10 pages, rev. Jun. 2022. "What's New: The form and instructions have been updated to be completed on Pay.gov as of June 1, 2022.... Rev. Proc. 2022-4 contains the guidance under which the Determination Letter (DL) program is administered. The Rev. Proc. is updated annually[.]" [See also IRS Form 8717: User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request, rev. Jun. 2022]  MORE >>

"If plan sponsors take advantage of self-correcting plan errors during the 90-day review period, they will likely reduce their IRS fees and administrative costs well below what they would have been sanctioned under Audit CAP."  MORE >>

"The current correction method for these types of deferral failures requires that the employer make a corrective contribution equal to 50% of the missed deferrals. Note however, that any missed employer contributions have to be made as though 100% of the elected amounts were deferred."  MORE >>

"EARNS is intended to be a public-private partnership that will encourage -- but not replace or compete with -- employer-sponsored retirement plans.... Covered employers would be required to ... [o]ffer, or assist EARNS in offering, all covered employees the choice to either participate in EARNS by voluntarily contributing to an IRA through the program or opt out of it."  MORE >>

"[Rev. Proc. 2022-28] announced another 'no rule' position -- this time to apparently discourage the use of pension plan surplus in transactions that may otherwise be permitted under Code section 4980(d)(2).... Once an issue is added to the 'no rule' list, it can stay there for many years. In the meantime, surplus plan assets continue to accumulate tax-free, exacerbating the issues associated with surplus plan assets, and plan sponsors are left with few alternatives[.]"  MORE >>

"A well-designed profit-sharing plan is often coupled with a 401(k). This gives employees two tax-favored plans and potentially helps them build up even more retirement funds for their future. And a profit-sharing plan can be a stand-alone retirement benefit, nicely filling the gap if you don't offer a 401(k) plan today."  MORE >>

"Real estate asset managers will often pool capital for purposes of investing in real estate. One substantial source of such capital is investment by employee benefits plans subject to [ERISA]. Yet, if a manager intends to invest ERISA plan assets, it should understand whether and how ERISA's fiduciary duty and prohibited transaction provisions apply to the management of the capital pool and the underlying real estate assets. A way to avoid applying ERISA is to establish a real estate operating company."  MORE >>

22 pages. "This report covers how the Social Security program is financed and how the Social Security trust funds work. The report also covers the projected financial operations of the trust funds using data from the 2022 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees. The 2022 annual report reflects the trustees' understanding of the OASDI program at the start of 2022 and presents projected program and financial information for a 75-year period (2022-2096)." [RL33028, updated Jun. 29, 2022]  MORE >>

"In following the Supreme Court and its sister circuits which have recognized that courts in equity could traditionally order an 'equitable surcharge' to be paid by a breaching fiduciary to remedy a loss to a beneficiary, the court held that a beneficiary of an ERISA plan can bring a lawsuit under Section 1132(a)(3) against a fiduciary to recover benefits that were lost due to the fiduciary's breach of its duties." [Gimeno v. NCHMD, Inc., No. 21-11833 (11th Cir. Jun. 28, 2022)]  MORE >>

"The 2022 Advisory Council intends to examine the role that cybersecurity insurance plays in addressing cybersecurity risks for employee benefit plans. The Council intends to build on prior Council reports focused on privacy and security issues (2011) and cybersecurity for retirement plans (2016).... [T]he Council intends to look at the insurance topic as it relates to all types of benefit plans-- not only defined contribution and defined benefit pension plans but also group health and other welfare benefit plans."  MORE >>

"Section 412 of [ERISA] requires every person who handles funds or other property of a plan to be bonded ... Such persons include plan fiduciaries but may also include any director, officer or employee of the fiduciary.... Based on [an] analysis of 2020 plan year 5500s, nearly 10% of plans were inadequately covered by their fidelity bonds.... [T]here are several risks associated with not meeting the requirements,"  MORE >>