"Moving forward, the Division intends to incorporate compliance with Regulation Best Interest into retail-focused examinations of broker-dealers, particularly those that include sales practices within the scope of the examination. The Division is issuing this risk alert to highlight deficiencies noted during examinations conducted, as well as examples of weak practices that could result in deficiencies."  MORE >>

14 pages. "SECURE 2.0 did not change the existing requirement for defined benefit pension plans ... to actuarially increase a non-5% owner employee's benefit when that employee continues working after April 1 following the end of the calendar year in which the employee turned 70½.... 403(b) plan administrators will need to understand the [long-term, part-time employee] requirements that will apply to their plans and take the necessary steps to address them.... [Changes to the catch-up contributions rule] may pose some logistical challenges for payroll ... as it may be difficult to determine whether an employee earned more than the threshold in the prior year in time to properly limit the employee's catch-up contributions starting with the first pay period of the next year."  MORE >>

"Assuming lawmakers and/or regulators are able to find a way to get catch-up contributions back on track ... [b]eginning in 2024, any participant with compensation exceeding $145,000 in the immediately preceding year will be required to have any catch-up contributions ... designated as Roth contributions.... When setting the $145,000 limit, [the Act] points to the part of the Tax Code that essentially addresses W-2 employees. Sole props and partners ... pay for purposes of this is $0.... [A]ny amounts that are recharacterized [as a result of a failed ADP test] would have to also be converted to Roth for any of the HCEs who had prior year compensation in excess of $145,000.... [T]hose HCEs could find themselves stuck with an unexpected tax bill without actually receiving the cash refund to cover it."  MORE >>

"When did an employer first need to adopt a 403(b) plan? ... What is the deadline for amendments to a 403(b) plan before the next remedial amendment period? ... What happens if an employer intended to adopt an IRS pre-approved 403(b) plan document, but did not sign the amendment for an IRS pre-approved plan by the June 30 deadline?"  MORE >>

"[A] record 2.8% of the five million people in 401(k) plans run by [Vanguard] tapped their retirement savings in 2022 for financial hardship reasons. It's an increase from 2.1% in 2021 and a pre-pandemic average of about 2%."  MORE >>

"ERISA is designed to apply only to private organizations. While government entities and some churches may not be required to comply with its standards, following ERISA best practices can be prudent.... Since state laws vary, fiduciary responsibilities can range from nonexistent to comprehensive, or fall somewhere in between."  MORE >>

"During the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022, the funded status of the model pension plan ... rose by 2 percentage points, to 106 percent ... This increase in funded status is primarily attributable to a 7 percent increase in assets, partially offset by a 4 percent increase in liabilities."  MORE >>

"[E]mployers should inventory their various benefit plans and compensation arrangements to determine where they have restrictive covenants so that they can act quickly in the event the proposed rule is finalized. The impact of this rule on benefit plans and compensation arrangements could be wide-reaching[.]"  MORE >>