Rev. Feb. 8, 2024. "What's New: [1] Increased small employer pension startup costs credit.... [2] Employer contribution credit.... [3] Military spouse participation credit. "  MORE >>

45 pages. "This document covers only the 2D barcode on ERISA Form 8955-SSA. The 2D barcode is intended to represent the information on the paper form. Barcodes for this form are generated from two sources: [1] The IRS Form 8955-SSA Fillable PDF produces a barcode after printing the form in Adobe. [2] The approved software vendors for Form 8955-SSA produce a barcode when printing their forms from the ir software packages." [Version 2.16, Jan. 2, 2024]  MORE >>

"Compared to the alternatives, the DOL calculator provides a definite, quick solution that is not administratively onerous.... [T]he answer is often 'maybe.' ... The DOL calculator can always be used to determine lost earnings when correcting plan errors through VFCP.... Corrections for operational errors that are governed by the IRS call for more analysis."  MORE >>

"Automatic portability uses -- via an automatic portability provider -- a 'money follows the participant' model. A collateral benefit of an automatic portability system is that, to some extent, it might solve problems with missing/unresponsive participants."  MORE >>

"SECURE 2.0 ... added a prohibited transaction exemption under which an intermediary ... may receive a fee without violating prohibited transaction rules.... One topic of specific interest to the DOL is whether it should expand the exemption to include not only participant funds but also beneficiary funds. The statutory prohibited transaction exemption does not include beneficiaries' accounts even though the same concerns apply."  MORE >>

"[SECURE 2.0 requires] that any 401(k) plan or 403(b) plan established on or after December 31, 2024, must provide automatic enrollment.... [Notice 2024-02] discusses when a Plan is established in order to be a Grandfathered Plan. It also discusses how the new requirements affect mergers and acquisitions, multiple employer Plans, spun off Plans and the new deferral only Plans created by the Act.... [It] is the adoption date and not the effective date that governs."  MORE >>

"The court concluded that an actuary may set actuarial assumptions for a given measurement date after the measurement date based on information that was available 'as of' the measurement date.... 'When adopting actuarial assumptions, an actuary may base their assumption on information after the measurement date so long as those assumptions are "as of" the measurement date -- that is, the assumptions must be based on the body of knowledge available up to the measurement date.' " [Trustees of IAM National Pension Fund v. M & K Emp. Sols., LLC, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 9, 2024)  MORE >>

"That the court readily dismissed the investment performance claims ... may be indicative of a larger trend in which courts appear to be more skeptical of claims that are based on after-the-fact comparisons of a fund's performance relative to that of other funds that may have utilized different investment strategies. With respect to the recordkeeping claims, however, it is difficult to discern why the court more intensely scrutinized the allegedly comparable plans in some cases than in others."  MORE >>

"The tables summarize information on PBGC's Single-Employer and Multiemployer Insurance Programs and the defined benefit pension system, which includes time-series data on PBGC's finances and operations. The data on PBGC-insured defined benefit plans includes information on the number of plan participants, plan funded status, hybrid plans, frozen plans, and risk transfer activity. Additional information was added this year regarding Special Financial Assistance payments." [Also available: Excel format]  MORE >>

90 pages, "[This report] presents a detailed analysis of key operating data from the government defined contribution industry ... [T]he data ... represented 226 plans, 123 plan sponsors, $165 billion in plan assets and 2,907,992 individual plan participants.... Using the Detailed Results Tables in this report, members can compare their own agencies' characteristics versus their peers[.]"  MORE >>

"This post starts by discussing the process of 'ripping off the band-aid' of a high-cost vendor and getting out of a bad 403(b). It then describes the importance of continued saving through retirement age, finding money to save, dollar-cost averaging savings deposits, tax incentives to make up for lost time, and creating a retirement catch-up action plan ... It also summarizes research about 'the arithmetic of investment expenses' as well as three 'need to know' facts and six take-away action steps."  MORE >>

"64% of near-retirees and retirees believe they are on track for retirement 40% of advisors agree ... 1 in 20 retirees continue to work part time -- most by choice ... 37% retired sooner than expected, and only 6% retired later than expected ... 1/2 of investors focused on a retirement income target (as opposed to a savings target) were advised by a paid retirement planner ... 3/4 of near-retirees and retirees moved money to stable or fixed income investments last year."  MORE >>

"$844.7 million recovered in investigations.... EBSA investigations led to the indictment of 60 people for crimes related to employee benefit plans.... Compliance assistance programs yielded tremendous results.... $444.1 million restored to workers through informal complaint resolution.... Over 2,150 education and outreach events held in FY 2023."  MORE >>

"[E]xecutives are increasingly provided travel on the company aircraft for both business and personal purposes.... [A]ny non-business travel invokes Form W-2 income inclusion using the Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) rates published by the Department of Transportation twice per year, effective for a six-month period. The rates for the first half of 2024 have just been published."  MORE >>