sponsors are looking for ways to reduce the on-going liability and the volatility of the annually required contributions to their defined benefit plans, which is sometimes referred to as “de-risking.” One de-risking strategy involves offering lump-sum payouts to retirees in pay status as a replacement of their annuity payments. This strategy […]

August 14, 2015 | 2 min read | Tagged: annuity payment, de-risking, defined benefit plans, IRS, lump-sum payment, Section 401(a)(9)

Kevin Hogan Former Associate

DOL Issues Final Rules on Annual Funding Notice for Defined Benefit Plans

The Department of Labor recently issued final regulations implementing the annual funding notice that defined benefit plans are required to provide under Section 101(f) of ERISA. The final regulations are similar to the proposed regulations and the guidance issued in Field Assistance Bulletin 2009-01 and Field Assistance Bulletin 2013-01. Generally, administrators of defined benefit plans […]

February 13, 2015 | 2 min read | Tagged: annual funding notice, defined benefit plans, DOL, final rules

Anne M. Meyer Partner

IRS Issues Relief for Certain “Closed” Defined Benefit Plans

In Notice 2014-5, the IRS provided temporary relief from the Code’s nondiscrimination rules for certain defined benefit plans that are closed to new participants. (This is sometimes referred to as a “soft freeze.”). The temporary relief allows employers who sponsor a closed defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan to comply with Code’s nondiscrimination […]

January 31, 2014 | 1 min read | Tagged: defined benefit plans, frozen plan, IRS, nondiscrimination, qualified retirement plans

Anne M. Meyer Partner