"IRS Announcement 2023-6 gives employers using preapproved defined benefit (DB) plans until March 31, 2025, to adopt a newly approved document reflecting changes in qualification requirements included on the 2020 Cumulative List. This date marks the end of the third remedial amendment cycle for preapproved DB plans (extended from Jan. 31, 2025)."  MORE >>

"Prior to SECURE 2.0, IRS guidance allowed employers to make contributions to a section 401(k) plan on account of student loan payments, but participating employees had to opt out of the regular match and the contributions had to be treated as 'non-elective' contributions. This meant that the student loan benefit could not be offered under a safe harbor plan and employees receiving the student loan contribution had to be counted as zeroes for nondiscrimination testing of the regular 401(k) match.... SECURE 2.0 solves that problem by allowing qualified student loan payments to be treated like elective deferrals for purposes of a plan's matching contribution provisions."  MORE >>

"The key issue for the court was 'whether, under the text of ERISA and the 1975 Regulation, the future provision of advice pertaining to an IRA would fall within the definition of 'render[ing] investment advice' to an employee benefit plan.' The court found it did not." [American Securities Association v. DOL, No. 22-0330 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 13, 2023)]  MORE >>

"The [DOL] has weighed in on an excessive fee case on behalf of the participant-plaintiffs -- asserting that the district court made a bad call on the burden of proof. The case under appeal involves Home Depot, and ... allegations that the fiduciaries of the $9 billion plan had breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA[.]" [Pizarro v. Home Depot, Inc., No. 22-13643 (11th cir. amicus brief filed Feb. 10, 2023]]  MORE >>

"It's the time of year for another email from Scott Albert, a spammy-sounding name that's actually a dedicated public servant at the [DOL]. Albert, [who is] Chief of the DOL's Division of Reporting Compliance, takes it upon himself to send 20,000-plus personal emails to Form 5500 contacts for certain 'stop-filer' plans to warn of common and potentially cumbersome mistakes. The emails target plans where a Form 5500 or 5500-SF was submitted in 2021 but not 2022."  MORE >>

"An employee must be making qualified student loan payments due to higher education expenses. The employer must offer a qualifying retirement account and a student loan matching contribution program. Student loan matching contributions can be made to a 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE IRA or 457(b) plan."  MORE >>

"152 million Americans, or two-thirds of the U.S. population, will see their retirement funds -- estimated to be valued at $10 trillion -- jeopardized by ESG considerations. The primary goal of retirement plans, much like general investment strategies, is to maximize return on investments -- not stray away from this intended goal. Adding stressors like ESG will threaten existing accounts with depreciating funds and create more unnecessary financial risk."  MORE >>

"U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh is resigning his cabinet post to become the next executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, according to the NHL and Department of Labor. The announcements confirmed reports of his departure that surfaced last week."  MORE >>

"[T]he expiration date of older Double-Vest RSU awards is approaching at the same time that many companies may be confronted with less access to capital markets, coupled with pent-up desire for liquidity by employees. This alert ... describes the mechanics and applicable tax considerations underlying Double-Vest RSUs."  MORE >>