"What's the difference between a traditional 401(k) retirement plan and a PEP? ... Why would an employer join a PEP? ... Who can join a PEP? ... What are the benefits of a PEP? ... Who is the plan sponsor for a PEP? ... How is a PEP different from a multiple employer plan (MEP)?"  MORE >>

"Of the 90-plus provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act, just a fraction apply to defined benefit (DB) plans, and only eight of those focus solely on DB issues. Nonetheless, employers need to understand the implications of this relatively small batch of provisions, which have widely differing degrees of applicability."  MORE >>

"Although these changes are effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2024, plan sponsors must start tracking the service of long-term part-time workers much sooner than that to support compliance with the new rules. In addition, sponsors of 401(k) plans should keep in mind that the requirements of SECURE 1.0 are already in effect for service recognition purposes."  MORE >>

"SECURE 2.0 increased the maximum tax credit allowed for setting up a new retirement plan.... Eligible employers may be able to claim a tax credit of up to $5,000, for three years, for the costs of starting a SEP, SIMPLE IRA or qualified plan (like a 401(k) plan.)"  MORE >>

"Retirement plan sponsors affiliated with a religious entity won in court after a federal district judge ruled that the Saint Peter's Healthcare System of New Jersey qualifies for the church-plan exemption under [ERISA] ... The original complaint in 2013 argued that Saint Peter's retirement plans were not church plans under the technical church-plan rules because of organizational and other similar matters." [Kaplan v. Saint Peter's Healthcare System, No. 13-2941 (D.N.J. Feb. 17, 2023)]  MORE >>

"The district court concluded that: ... [1] The challenged policies were interpretive rules, and therefore were not subject to the APA's notice-and-comment requirements. [2] The policy regarding rollover investment advice (FAQ [7] was arbitrary and capricious. [3] The policy regarding documentation related to rollover investment advice (FAQ 15) was not arbitrary and capricious." [American Securities Association v. DOL, No. 22-0330 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 13, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Use of a seriatim (or dynamic) process ... that automatically adjusts for actual experience is probably more important to successful financial planning in retirement than the actual models used in each year's valuation.... Because the process is self-correcting over time, it is not as critical for assumptions about the future to be as accurate as in a typical Monte Carlo model where a 90% or more probability of success is desired."  MORE >>

174 pages. "This document contains final forms and instructions revisions for the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2023. The forms and instructions revisions relate to statutory amendments to [ERISA] and the Internal Revenue Code enacted as part of the [SECURE Act] for multiple-employer plans and groups of plans, as well as changes intended to improve reporting of certain plan financial information regarding audits and plan expenses and enhance the reporting of certain tax qualification and other compliance information by retirement plans. There are also some minor changes that further improve defined benefit plan reporting by building on changes made to the forms for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2022."  MORE >>

"This document contains amendments to [DOL] regulations relating to annual reporting requirements under Title I of [ERISA}. The amendments contained in this document conform the DOL reporting regulations to revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan being published ... in a separate Notice of Final Forms Revisions ... Conforming changes also are being made to the requirements for the summary annual report."  MORE >>