[Guidance Overview]

DOL Issues FAQs on the Interim Final Rule on Lifetime Income Illustrations Under the SECURE Act

"[P]lans that must issue quarterly statements under ERISA Section 105(a)(1)(A)(i) can incorporate their first lifetime illustration on any quarterly statement up to the second calendar quarter of 2022, which ends June 30, 2022.... For [non-participant-directed] plans, the lifetime income illustrations must be on the statement for the first plan year ending on or after September 19, 2021."  MORE >>

Thomson Reuters Practical Law

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[Guidance Overview]

DOL Provides Cybersecurity Guidance

"While it is understandable that plan sponsors, prompted by advisers and attorneys, would want their service providers to provide more and better information, the absence of a basic understanding of cybersecurity could result in requests that could inadvertently create greater risks. Service providers recognize the right of plan sponsors to confirm that their participants' data are protected, but have legitimate concerns that some of the information requested, if it becomes more widely available, could help cybercriminals breach systems, thus undermining that very security."  MORE >>

Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Guidance for Multiemployer DB Plans Receiving Special Financial Assistance from PBGC

"The guidance covers the rules under Code Sec. 432(k) for plan sponsors that are required to reinstate certain previously suspended benefits as a condition of receiving special financial assistance from the PBGC under section 9704 of [ARPA]. The IRS also provides guidance on whether make-up payments with respect to previously suspended benefits are eligible to be rolled over to another eligible retirement plan under Code Sec. 402(c), and the extent to which any special financial assistance received by the plan is not taken into account in determining contributions required under Code Sec. 431."  MORE >>

Wolters Kluwer; free registration required

Ninth Circuit Ruling Reminds ERISA Plans of the Importance of Administrative Accuracy

"[The Ninth Circuit] vacated the district court's holding that state-law professional and negligent misrepresentation claims were preempted.... The plaintiffs, utilizing [a benefits portal provided by the plan recordkeeper, had] requested statements showing their monthly pension benefit based on participant-entered assumptions. The statements created using these assumptions grossly overestimated the benefits to which they were entitled." [Bafford v. Northrop Grumman Corp., No. 20-55222 (9th Cir. Apr. 15, 2021)]  MORE >>

Faegre Drinker

Escalating Litigation of Actuarial Equivalence in Taft-Hartley Plans: No End in Sight

"To date, eleven class action lawsuits have been filed asserting ERISA violations for the failure to pay actuarially equivalent pension benefits. To date, all lawsuits in this area have involved corporate pension plans. The vast majority survived motions to dismiss in jurisdictions around the country[.]"  MORE >>

Cohen Milstein

DOL Official Sheds Light on Rollover Recommendations

"Key Takeaways [from a discussion with Tim Hauser of EBSA:] [1] Suggesting investments that could occur after a rollover is tantamount to recommending a rollover, and if it meets the rest of the five-part test will constitute fiduciary advice, regardless of how it's phrased. It doesn't require the 'magic words.' [2] Rejection of the Deseret letter was the [DOL's] attempt to 'level the playing field' between advisors outside the plan and plan advisors with regard to rollovers. [3] 'Regular' basis at present isn't a function of frequency, but rather a reasonable expectation of an ongoing relationship. [4] A revisit of the fiduciary rule is on the agenda, but it would follow a notice and comment period."  MORE >>

American Retirement Association [ARA]

2021 RIA Benchmarking Study (PDF)

48 presentation slides. "Given the environment, firms experienced remarkable growth in 2020: AUM up 14.5%, revenue up 7.5%, and number of clients up 4.7% for all firms, at the median.... Firms adapted quickly to new business practices in 2020 ... This year's focus section centered around new client growth and tactics firms used to propel client acquisition during the pandemic."  MORE >>

Charles Schwab

2021 Recordkeeping Survey

"Fifty-eight percent of sponsors surveyed ... said their organization has been using its DC plan recordkeeper for more than seven years, and another 12.3% said it has been more than five years but less than seven. So the timing may be right for these sponsors to take a fresh look at the dynamic recordkeeping marketplace and how it has changed since they last did a request for proposals (RFP)."  MORE >>

PLANSPONSOR; free registration may be required

Summary of the Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions for First Quarter of 2021

"For the 100 largest public-employee pension systems in the country, assets (cash and investments) totaled $4,635.0 billion in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by 2.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2020 level of $4,539.7 billion."  MORE >>

U.S. Census Bureau

Former Senator Mike Enzi Leaves Legacy of Retirement Plan Reform

"News of the passing of former U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, at age 77 calls to mind his contributions to retirement plan policy.... In March 2006, Enzi was tapped as chair of the Congressional Pension Reform Conference Committee, tasked with hashing out the differences between the Senate's Pension Security and Transparency Act and the Pension Protection Act of 2005 from the House. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 was ultimately signed into law on August 17, 2006, and it was considered the most sweeping pension reform legislation since the passage of [ERISA] in 1974."  MORE >>

PLANSPONSOR; free registration may be required

[Guidance Overview]

Form 5500 and New Audit Standard SAS 136

"The AICPA postponed the mandatory effective date of the new audit standard, SAS 136, until next year, but the DOL had already updated Form 5500 to incorporate the new reporting rules. So now what?"  MORE >>

Belfint Lyons Shuman

President Biden Nominates Lisa Gomez for DOL Assistant Secretary for EBSA

"Lisa M. Gomez is a partner with the law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP and the Chair of the Firm's Management Committee. Since 1994, she has developed her deep technical and practical experience in the multifaceted field of employee benefits law, representing various Taft-Hartley and multiemployer pension and welfare plans, single employer plans, jointly administered training program trust funds, a federal employees health benefit (FEHB) plan, supplemental health plans, and VEBAs."  MORE >>

Executive Office of the President

NQDC Plans Aim to Mitigate Risk of Key Employee Early Retirement

"Thanks to soaring stock market and real estate values, older workers who can afford to do so are calling it quits.... [T]he number of people who plan to work past the age of 67 fell to a record low of 32.9% in March 2021. While early retirement can be a boon for more affluent employees, this trend can be potentially crippling for companies that rely on senior executive talent to run their businesses."  MORE >>

Hall Benefits Law

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NAGDCA Announces Winners of 2021 Leadership Awards

National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators [NAGDCA]

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Participant Loan Issues

September 8, 2021 WEBCAST

ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries]

Introduction to 401(k) Plans for Plan Sponsors

September 16, 2021 WEBCAST

Nova 401(k) Associates

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IRS Makes Helpful Changes to EPCRS and Modifies Anonymous Submission Process

Groom Law Group

JCT Report: Present Law and Background Relating to Retirement Plans

Joint Committee on Taxation [JCT], U.S. Congress

What’s the Secret to Employee Benefits for Nonprofits?

Corporate Synergies