Sarah L. Engle
Subscribe to Sarah L. Engle's PostsSarah Engle focuses her practice on employee benefits matters. She counsels clients regarding a variety of issues, including the design, drafting and operation of tax-qualified pension and profit sharing plans, health and welfare arrangements, and deferred compensation plans. Sarah has experience advising clients on employee benefits design, implementation and transition matters arising in connection with corporate mergers and acquisitions. Read Sarah Engle's full bio.
Just Catching Up? For SECURE 2.0’s Catch-Up Contributions, Age Is More Than Just a Number
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Aug 15, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
Nearly all employers offer eligible participants the opportunity to make additional catch-up contributions to their retirement plans. However, beginning in 2025, the SECURE 2.0 Act makes so-called “super-catch-up contributions” available to certain employees. Adding this new feature will require employers and their service providers to develop new processes to monitor various ages and limits and...
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SECURE 2.0 Technical Corrections Are on the Way, Eventually
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Jul 11, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
In an open letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, congressional leaders identified several technical errors in the SECURE 2.0 Act that they intend to correct. Although the letter indicates that Congress intends to correct these technical errors and ambiguities in the legislation, it does not address the timetable...
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Just Catching Up? Oops! Congress Clarifies Catch-Up Contributions Are Here to Stay
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Jul 7, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act requires catch-up contributions made by certain high-wage earners to be made on a Roth basis beginning in 2024. But it also contains one of the most talked about technical errors in the legislation, one that resulted in Congress eliminating all catch-up contributions—for everyone. Not surprisingly, that isn’t quite...
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SECURE 2.0 Act and the Future of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System
By Alden Bianchi and Sarah L. Engle on Jul 6, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) allows employers to correct errors involving the maintenance and operation of tax-qualified retirement plans. The correction programs and options that make up EPCRS have, until now, been established exclusively in a series of IRS notices and revenue procedures dating back more than 30 years....
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Just Catching Up? Payroll Challenges Plague Roth Catch-Up Contribution Implementation
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Jul 5, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
The SECURE 2.0 Act requires participants who earned more than $145,000 in FICA wages in the prior year from their current employer to make all catch-up contributions on a Roth basis beginning in 2024. For many employers, the primary concern is how to integrate the new rule with how payroll deductions for catch-up contributions are...
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Just Catching Up? Wages, by Any Other Name, Not So Sweet for Employers Under SECURE 2.0
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Jun 30, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
Retirement plans often apply (and in some cases are required to use) multiple definitions of wages or compensation for various plan purposes. Given this complexity, failures to follow a plan’s definition of compensation are one of the most common issues experienced by retirement plan sponsors. Unfortunately, as drafted, the SECURE 2.0 Act only adds to...
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Just Catching Up? All for One, or None for All, Catch-Up Contributions Under SECURE 2.0
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Jun 28, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
Beginning after December 31, 2023, the SECURE 2.0 Act indicates that any plan that permits catch-up contributions must require certain employees to make their catch-up contributions on a Roth basis. Employers have expressed significant concerns regarding their ability to implement the necessary system changes—specifically to payroll and recordkeeping systems—by year-end. In response, employers have begun...
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Just Catching Up? SECURE 2.0 Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirement Leaves More Questions than Answers
By Sarah L. Engle and Brian Tiemann on Jun 26, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
Beginning after December 31, 2023, the SECURE 2.0 Act indicates that any plan that permits catch-up contributions must require certain employees—i.e., those whose wages from their employer exceed $145,000 in the prior calendar year—to make their catch-up contributions on a Roth basis. This change raises a host of questions about how the rule is intended...
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Webinar Replay: What to Know About SECURE 2.0
By Sarah L. Engle, Jeffrey Holdvogt, Andrew Liazos, Lisa Loesel, Jacob Mattinson and Brian Tiemann on Feb 1, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
What do retirement plan professionals and participants need to know about the recently passed SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022? In this webinar replay, McDermott’s Employee Benefits team discusses the many changes to retirement plans and individual retirement accounts, including the key changes for 401(k), 403(b) and defined benefit plans as well as other changes impacting...
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JOIN US: SECURE 2.0 Takes Second Bite at Retirement Security
By Sarah L. Engle, Jeffrey Holdvogt, Andrew Liazos, Lisa Loesel, Jacob Mattinson and Brian Tiemann on Jan 24, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
Join partners from McDermott’s Employee Benefits team on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, as they discuss the impact of the recently passed SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. With over 90 changes to retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), this webinar will highlight the key changes for 401(k) and 403(b) plans and defined benefit plans, as...
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