On December 20, 2019 the Secure Act made major changes to the RMD rules. One of these change affects retirees who turned 70½ years old after December 31, 2019. As of January 1, 2020 the new age for a required…

A lady bird deed is a special kind of property deed that allows a real property owner to retain use and control over a property during their life and names one or more people, trusts, or organizations to inherit the…

To quote the great Yogi Berra, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”   If you had asked me six months ago, I would have guessed that we were largely past Covid.   As I write this, the Omicron Covid variant is…

Recently, a financial consultant sent us a very detailed questionnaire for a mutual client’s retirement plan audit. We were asked to describe our IT systems back up and disaster recovery procedures and how rapidly they can be activated. They wanted…

A missing participant is a participant or beneficiary who is a former employee for whom the plan administrator does not have current or adequate information. Common signs of a missing participant include returned mail and/or email, no web account or…

Cybercrime has risen exponentially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and has become the predominant method of fraud.  ERISA covered plans are targets for cybercriminals because they often hold millions of dollars in assets and maintain valuable participant non-public…

The American Institute of CPA’s Auditing Standards Board (AICPA) published Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 136 that will be effective for audits of ERISA plan financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2021. This is a…

The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure (REV.PROC.) 2021-30 with 2 new correction methods for overpayments to Defined Benefit Plan participants or Beneficiaries. The new Revenue Procedure updates Rev. Proc. 2019-19 to: Expand guidance on the recoupment of overpayments of Defined…

The S&P 500 declined by 4.7% in September to finish flat for the 3rd quarter. This was the index’s first sign of weakness since the sharp rally from the bottom in March 2020 as it has returned at least 6%…

On Sunday, Oct 3rd the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (“ICIJ”) released the “Pandora Papers.”  More than 600 journalists from around the world released confidential documents and dealings of political elites, government officials, celebrities, and the wealthy.  This group of…