"The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 gives fiduciaries and plan sponsors a new road map for addressing inadvertent overpayments, including the flexibility to choose not to recoup. However, the act imposes a slate of new protections for ERISA plan participants and beneficiaries when plan officials seek recovery. These new rules took effect immediately, though the IRS and [DOL] haven't yet issued any implementation guidance."  MORE >>

"Section 106 of the SECURE 2.0 Act allows 403(b) Plans, other than church plans, to form or participate in a Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) or Pooled Employer Plan (PEP).... Section 602 of the SECURE 2.0 Act changes Hardship Rules for 403(b) Plans.... Section 128 of the SECURE 2.0 Act allows 403(b) Plans to invest in Common Investment Trusts (CIT).... The legislation however did not change the securities laws that prevent CITs from holding 403(b) plan assets."  MORE >>

"Pension funds that have invested in direct non-registered initial offerings should understand that when initial offering shares are not issued pursuant to a registration statement, investors lack the same legal protections for shares that were purchased pursuant or traceable to a registration statement. Consequently, [a] recent Supreme Court decision ... poses a challenge in pleading and proving claims under Section 11 of the Securities Act for shares acquired through non-registered direct listings." [Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani, No. 22-200 (S. Ct. Jun. 1, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Instead of directly requesting a change in filing method from the PBGC, sponsors can find a different route to lower premiums by changing the basis on which their minimum funding target liability under the Pension Protection Act (PPA) is calculated."  MORE >>

"Over the years, PRT deals have transferred $425 billion in assets and liabilities from corporate defined benefit plans to life/annuity companies, including about $250 billion since 2012 and an estimated $52 billion in 2022. Athene, MetLife and Prudential together accounted for about two-thirds of the 2022 PRT deal volume.... Athene has become a lightning rod because it has been the leader in disrupting, reinventing, and (depending on your point of view) either plundering or rescuing a weakened U.S. life/annuity business during the long low-interest-rate period after 2008."  MORE >>

"[This article discusses] de-risking/settlement in the broader context of DB finance, considering why 2023 might be a good year for settlement (either via a lump sum window or annuitization/pension risk transfer), the relative utility of settlement vs. an ongoing LDI strategy, and the relative utility (in 2023) of a lump sum window vs. annuitization/risk transfer."  MORE >>

"In 2023:Q1, 3.3 percent of DC plan participants took withdrawals, compared with 1.8 percent in 2022:Q1 ... 1.8 percent in 2020:Q1 (as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States), 1.4 percent in 2019:Q1, and 2.7 percent in 2009:Q1 (another time of financial market stress) ... Most DC plan participants stayed the course with their asset allocations as stock values generally rose during the first three months of the year. "  MORE >>

"[T]he gap in retirement account balances between middle- and high-income older households more than doubled from 2007 to 2019.... One of the reasons ... is the upside-down nature of the U.S. tax code. As the [GAO] report notes, the tax code provided $195 billion in tax breaks to subsidize retirement in 2022. According to a 2021 [CBO] study, the top 20 percent of households by income benefit from over 60 percent of these tax breaks compared to under 5 percent of the bottom 40 percent."  MORE >>

"While we support the Academy’s efforts to educate the public about Social Security and changes that may be required to bring the system back into actuarial balance (and we believe that the new version of this tool is an improvement over the older version), we strongly disagree with its decision to remove the caveat language from the updated version of the change menu tool.... [This post] will briefly discuss the profession’s prior communications on Social Security and their recent guidance on fixed-rate pension plans and how that guidance can be interpreted to apply to Social Security."  MORE >>

For plan years beginning in 2023 and later:

• Form for Summary Annual Report relating to Pension Plans [DOCX]
• Form for Summary Annual Report relating to Welfare Plans [DOCX]

For plan years beginning in 2022 and earlier:

• Form for Summary Annual Report Relating to Pension Plans [DOCX]
• Form for Summary Annual Report Relating to Welfare Plans [DOCX]

MORE >>

"Most employees expect their employers to provide medical insurance, while paid family leave, dental, vision and life insurance are also highly valued benefits.... [B]enefits that promote wellbeing, including offerings focused on mental, physical and financial health, have become even more important to younger employees. Younger generations were much more likely to express interest in mental health treatment and physical wellness benefits, tuition and student loan assistance, and caregiving benefits."  MORE >>

"[IRS Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum 202327014] concluded that the portion of the [restricted stock unit (RSU)] income from services performed in the foreign country were considered wages for [Federal Income Tax Withholding (FITW)] purposes, but not for [Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA)] purposes. Accordingly, the employer had a FITW withholding obligation for all the RSU income, but a FICA withholding obligation only for the wages attributable to the services performed in the U.S."  MORE >>