"We have now had a couple of months to review and digest SECURE 2.0 (and its roughly 90 provisions impacting retirement plans). If plan sponsors haven't done so already, it is time to roll up their sleeves and put a triage list together on these law changes. [Here] are some suggestions on where to start."  MORE >>

"SECURE 2.0 created a new prohibited transaction exemption covering the receipt of fees and compensation by an automatic portability service provider in connection with automatic portability transactions. Conditions of the exemption include the provision of certain disclosures and notifications and certain other requirements."  MORE >>

"The SECURE Act 2.0 provides significant tax credits for startup plan costs -- for both administration and contribution costs. The credits are fully available for employers with 50 or fewer employees and partially available up to 100 employees. This provision is effective now, that is, it is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022 (in 2023 for calendar year taxpayers)."  MORE >>

"Any 'eligible inadvertent failure' that was not egregious and does not involve the diversion or misuse of plan assets or an abusive tax avoidance transaction can now be self-corrected. Since the 'eligible inadvertent failure' definition is very broad and is not limited to particular types of failures like operational errors or plan document errors, many errors that were previously ineligible for self-correction may no longer have to go through the Voluntary Correction Program (VCP)."  MORE >>

"The plan fiduciaries in all three cases had asserted that the complaints must be dismissed because they fail to meet the high plausibility pleading standard articulated by recent appellate court decisions in Smith v. CommonSpirit (Sixth Circuit), Albert v. Oshkosh (Seventh Circuit), and Matousek v. MidAmerican (Eighth Circuit), but the Massachusetts District Court found curious ways to distinguish these cases in allowing all three excess fee complaints to proceed." [Brown v. The Mitre Corp., No. 22-10976 (D. Mass. Mar. 6, 2023); Norton v. Mass General Brigham Inc., No. 22-10045 (D. Mass. Mar. 15, 2023); Monteiro v. The Children's Hospital Corp., No. 22-10069 (D. Mass. Mar. 15, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Post-Pandemic and amid continued volatility, Americans' preparedness has declined to yellow, with Millennials seeing the greatest decline. The study also reveals over half (52%) of those surveyed are not on target and face modest to significant adjustments to their planned retirement lifestyle if they don't take action to make up the shortfall, up from 46%."  MORE >>

"An aging workforce, Generation Z, the growing demand for personalized investment advice, and financial wellness are top of mind for [plan sponsors and financial professionals] ... [P]ersonalized investment portfolios and managed account services will be common offerings within defined contribution plans by 2030.... [T]here will be a shift from improving the enrollment process for employees to improving the retirement process, which can include services such as advice, retirement planning, and creating retirement income."  MORE >>

"Despite last year's upheaval, many investors are sticking with long-term plans and tightening their budgets instead of moving money out of stocks and bonds."  MORE >>

"Take the time to periodically review and readjust your 403(b) and think ahead about future decisions and challenges.... [T]ime-sensitive 403(b) touchpoints can be referred to as the ten Rs: Record-keeping, Returns, Rebalancing, Rollovers, Reweighting, Retirement, Required beginning date (RBD), Required minimum distributions (RMDs), Risk tolerance, and Relationships."  MORE >>

"The 2020 regulation departed from the historic requirement that plans must not compromise investment returns for purposes unrelated to providing plan benefits. Instead, it required plans to forgo financial-maximizing investments in order to comply with political hostility to ESG.... The Biden veto keeps in effect the 2022 regulation, which does not favor or disfavor ESG factors. Rather, it reinforces the traditional legal principle governing plan investments -- plans cannot prioritize anything other than retirement income and financial benefits under the plan."  MORE >>

"This article discusses the ERISA and ACA requirements for non-English language assistance, including the threshold that the non-English-speaking employee population must reach in order to trigger those requirements. It concludes with the case for offering language assistance as a best practice even when the employer doesn't have enough non-English-speaking employees to make the assistance mandatory."  MORE >>

"Balancing the needs of remote, hybrid and onsite workers has left many employers feeling overwhelmed. Many companies continue to grapple with making the workplace attractive and keeping employees connected when so many are working remotely. [B]enefits and wellbeing have proved invaluable in supporting employee needs regardless of work style."  MORE >>

"The new proposed listing standards have remained analogous to the standards released by the [SEC]... Companies should take time now to review these proposed rules, which may remain at or near their current versions, and their existing clawback policies since compliance will be required within 60 days following final approval of the new Nasdaq and NYSE rules."  MORE >>

"Distributions from NQDC plans, as well as salary income, are now reported as part of income on Line 1a of Form 1040.... The IRS has still not finalized the Section 409A rules on W-2 reporting. Therefore, your company does not need to indicate deferred income from an NQDC plan on your Form W-2, though it may do so voluntarily in Box 14.... If your plan violates Section 409A and you need to pay a penalty and interest, you report that on Schedule 2 of your IRS Form 1040 tax return"  MORE >>

"[T]he difficulty with 409A is its overly broad definition of what constitutes a nonqualified deferred compensation plan.... The article provides a summary of the more common 409A issues that arise when drafting and negotiating executive compensation contracts and employment agreements."  MORE >>