"This announcement provides that, effective March 14, 2022, and until further notice, the [IRS] will not accept applications for opinion letters on prototype IRAs (traditional, Roth and SIMPLE IRAs), SEPs (including salary reduction SEPs (SARSEPs)), and SIMPLE IRA plans. This announcement also provides that, pending issuance of future guidance [1] adopters of prototype IRAs, SEPs, and SIMPLE IRA plans may rely on a previously received favorable opinion letter, and [2] taxpayers may use existing model forms to maintain current plans and accounts or establish new plans and accounts."  MORE >>

"The Department determines that, for purposes of the provisions of Article 3.8 of Law 106-2017 related to benefits for separation from service, the participant may transfer the balance of his Defined Contribution Account to any other defined contribution plan that is duly qualified under Section 1081.01(a) of the Code. Similarly, a new participant can make a transfer to his Defined Contribution Account from another qualified plan of a previous employer and said transfer will be exempt from taxation under Section 1081.01(b)(3)(D) of the Code. In addition, the trustee will not be required to make the deduction and withholding provided in Section 1081.01(b) of the Code if the distribution qualifies as a transfer contribution under Section 1081.02(d)(4) and the distribution is transferred by the trustee. directly to the trustee of an individual retirement account by instructions of the owner or beneficiary of the same."  MORE >>

"These investigatory warnings also extend to plans and plan fiduciaries responsible for allowing cryptocurrency investments through 401(k) plan brokerage windows. This is concerning and may have broader implications because, as explained in a [recent report] by the ERISA Advisory Council, most experts believe that plan fiduciaries do not have an obligation to monitor the underlying investments in a brokerage window, absent 'extraordinary circumstances.' "  MORE >>

"The court found it is the undisputed industry practice to refer to the plan documents to determine the actuarial assumptions to use. Indeed, plaintiff's own experts conceded this. In this case, defendants' plan was the only relevant place where 'actuarial equivalence' was defined, and the parties agreed that defendants followed the terms of the plan." [Belknap v. Partners Healthcare System, Inc., No. 19-11437 (D. Mass. Mar. 4, 2022)]  MORE >>

"The suit states that ... because Hyatt mandates that credit card tips, which the suit notes 'make up a significant portion of certain employees' compensation,' be paid out to employees at the end of the shift rather than through payroll, 'there are frequently insufficient amounts paid through payroll to cover the entirety of the employees' deferral election for the Plan.' And in those cases, the suit says that the affected employees are only able to make after-tax contributions to the Plan to make up for the shortfall." [Baird v. Hyatt Corp., No. 22-1620 (C.D. Cal. complaint filed Mar. 10, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Extensive research by demographers and economists has shown that longevity differs across socioeconomic status (SES) ... Therefore, a pension system with a unique retirement age is a priori problematic.... This paper explores the relative merits of partial de-annuitization of public pensions as a way of addressing the (imperfectly assessed) inequality of longevity."  MORE >>

"The Pension Risk Transfer Market is very active with strong demands from Plan Sponsors requesting annuities. Annuity Purchase Interest rates and Treasury yields jumped again since last month. The outlook for plan sponsors looks favorable as market activity and interest rates continue to rise. Annuity Purchase Costs dipped roughly 1% for Annuity Plan 1 and roughly 3% for Annuity Plan 2."  MORE >>

"[T]his Issue Brief studies the adoption of ... environmental, social, or governance (ESG)-themed investment options ... among public defined contribution (DC) plan participants.... [U]sing plan-level aggregate values to assess individual participants' ESG investment decisions gives an incomplete picture in assessing participant preferences. While dollar allocations to ESG funds at a plan level may be small ... [the authors] find an overall ESG adoption rate of 31 percent and an average ESG allocation for ESG-investing participants of 14 percent."  MORE >>

"The plan, based in New York City, New York, covers 2,172 participants ... The Local 584 Plan became insolvent in July 2021.... The plan will receive $224.6 million in SFA, including interest to the expected date of payment to the plan."  MORE >>

"The plan, based in New York City, New York, covers 78 participants. The Milk Industry Plan became insolvent in January 2017.... The plan will receive $6.6 million in SFA, including interest to the expected date of payment to the plan."  MORE >>

"The CPI increase of 7.9% in February doesn't include commodity price jumps due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Higher food prices have been a key reason seniors are struggling, The Senior Citizens League says. Indications are prices will continue to rise, despite what the Federal Reserve does."  MORE >>

41 pages. "The District Court [misapplied] the 'effective vindication' exception to the Federal Arbitration Act and [mistakenly concluded] that ERISA creates a nonwaivable statutory 'right' for a participant to pursue 'all' loss to an ERISA plan, including amounts that, if recovered, would be paid to plan accounts other than the participant's own plan account.... [T]he ERISA cause-of-action that is at issue in this case ... guarantees only the right to pursue 'appropriate' relief from among certain remedies authorized by Section 409(a)." [Cedeno v. Argent Trust Company, No. 21-2891 (2d Cir., on appeal from S.D.N.Y. No. 20-9987; brief filed Mar. 11, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Teacher after teacher recounts his or story of the 403(b) sales agent in the staff lounge or at the school function. But what makes this episode -- called 'Somebody Walked into My Room' -- especially compelling is the audio from a YouTube video of two sales agents discussing their sales tactics. It's priceless."  MORE >>

"The IRS does its best to ensure no loopholes exist for bad actors to circumvent tax laws to avoid paying their fair share. However, when it comes to some of the guidance in the recently released SECURE Act regulations, ... [there is] one egregious case of ridiculous government oversight: monitoring concurrent life expectancies. This rule is so complex and misguided that there is little chance it will ever be properly followed."  MORE >>

45 pages. "What's New for 2022 ... [1] Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments ... has been redesigned for 2022.... Although the final redesigned Form W-4P and new Form W-4R are available for use in 2022, the IRS is postponing the requirement to begin using the forms until January 1, 2023.... [2] Retirement savings contribution credit income limits increased. In order to claim this credit for 2022, your MAGI must not be more than $34,000 ($68,000 if married filing jointly; $51,000 if head of household).... [3] The maximum adoption credit or exclusion for employer-provided adoption benefits has increased to $14,890. In order to claim either the credit or exclusion, your MAGI must be less than $263,410."  MORE >>