"The issue highlighted in Bugielski -- the obligation of sponsor fiduciaries to review the reasonableness of indirect third-party fees received by service providers -- is identical to a requirement in the recently proposed DOL investment advice fiduciary regulation that explicitly conditions the availability of PTE 2020-02 on the fiduciary adviser's compensation -- direct or indirect -- being reasonable." [Bugielski v. AT&T Servs., Inc., No. 21-56196 (9th Cir. Nov. 8, 23)]  MORE >>

"[T]he court explained, 'we hold as a matter of first impression that to state a claim for a prohibited transaction ... it is not enough to allege that a fiduciary caused the plan to compensate a service provider for its services; rather, the complaint must plausibly allege that the services were unnecessary or involved unreasonable compensation, thus supporting an inference of disloyalty.' " [Cunningham v. Cornell Univ., No. 21-0088 (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2023)]  MORE >>

"The lawsuits allege the companies and their fiduciaries violated ERISA's duty of prudence, which in these cases refers to plans' responsibilities to reduce administrative expenses where possible. The lawsuits also contend that the plans' practices violate ERISA standards for prohibited transactions.... Some retirement industry members expressed surprise at the lawsuits given the history of plans being able to choose how to spend forfeited nonvested accounts."  MORE >>

"The RTX Lifetime Income Strategy essentially functions like a managed account that has an insurance component, providing each participant a set income amount that will last throughout their retirement regardless of market or economic conditions -- similar to monthly payments one would receive through a traditional pension plan but with more flexibility."  MORE >>

"[The authors] propose a target-date version of the recently developed Registered Index-Linked Annuities ... [T]hese 'TD-RILAs' provide a more cost-effective and more transparent way to attain a diversified equity exposure, the level of which decreases over time."  MORE >>

"Average retirement account balances decreased slightly from the previous quarter, but 401(k) balances are up double digits over the long term and from one year ago.... Total 401(k) and 403(b) savings rates remain steady.... The total number of IRA accounts rose to 14.6 million, an 11% leap over this time last year (Q3 2022).... Average long-term balances for 5, 10 and 15 year continuous savers dropped this quarter, but increased from a year ago."  MORE >>

"During October, the estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process increased from 101.1% of a plan's accounting liabilities (accumulated benefit obligation, or ABO) to 101.9% of those liabilities.... During the same period, the average annuity purchase cost across all insurers in our index rose 90 basis points, from 103.5% to 104.4%."  MORE >>

"As of Oct. 1, the SSA had an uncollected balance of $23 billion in overpayments ... Its latest 'Agency Financial Report' also revealed that the SSA made approximately $11.1 billion in new overpayments to beneficiaries during federal fiscal year 2022, the most recent year of data available. That figure represents more than a 65% increase from overpayments made the previous year."  MORE >>

12 pages. "This checklist addresses plan amendments, notices and other considerations for qualified retirement plans, welfare plans, and stock-based and performance-based plans. A chart showing benefit and contribution limits for 2024 is included."  MORE >>