Upcoming deadlines for calendar-year defined contribution retirement plans include the following key deadlines coming up in March:

March 15, 2012:

• Corrective distributions
• Form 1120 or 7004
• Forms 1042 and 1042-S

Contact us for information on preparing the tax and audit documents necessary for your 401(k) or defined contribution retirement plan at 702-384-1120

With the payroll tax cut extension becoming law on Wednesday, February 22, each worker will now pay two percent less Social Security tax for the remaining 10 months of 2012.  This tax applies to earnings up to the so-called taxable wage base, which is $110,100 in 2012.

Now the question becomes, what will you do with your two percent?  For a worker earning $50,000 per year, the tax cut means an additional $83 in their pocket every month.

Why not consider placing part or all of your savings into your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan or an IRA?  After all, no one ever retires and says they wish they would have saved less!

Contact Jay Beltz with PBTK for more info on 401(k) and pension plan services.

408(b)(2) – Are You Ready?

On July 1st the Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulation 408(b)(2) is scheduled to become law. All 401(k) plan sponsors will be required to know the fees charged by their 401(k) provider and determine whether those fees are reasonable for the services being rendered.

What exactly is 408(b)(2)? How does this impact plan sponsors and participants? What are reasonable fees?

Piercy Bowler Taylor & Kern (PBTK), a 401(k) plan audit firm, is hosting a workshop to help you understand the impact of 408(b)(2), evaluate your current fees and determine if they are reasonable. PBTK will be joined by Christine Soscia, a 401(k) expert with the Retirement Benefits Group (RBG). RBG manages over $8 billion in 401(k) assets.

Speakers: Michael Fennessy with Great West Retirement Services and John Lacey with MFS

RSVP: Please RSVP by March 12th to shiller@pbtk.com or register online

In a recent article on BenefitsPro, data from Fidelity Investments show that employee contributions are up, even if it’s just a bit.

“Average employee contributions rose slightly in 2011 to $5,750, up from $5,680 a year ago, according to new data on 401(k) savings and behaviors released by Fidelity Investments. On average, participants saved more than 8 percent of their annual savings. As of the end of the fourth quarter 2011, the average 401(k) balance was $69,100, up nearly 8 percent from the end of the third quarter.”

Click here for the full article.

Insurcorp sent us this article that we thought we’d pass along to you about the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America’s 54th Annual Survey of Profit  Sharing and 401k Plans. It provides an in-depth look at current practices in  profit-sharing and 401(k) plans.

Click here to read the full article on the Insurcorp website and compare your plan’s elibility, participation, investment options and more.  Contact Piercy Bowler Taylor & Kern with your 401(k) testing, compliance or audit questions.

The U.S. Labor Department this morning issued its final rules requiring disclosure of 401(k) retirement-plan fees.

The rules require companies that administer 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans to disclose administrative and investment costs to employers who sponsor the plans. Already, plan sponsors and employers have responded with lower-fee options.

The effective date for those disclosures was postponed by three months to July 1. Plan sponsors have 60 days from that date to disclose costs to workers saving within the plans.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department today proposed regulations designed to make it easier for retirees to create lifetime-income streams similar to those that were provided through traditional defined-benefit pension plans.

Click to read the full blog post from Kelly Greene on the Wall Street Journal’s personal finance blog.