"[PBGC] has received a request from the Motion Picture Laboratory Technicians and Film Editors Local 780 Pension Fund for approval of a plan amendment providing for special withdrawal liability rules.... [A] multiemployer pension plan may, with PBGC approval, be amended to provide for special withdrawal liability rules similar to those that apply to the construction and entertainment industries.... Before granting an approval, PBGC's regulations require PBGC to give interested persons an opportunity to comment on the request. The purpose of this notice is to advise interested persons of the request and to solicit their views on it."  MORE >>

"Effective for distributions made after December 31, 2022, Section 107 of SECURE 2.0 increases the RMD age to 73 for retirees who [1] attain age 72 after December 31, 2022, and [2] attain age 73 before January 1, 2033. It then increases the RMD age to 75 for retirees who attain age 74 after December 31, 2032.... Congress directed the [IRS] to update its regulations to eliminate what can amount to a penalty on plan participants with accounts that include annuity contracts.... For RMD errors, Section 302 of SECURE 2.0 reduces the excise tax applicable when there's a failure to take the full amount of an RMD timely."  MORE >>

7 pages. "[A]ll 401(k) plans will be impacted by the Act in some way. Although many of the changes in SECURE 2.0 are not effective until 2024 or 2025, some changes will affect plans in 2023.... [P]lan sponsors should begin examining operational compliance considerations  ... Plan sponsors will have until the last day of the plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2025 (i.e., December 31, 2025 for a calendar year plan) to adopt SECURE 2.0 plan amendments."  MORE >>

"The provisions included in this legislation will take effect in varying years. This staggered approach gives plan sponsors and service providers more time to understand and implement these changes to their plans and recordkeeping systems.... [T]he IRS and the DOL must provide guidance on how to administer most of these provisions.... Employers may want to delay the implementation of any optional provisions until guidance is provided."  MORE >>

"The requirements for remote witnessing by a plan representative are more extensive.... [T]he signature of the spouse must be witnessed by a plan representative using live audio-video technology, and the existing five special rules regarding the use of an electronic medium in the current IRS regulations continue to apply. In addition, because plan representatives are not subject to the rules governing state notaries, ... five further requirements apply."  MORE >>

"The companies are defendants in 11 virtually identical ERISA lawsuits against sponsors -- including Microsoft and Citigroup -- accusing them of keeping the BlackRock LifePath Index Fund, whose performance lagged four other target-date series over certain time periods."  MORE >>

"In its 401(k) operations, the money manager mainly provides investments to plans of large and medium-size companies. The investment in Human Interest will help BlackRock gain insight into the growing market for small-company 401(k) plans[.]"  MORE >>

"The Code prohibits an investment adviser fiduciary to an IRA from using its authority as a fiduciary to receive additional compensation. This means that an adviser with the authority to make asset allocation decisions in an IRA cannot charge a different fee for different investment categories (e.g., equities vs. fixed income) unless a prohibited transaction exemption is available. Alternatively, there are other compensation structures that can be considered."  MORE >>

"SECURE is ... needlessly complex and fixes very few problems affecting most Americans. [This] blog post on this new retirement savings legislation focuses on key points that are applicable to educators but not game changing[.]"  MORE >>

Tables illustrate [1] Which DOL penalty level applies, keyed to when the underlying violation occurred and when the resulting penalty was assessed; [2] DOL's 2023 annual inflation adjustments to the civil money penalties for violations of certain requirements under ERISA, effective January 15, 2023; and [3] Adjusted penalties for violations of select WHD requirements.  MORE >>

"[V]iewing retirement health care costs as an annual expense, instead of as a lump sum, makes it easier for retirees to plan for and pay for them. Health insurance premiums are usually fixed and can be budgeted for and funded from monthly income. On the other hand, out-of-pocket expenses can vary from month to month and could be paid from savings or a fund earmarked for those purposes. Retirement health care costs can vary widely, depending on the type of insurance a retiree chooses, and no type of coverage is 'typical.' ... [It] is useful to provide these estimates based on the type of insurance coverage."  MORE >>