December 1st Participant Notices – Annual notices due for Safe Harbor elections (note that some plans are no longer required to distribute Safe Harbor notices), Qualified Default Investment Arrangement (QDIA), and Automatic Contribution Arrangements (EACA or QACA)....

Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) should be paid by December 31 each year to participants who have reached age 73. However, a participant may elect to delay their first distribution until April 1 of the following year. If the first distribution is delayed, two distributions will be paid in the same year. The plan document may allow participants who are currently employed to delay distributions until termination of employment, although participants who own more than 5% of the company that sponsors the plan are required to take their RMD regardless of employment status.

A catch-up contribution is available for plan participants starting in the year age 50 is reached. For these participants, the annual deferral limit can be exceeded by the catch-up amount.

As the time approaches to complete your annual data collection, you may be asked if any deposits to the plan were not made in a timely manner. Money withheld from a participant’s paycheck as pre-tax deferrals, Roth deferrals or loan repayments must be contributed to the 401(k) or 403(b) plan within the time frame specified by the Department of Labor (DOL). Although the exact requirements can vary depending on the plan, deposits must be made as soon as it is administratively feasible to do so.

On November 1, 2024, the IRS announced the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) affecting the dollar limitations for retirement plans for 2025. In October, the Social Security Administration announced a modest benefit increase of 2.5%.