The Link Ascensus

By Mike Rahn, CISP Our independent business clients are increasingly asking whether we offer “solo(k)” plans. We do have 401(k) resources available, but it’s unclear to us whether this is a different kind of retirement plan, or how it might work. We’d like to be better equipped to inform and help our clients. What should we know about these plans to be better able to do that? A so-called “solo(k)” is like every other 401(k) in virtually all respects.

For the payer’s and recipient’s information, the IRS has now separated the address block into individual entry boxes. This standardizes formatting across IRS forms and supports improved electronic processing. Your IRA operations teams and retirement plan reporting teams may be most familiar with Box 7 of Form 1099-R, where payer’s post distribution codes. This box has been separated into four sub-boxes. Box 7a, Dist.

By Jodie Norquist, CIP, CHSP You may know the IRA rollover rules so well you can recite them in your sleep. But if you handle HSAs as well, don’t get tripped up on an important distinction between HSA and IRA rollovers. At first glance, the rules seem similar. Both involve moving money from one account to another where the account owner takes receipt of the assets but must timely redeposit the funds into the same or another account so it doesn’t create a taxable event.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Procedure 2026-24, providing inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) for calendar year 2027. Maximum annual HSA contributions will rise from $4,400 to $4,500 for those with self-only insurance coverage, and from $8,750 to $9,000 for those with family coverage.

By Mike Rahn, CISP Our organization sends out IRA beneficiary designation reminders every few years. Some IRA owners respond and inform us that they have divorced, which leads us to ask whether divorce itself can impact IRA beneficiary elections? It depends. A number of states—about half—have laws that automatically revoke an existing IRA spouse beneficiary designation upon divorce.

Financial organizations balance accuracy, speed, and service when handling asset movement requests. Now our Ascensus’ IRAdirect clients have access to an updated tool designed to support those goals by making the submission process for IRA, ESA, HSA, and inherited account transactions more structured and easier to manage.

By Ascensus The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued two coordinated proposed regulations that begin to define how Trump accounts will operate. One proposal addresses how Trump accounts are established for children under Internal Revenue Code Section (IRC Sec.) 530A, while a companion proposal explains how a limited group of accounts may receive a one-time $1,000 federal pilot contribution authorized under IRC Sec. 6434.

By Jodie Norquist, CIP, CHSP My client, Mark, just turned 73 and wants to know why he’s suddenly required to take money out of his IRA. How do you explain required minimum distributions (RMDs)? Mark has likely been saving in his Traditional IRA for decades, enjoying the tax deduction and tax-deferred growth. Now the IRS wants its turn. RMDs are simply the government’s way of saying you’ve deferred taxes long enough, and it’s time to recognize these assets as income.

By Mike Rahn, CISP For many businesses, employee perks like retirement benefits may be desirable, but are secondary to maintaining everyday operations and ensuring profitability. This is especially true for small employers. Lawmakers in Congress have gradually but steadily established and enhanced beneficial tax credits to help and incentivize small employers provide retirement plan benefits for their employees.

By Jodie Norquist, CIP, CHSP For many consumers, a health savings account (HSA) is simply a convenient way to pay for prescriptions, office visits, or the occasional unexpected medical expense. But increasingly, financial organizations are seeing a different picture emerge: clients using HSAs not just as spending accounts, but as long-term wealth-building tools. Some of them have built sizable accounts rivaling IRAs or 401(k) plans.