Todd Solomon
Subscribe to Todd Solomon's PostsTodd A. Solomon focuses his practice on designing, amending and administering pension, profit sharing, 401(k), employee stock ownership and 403(b) plans, as well as nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. He also counsels privately and publicly held corporations and tax-exempt entities regarding fiduciary issues under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), employee benefits issues involved in corporate transactions, executive compensation matters and the implementation of benefit programs for domestic partners of employees.Read Todd A. Solomon's full bio.
Opportunity Knocks: At Long Last, IRS Determination Letter Program Is Open for 403(b) Plans
By Todd Solomon and Jeffrey Holdvogt on Nov 1, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently opened a new determination letter approval program for 403(b) retirement plans—commonly used by nonprofit organizations—which allows sponsors of certain individually designed plans to apply for a favorable determination letter. Long available to 401(k) retirement plan sponsors, determination letters can provide sponsors with advance assurance from the IRS that plans...
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Better Than a Snow Day: The PBGC Provides One-Time Section 4010 Reporting Waiver
By Todd Solomon, Diane Morgenthaler and Dan O’Neil on Aug 15, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans
In an acknowledgment of uncommon market conditions and their corresponding effect on defined benefit pension plan funding, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the PBGC) provided a welcome one-time waiver for some underfunded pension plans under Section 4010 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). However, to qualify for the waiver, pension plan sponsors still...
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New IBA GEI Report Cites ESG as Emerging Focus for Human Resources
By Todd Solomon and Abigail M. Kagan on Jul 18, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment
Governments and employers throughout the world are paying more attention to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues. That’s according to the International Bar Association Global Employment Institute’s (IBA GEI) Eleventh Annual Global Report. The report is based on data from lawyers in 55 countries and covers a range of topics, including artificial intelligence, mental...
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Proposed Legislation Would Allow 403(b) Plans to Invest in Lower-Cost Collective Investment Trusts
By Todd Solomon, Brian Tiemann and Dan O’Neil on Jun 14, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans, SECURE 2.0 Act
A new bill introduced in Congress would allow 403(b) plans maintained by tax-exempt organizations to make use of collective investment trust (CIT) investments. CITs are an alternative to mutual funds that may provide significant cost savings for 403(b) plans and their participants. The SECURE 2.0 Act took the first steps along this path by making...
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Respect for Marriage Act Would Protect Same-Sex Couples’ Company Benefits
By Todd Solomon on Dec 7, 2022
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The Respect for Marriage Act would preserve the company benefits of same-sex couples. The legislation, which passed the US Senate on November 29, was inspired by concerns that the US Supreme Court might reconsider its landmark same-sex marriage decision. In this SHRM article, McDermott Partner Todd Solomon noted that federal and state law no longer distinguish...
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HHS Issues Proposed Rule Under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act: Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities
By Gregory Fosheim, Jacob Mattinson, Todd Solomon and Moyosore Koya on Aug 18, 2022
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
On August 4, 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) to reinterpret section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in a health program or activity, any...
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Proposed Minimum Distribution Regulations Prompt Concerns
By Todd Solomon on Jun 22, 2022
Posted In Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
Employee benefits professionals are inquiring about relief options for proposed regulations for required minimum distributions (RMDs). According to this Tax Notes article, the proposed regulations would make determining the RMDs during the plan participant’s lifetime and the designated beneficiary more challenging for plan sponsors, IRA trustees and custodians, and third-party administrators. One of the major...
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The Fiduciary Duties of 457(b) Plans and How to Mitigate Potential Risks
By Todd Solomon on May 19, 2022
Posted In Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
Fiduciaries of 403(b), 401(a) and 457(b) retirement plans have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, in part due to participant lawsuits filed against plan sponsors and the resulting media attention. In this presentation with the 457 Consulting Group, McDermott Partner Todd Solomon discusses the fiduciary duties of plan sponsors and how to mitigate potential...
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Proposed IRS RMD Regulations Present Challenges, Risks for 403(b) Plans
By Teal Trujillo and Todd Solomon on Apr 12, 2022
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is strategically working to execute the statutory changes that were outlined by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) of 2019. However, the IRS’s efforts to streamline the required minimum distribution (RMD) requirements for Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 403(b) plans with Section 401(a) qualified plans,...
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Department of Labor Exemption Impacts Investment Advice Fiduciaries
By Jennifer Hill, Todd Solomon and Brian Tiemann on Jul 21, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance concerning a new exemption under the prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with the provision of investment advice. PTE 2020-02, Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees (the Exemption), became effective on February 16, 2021. On April...
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