"[T]he fact that an IRA offered more investment options than a participant's plan was not, in and of itself, a reason that would justify a rollover recommendation. But, if the investment professional determined that some of the investments offered by the IRA, but that were not available in the plan, would improve the outcomes for the participant, then the additional investment options could be part of the justification of a rollover recommendation."  MORE >>

"[P]lan fiduciaries should assess whether any appropriate 'guardrails' can be established to allay the concerns of the DOL. This may involve squaring all governing plan instruments like the plan document and investment policy statement, ensuring that participant disclosures are thorough, setting investment limits if possible, and confirming their fiduciary liability insurance covers crypto investment claims."  MORE >>

"Employees won't be able to start adding cryptocurrencies to their nest eggs right away, but later this year, the 23,000 companies that use Fidelity to administer their retirement plans will have the option to put bitcoin on the menu.... [It] remains to be seen whether employers will embrace it for their workers. Fidelity's move comes a month after the [DOL] expressed concerns about including cryptocurrencies in retirement plans."  MORE >>

"In most situations, [ECPRS] allows the plan sponsor to self correct ... In more egregious situations, or if the operational failure occurred over many plan years and affected a large number of participants, the correction may need to be submitted to the IRS for formal approval. The key is to follow the IRS' correction methods ... [D]oubling up on deferrals is not permitted unless the employee elects to do so prospectively."  MORE >>

"Abandoned accounts are not just a potential issue for employees -- they can lead to penalties and administrative challenges for employers, too.... Existing rules can help employers resolve smaller accounts that are abandoned.... Currently, there is no specific guidance for account balances larger than $5,000.... [S]ome employers are adopting auto-portability benefits."  MORE >>

"The simple fact is: We need a retirement system where no one has to worry about outliving their money, and where plans are easy to access from the beginning of your career; and easy to stick with, even as you change jobs and employers. To boil it down, we need to make retirement simple, easy and secure. And we're committed to making this happen by elevating the public conversation, collaborating across sectors and galvanizing everyone invested in this issue."  MORE >>

"The need to make workplace retirement plans portable and more accessible emerged as one of the top themes in a spirited roundtable discussion the [DOL] hosted [on April 25] with legislators, labor leaders, investment fund managers, educators and other industry stakeholders."  MORE >>

"State and local policymakers face a growing pension cost burden, but often lack understanding of the root causes. One underappreciated cause is 'legacy debt' -- unfunded liabilities accumulated long ago, before plans adopted modern funding practices.... In a sample of plans with particularly low funded ratios, legacy debt averaged more than 40 percent of unfunded liabilities. A failure to recognize the legacy debt has provided misleading information about benefit generosity, hindering progress toward effective solutions."  MORE >>

"In addition to several teaching and volunteer positions, Carl served on the Government Affairs Committee for the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA)."  MORE >>

"The pleading standard continues to be diluted, as courts are subjecting quality plan fiduciaries to unwarranted liability risk and litigation expense. Legitimate and illegitimate cases are being allowed to proceed to discovery without any way to distinguish low-cost quality plans from higher-cost plans.... In the Trader Joe's and Salesforce cases, fiduciaries have significant potential liability if they use revenue sharing to pay recordkeeping fees, as the appellate court stripped any ability to defend the practice at the pleadings stage -- even though Trader Joe's had demonstrated on the record that all revenue sharing not used for plan expenses was returned to participants." [Davis v. Salesforce.com, Inc., No. 21-15867 (9th Cir. Apr. 8, 2022; unpub.); Kong v. Trader Joe's Co., No. 20-56415 (9th Cir. Apr. 15, 2022; unpub.)]  MORE >>