Category: 403b Plans

Will the Long-Term Part-Time Rules Eliminate the Permitted Exclusions for 403(b) Plans?

June 06, 2023

In its quest to Set Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, SECURE 2.0 enhanced the Long-Term Part-Time (LTPT) rules of Secure 1.0 by making them applicable to 403(b) plans. Since employees are more likely to contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement arrangement than an Individual Retirement Account, and more Americans are working part-time since the pandemic, … Continued

Learn More >>

SECURE 2.0: Mandatory Automatic Enrollment Coupled with Corrective Contribution Relief

April 11, 2023

SECURE 2.0: Mandatory Automatic Enrollment Coupled with Corrective Contribution Relief Employees Plan to Make the Right Choice…Later When it comes to choosing to save for retirement, people tend to be short-sighted. Many eligible employees don’t choose to participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plans. Behavioral finance studies show that people tend to imagine themselves making the … Continued

Learn More >>

2023 Plan Limits

October 24, 2022

Posted By: Saaib T. Uppal, CPA, QKA IRS Announces Increases on Benefits and Contributions Dollar Limitations for 2023 The IRS has announced cost-of-living adjustments that should be noted for retirement planning purposes. Below is a chart that outlines employee benefit plan limits for 2023: Plan Limits RETIREMENT & SOCIAL SECURITY 2023 Limit 2022 Limit 2021 Limit … Continued

Learn More >>

Universal Availability Audit Steps

June 09, 2022

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA Yes, the Audit Extends to Excluded 403(b) Employees: Testing Compliance with Universal Availability It’s never a good sign when an employer sponsoring a 403(b) plan says: “You don’t need to see backup for employees who are excluded from the plan.” Ohh! But we do! Not often, but sometimes, clients … Continued

Learn More >>

Top Five Operational Errors of 403(b) Plans

May 10, 2022

Posted By: Maria Hurd, CPA Top Five Operational Errors of 403(b) Plans Oops! I did it again… No matter how hard we try, there are mistakes we are doomed to make again and again, even when we know the rules all too well. The reasons are valid, and they are countless: mindlessness, being in a … Continued

Learn More >>

How Does the 403(b) Special 15-Year Catch-Up Contribution Work?

May 06, 2022

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA Where have you worked, for how long, and how much have you contributed to the 403(b) plan? These are all the questions that make up the puzzle pieces necessary to compute each participant’s available 403(b) catch-up. Participants in a 403(b) plan can make an additional contribution once they have … Continued

Learn More >>

401(k), 403(b), 457(b): Why Are the Rules Different?

April 07, 2022

Posted By: Maria Hurd, CPA Why Ask Why? Why should the rules that determine how and how much a person can save for retirement be different depending on whether the person works for a government entity, a nonprofit, or a for-profit employer? People are people, and their retirement needs are not different based on what … Continued

Learn More >>

SAS 136 – Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements of Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA

March 29, 2022

Posted By: Christopher Ciminera, CPA  On July 19, 2019, the AICPA Auditing Standards Board issued SAS 136 – Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements of Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA. This standard was a long time coming. The AICPA worked with the DOL and other interested parties to create a new standard … Continued

Learn More >>

The Who, What, Where, Why, and How of Retirement Plan Audits

November 01, 2021

Posted by Chris Ciminera, CPA, QKA You (or your client) may have just found out that an audit is required for its retirement plan. Many questions may be running through your head such as Why must an audit be performed? What must be audited? Who performs audits? Who is required to have an audit? How … Continued

Learn More >>

Form 5500 Penalties Increased by How Much?

November 20, 2020

Posted By Maria Hurd, CPA The SECURE Act increased IRS Late Filing Penalties for Form 5500 by how much? How can I avoid them? IRS Penalties Tenfold. That’s how much the SECURE Act (the “Act”) increased the penalty for the late filing of a Form 5500 –TENFOLD! Before the Act, the IRS could assess a … Continued

Learn More >>


© 2025 Belfint Lyons & Shuman | All Rights Reserved  | Privacy Policy | Beflint.com

Belfint Lyons Shuman is a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm that audits Defined contribution plans (profit-sharing, 401(k), 403(b) , 401(a), 457(b))), and Defined benefit plans (pension and cash balance), and Health and welfare plans. We serve a variety of plan sponsors including for-profit, nonprofit, governmental, and Taft-Hartley collectively-bargained plans located in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Massachusetts, and nationally. For additional information contact us at info@belfint.com