35 pages; rev. Mar. 2023. "What's New: [1] Qualified 2021 and later disaster distributions ... [2] Dollar limit.... [3] Determining the qualified disaster distribution period ... [4] Determining the qualified distribution repayment period ... [5] Determining the disaster's FEMA number and other information ... [6] New line 1a ... [7] New Worksheet 1B." [Also available: Form 8915-F, Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments. Rev. Jan. 2023]  MORE >>

"Plan fiduciaries may still qualify for the relief from liability even if they seek recovery of the overpayment.... If a plan fiduciary does not seek recovery of the overpayment, the recipient is permitted to continue to treat the overpayment as eligible for a tax-free rollover (if it otherwise qualifies as an eligible rollover distribution). Alternatively, if the plan fiduciary decides to recover the overpayment, the portion of the overpayment shall be permitted to be returned to the plan and treated as an eligible rollover distribution transferred to the plan."  MORE >>

"[P]lans that currently offer catch-up contributions but do not offer Roth must either add a Roth contribution option or eliminate the plan’s catch-up contribution option for all employees. Plan Sponsors should consider creating a process early on to identify participants as the compensation standards may differ from those regularly used by the plan, requiring more work on the back end to identify these individuals."  MORE >>

"[M]ost employers with five or more California-based employees are required to register their employees for the CalSavers program unless they offer a qualified plan.... This article provides an overview of the CalSavers program and a summary of the defined contribution qualified plans that employers may offer in lieu of participation in CalSavers."  MORE >>

"[T]he court concluded that under its newly articulated pleading standard, the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that recordkeeper consolidation and soliciting an equally capable but lower-cost recordkeeper were plausibly alleged available options, especially given the plaintiffs' comparison to other university plans.... The court concluded that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that waivers of investment minimums were possible and that Northwestern University could have negotiated for institutional class shares." [Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 18-2569 (7th Cir. Mar. 23, 2023)]  MORE >>

28 pages. "[T]his handbook provides a basic description of each product or solution, a synopsis of common features found in each, and a visual representation of how each one functions. It is intended as an introduction to annuities and other solutions that provide investors with opportunities to accumulate wealth, fully or partially protect investable assets from market risk and market volatility, and efficiently distribute wealth to create supplemental income throughout retirement."  MORE >>

"According to [one] annual survey ... there has been a sharp rise in the presence of legal counsel at DC committee meetings, with internal lawyers attending meetings at 49% of the companies in 2022, up from 11% in 2017, and external counsel attending meetings at 36% in 2022, up from 21% in 2017.... [T]he top areas of fiduciary focus were plan governance and process, investment structure evaluation and plan investment management fees."  MORE >>

"n this article, the author examines the duty of impartiality, observing that although it is infrequently discussed in the case law, it is an important element of the common law of trusts of which practitioners should be aware."  MORE >>

"Retirement income solutions need to be customized to address the myriad of possible retirement scenarios, and to accomplish that ... they need to include three core pillars -- personalized, holistic, and advised."  MORE >>

"64% of the decrease in the funded status of Social Security since 1983 is attributable to changes in the valuation date each year, 30% of the decrease is attributable to economic data and assumptions and 13% is attributable to disability data and assumptions. The remaining sources (including demographic data and assumptions) have contributed very little to the decrease in the system's funded status since 1983. This latter fact is important because it seems to contradict the frequently heard assertion that Social Security's funded status has deteriorated largely due to demographic experience since 1983."  MORE >>

"Tontines are ... well‐​regarded noninsured financial arrangements that can be used to generate lifetime income from pots of money. They have proved successful in the United States and elsewhere. Unfortunately, they are likely not permissible for use by private‐​sector DC retirement plans. Congress would do well to consider retirement policy broadly to allow and facilitate the use of tontines, and possibly other non‐​insured arrangements, for converting private‐​sector DC plan accounts into lifetime income."  MORE >>

"[The] 'Rothification' of catch-up contributions was a revenue raiser to help balance other provisions within the budget bill containing SECURE 2.0.... [O]lder highly-paid executives who desire to save more for retirement would have to do so with after-tax contributions ... [An] NQDC plan can allow some or all of those executives to defer salary on a tax-deferred basis instead of through catch-up contributions ... Additionally, the NQDC plan does not have to limit deferrals to the catch-up amount ($7,500 in 2023)"  MORE >>