"[U]ntil after the Department issues a final regulation or other applicable administrative guidance, the Department, as an enforcement policy, will not take enforcement action against plan administrators that comply in good faith with a reasonable interpretation of the provisions set forth in the NPRM. Likewise, the Department will not take enforcement action against plan administrators that comply in good faith with a reasonable interpretation of section 105(a)(2)(E) of ERISA pending the adoption of a final rule (for example, plan administrators may furnish the pension benefit statement described in section 105(a)(2)(E) of ERISA in accordance with the current regulation under 29 CFR Section 2520.104b-1(c))."MORE >>
PBGC has launched a new webpage designed specifically to support the practitioner community. It is intended to streamline the user’s experience and make it easier to find information. PBGC’s statute and regulations require the submission of various notices, forms, applications and payments. This new page brings those requirements together in one place by providing an overview, clear guidance, and direct links to relevant information. Practitioners can now easily access details on what must be filed, when it must be filed, and how to submit required materials. MORE >>
"There are many steps involved in running a plan with the best service providers, good investment options and reasonable fees, all of which require active involvement of plan sponsor fiduciaries and sound oversight. However, the overriding principles are few in number. Most common mistakes ... occur when fiduciaries depart from those basic principles.... [1] Not clearly allocating plan responsibilities.... [2] Not hiring the right professionals ... [3] Not doing regular reviews of services and investments ... [4] Not following new developments ... [5] Not developing written policies and procedures ... [6] Not doing self-audits." MORE >>
"The most important present-tense consequence therefore isn't hypothetical automation sometime down the road. It's that fiduciaries are already dealing with AI-assisted operations, whether or not they label them that way.... That immediately broadens the due-diligence agenda for single-employer plans.... Cybersecurity is the second immediate effect, and it may become the most expensive one.... Multiple-employer arrangements, especially pooled employer plans, or PEPs, are likely to experience AI differently because the cited legal guidance is focused on centralized provider structures." MORE >>
"Employers and plan administrators who sponsor a retirement plan, a group health plan, or any employee plan subject to ERISA, are plan fiduciaries and have very specific fiduciary obligations. But fiduciary duties under ERISA are much more than their enumerated requirements. Plan fiduciaries need to understand this and embrace the mindset that is necessary for ultimate compliance." MORE >>
"Qualified retirement plans and IRAs generally are tax-exempt trusts. However, if the trust generates unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) of $1,000 or more in a year, the trust must file IRS Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return, and pay any tax due.... Common sources of UBTI within a plan include: [1] Private equity, hedge funds, or limited partnership or company investments, [2] Leveraged real estate (debt-financed income), and/or [3] Certain alternative or 'non-traditional' investments." MORE >>
"[At] one level, this is another excessive fee and fiduciary breach case involving a large defined contribution plan. But the complaint also reflects the continued expansion of ERISA litigation theories beyond simply whether fees were 'too high' -- and the 93-page filing further points to: how expenses were allocated, whether forfeitures were used appropriately, indirect compensation structures, disclosure practices, vendor oversight, competitive bidding processes, and fiduciary governance itself.... [T]he requested remedies include disgorgement, surcharge, accounting, restoration of losses, fiduciary removal, injunctive relief, statutory penalties, attorneys' fees, and other equitable relief." [Fuller v. Ford Motor Co., No. 26-11541 (E.D. Mich. complaint filed May 8, 2026)] MORE >>
"Communication planning should begin alongside the de-risking project plan.... Early alignment across legal, human resources (HR), recordkeepers, and consulting partners helps ensure participants receive consistent information from the first notice forward.... Active employees, terminated vested participants, retirees, beneficiaries, and alternate payees face different options and decisions. Tailored messages help groups focus on what applies to them." MORE >>
"The [PBGC] is notifying the public that its civil monetary penalty amounts will not increase for the 2026 calendar year.... In accordance with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), PBGC will continue to use the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels because there will be no cost-of-living adjustment for 2026." MORE >>
"This report aims to provide the 401(k) industry (and those who are serviced by that industry) with a meaningful and objective set of performance-based benchmarks. It examines the overall performance of 401(k) plans for 27 industry verticals across 8 different performance metrics. The results are then organized by size of firm to allow for easy and meaningful comparisons." MORE >>
"Baby Boomers and Gen Z employees particularly expressed strong preference for human advice. Among those who prefer professional guidance, nine in 10 believe an advisor can offer personalized help and support them in making more confident financial decisions.... 90% say human advisors can help them avoid mistakes that they may overlook on their own. Another 89% trust a professional's expertise and experience more than automated tools." MORE >>
"File Form 5498-TA, Trump Account Contribution Information, with the IRS and furnish it to the account beneficiary for each Trump account you maintained during the calendar year shown on the form for any calendar year during the growth period of the account beneficiary. For any calendar year after the growth period of the account beneficiary, file Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information, with the IRS and furnish it to the account beneficiary." MORE >>
"For plans using the 2002 “wired-at-work or consent” safe harbor, the proposed regulations would require plan administrators to provide a one-time paper notice — provided before any electronic qualified retirement plan benefit statement — to participants, beneficiaries, or alternate payees who first become eligible on or after January 1, 2026, informing them of their right to opt out of electronic delivery and receive all disclosures required under Title I of ERISA (i.e., SPDs, SMMs, SARs, benefit statements, etc.) on paper, free of charge." MORE >>
"[B]usinesses in parts of Southeast Georgia that were affected by wildfires and straight-line winds that began on April 18, 2026 ... now have until Aug. 20, 2026, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households that reside or have a business in Clinch, Echols, and Brantley counties qualify for tax relief." MORE >>
"The [DOL] asked the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to allot a portion of defendants' oral argument time in two separate forfeiture cases to the department so that it can express its view on the disputes. Defendants in both Luciano Barragan v. Honeywell International Inc. and Jim Cain v. Siemens Corp. granted the DOL five of their allotted 15 minutes of oral argument time in forfeiture complaints against the companies' retirement plans. The DOL secured the same agreement for time in a separate forfeiture complaint, Hutchins v. HP Inc., scheduled to be heard by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals May 20." MORE >>
"64% of attendees responded that participants' behavior was the greatest source of cybersecurity risk for their company, with lower values for internal processes and vendor relationships. However, only 21% of attendees said that cybersecurity responsibilities are clearly defined at their firm and only 10% said that they had a documented cyber response policy that is tested annually (45% said they were unsure if they even had one)." MORE >>
21 pages. "Account aggregation is more than a convenient feature to help providers and employers grow assets under management; it's ... critical to guaranteed lifetime income. Without the ability to see the whole puzzle, income modeling solves for only a portion of assets or potential assets, leaving withdrawal sequences inefficient and yielding suboptimal solutions for the growing number of participants who should and will leverage lifetime income solutions to support their retirement years. " MORE >>
"S-corporation payments to shareholder-employees are generally split between W-2 compensation and pass-through distributions. While distributions can be tax-efficient from an employment-tax perspective, shareholder-employees must still be paid reasonable compensation for services performed, and distributions generally do not count as 'compensation' for qualified plan contribution purposes. As a result, an owner who minimizes W-2 wages may also be unintentionally limiting retirement savings opportunities." MORE >>
"6 in 10 [small and medium-sized business (SMB)] employers report paying fees they didn’t anticipate when they signed up for a plan - including charges for audits, ERISA counsel, and compliance filings. 73% reported that these fees drove up the overall cost of their benefits program. As a consequence of extra costs, employers terminated their plan (13%), lowered matching contributions (26%), or cut benefits to compensate (31%). 64% said participants withdrew from the plan because they found transaction fees unaffordable, unexpected, or confusing." MORE >>
"Professional service providers -- e.g., accountants, bankers, advisors -- are trusted partners who can help convince small firms to offer retirement plans. However, many may unintentionally reinforce misperceptions about plan costs and administrative burdens, making adoption seem out of reach. Analysis of new survey results shows that the providers with the most success: [1] are familiar with simple low-cost plan options; [2] describe plans as a tool to boost recruitment and retention; and [3] provide hands-on guidance to help firms set up a plan." MORE >>
"[I]ndividuals and businesses affected by Super Typhoon Sinlaku in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that began on April 11, 2026 ... now have until Nov. 2, 2026, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households affected by Super Typhoon Sinlaku that reside or have a business in the Northern Islands, Rota, Saipan and Tinian qualify for tax relief." MORE >>
"PRC made numerous recommendations to strengthen the proposed rule to provide greater consumer protections [including] ... Complete and release a study, also mandated by SECURE 2.0, that would study the 'effectiveness' of current electronic delivery regimes and report on the 'rate at which participants and beneficiaries are receiving, accessing, understanding and retaining disclosures.' Once the study is completed and sent to Congress, rethink the safe harbors and to consider combining them into a single set of rules that ensure that the greatest number of participants receive, review and retain their disclosures" MORE >>
"The gray areas are real. Who’s liable if an AI tool produces inaccurate information? How transparent should vendors be about their use of AI? What happens when a hallucination—AI-speak for a confident but wrong answer—slips into investment research or fee comparisons?" MORE >>
"The retirement plan industry has spent years building efficient electronic delivery systems. Electronic disclosures are faster, easier to track, and far less expensive than traditional mail.... Paper statements mean additional costs, additional coordination with service providers, and another compliance obligation that must be monitored." MORE >>
"Plaintiff's lawyers are using AI tools to help identify plans covered by [ERISA] to [find] outliers and anomalies and target employers with lawsuits over their handling of investment choices and forfeiture funds ... [D]efense attorneys are turning to AI for assistance with benchmarking and comparing fees and performance across plans." MORE >>
