"Imagine an employer believes it can't or won't, even with a nondiscretionary service provider's help, administer an individual-account (defined-contribution) retirement plan. The employer prefers to engage a discretionary 3(16) service provider for as many responsibilities as it will take. Are there some kinds of plans for which, considering size or some other fact or circumstance, a 3(16) provider won't offer its services?"

"Ian Ayres and Quinn Curtis, in Retirement Guardrails: How Proactive Fiduciaries Can Improve Plan Outcomes (2023), suggest several ideas to improve participant-directed investment. They suggest that a plan sponsor need not be limited to a binary choice of including an investment alternative, or leaving it out of the plan's menu. If a goal is preventing some participants' unwise use of an investment while not depriving participants of the availability of that investment, the professors suggest limiting a participant's allocations to such an investment. I've seen percentage restraints applied to an employer-stock fund, but haven't seen this for other funds. Does any recordkeeper offer a service of limiting, according to the plan sponsor's specifications, the percentage of a participant's account that may be invested in a fund?"

"Has anyone started receiving audit requests? I have had two of my clients audited in last 2 months."

"We have an HSA where we make employer contributions at OE only. Accordingly, mid-year hires do not get employer contributions during their first year. I know employers have the ability to set their own contribution intervals (e.g. annually, monthly, etc.), so I think this is alright. But are there any issues with nondiscrimination or comparability rules?"

"From my quick search in House-passed H.R. 1 (the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'): I found no amendment to titles I, III, or IV of [ERISA]. I found nothing that would amend the Internal Revenue Code's conditions for a tax-qualified or eligible retirement plan. Section 110016 would revise Internal Revenue Code Section 25B's credit to include contributions to a Section 529A ABLE account in qualified retirement savings contributions. Beyond ERISA and the tax Code, amendments of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Congressional Review Act, and other law would call for yet more elements of information to be included in rulemakings and reports to Congress. These could lengthen the work it takes to make a rule or regulation. Section 112211: 'The Secretary of the Treasury may not regulate, prohibit, or restrict the use of a contingent fee in connection with tax returns, claims for refund, or documents in connection with tax returns or claims for refund prepared on behalf of a taxpayer.' I'm not counting changes to retirement plans for US government employees. Did I miss anything retirement-plans practitioners care about?"