Rev. Mar. 2024. "What's New: [1] Increased dollar limitation on premiums.... [2] Repeal of 25% premium limit.... [3] Divorce guidelines.... [4] Short free look period permitted."  MORE >>

"The statute provides that if the multiple employer plan was established before the enactment date, then the participating employer is not required to include an EACA, even if the employer joins the multiple employer plan after December 31, 2024. In many situations, the date of a plan's establishment may be hard to ascertain. What is the establishment date for merged plans, or for plans that result from a spinoff of assets? Does 'established' refer to the adoption date or to the effective date of the CODA feature?.... RS issued some clarification on these conundrums in the form of Q&As in Notice 2024-02"  MORE >>

"While it's too soon to tell what will come of cases like Spence and Wong, a preliminary takeaway is that ESG-related considerations need to be evaluated and analyzed to understand how they impact overall financial performance and in what timeframe. Even if this happens, because the plaintiffs' averments that ESG-related investment decisions underperform other investments are accepted as true at the motion to dismiss phase of litigation, it is likely that more cases like this will come." [Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., No. 23-0552 (N.D. Tex. February 21, 2024) ]  MORE >>

"anyone thinking that they can let sleeping dogs lie, and not fix excess IRA contributions or missed RMDs from years prior to 2022, may want to reconsider. This Tax Court case is a warning that the new SECURE 2.0 SOL may not be enough to make those problems go away." [Couturier v. Commissioner, No. 19714-16 (T.C. Feb. 28, 2024)]  MORE >>

29 pages. "This paper uses data from 8,271 401(k) plans to explore where asset class coverage gaps exist in core menus and quantifies the portfolio implications associated with the gaps. Equity funds clearly dominate core menus today ... which can make it difficult to build efficient conservative (i.e., retirement) portfolios and may lead to excess risk-taking among participants (i.e., if the participant follows a naïve allocation strategy or chases returns)"  MORE >>

"Defined contribution investment-only asset managers have played a vital role in the retirement plan ecosystem as it has evolved.... But these fund managers have also faced myriad business challenges in recent years. Continued fee pressure and an uptick in shopping for the right funds has plan sponsors increasingly embracing collective investment trusts and passive strategies -- pushing out the once DCIO-dominant actively managed mutual fund."  MORE >>

"Within the last couple of years some employers have offered their workforce the opportunity to make defined contribution investments in various cryptocurrencies.... There is still a great misunderstanding by many in the government as well as many fiduciaries and money managers as to what makes Bitcoin unique and stand-alone compared to all other cryptocurrencies.... [This paper] discusses the history of digital cash and Bitcoin, the rules of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining which are important to understanding why Bitcoin is distinctly different, and ... some of the key differences of Bitcoin compared to all other cryptocurrencies."  MORE >>

"Most Americans between the ages of 50 and 75 flunked a retirement income literacy quiz that tested their knowledge across a dozen areas, including inflation, investments, long-term care costs, and Social Security ... The average retirement income literacy grade on the exam was 31% -- out of a possible score of 100%.... Americans with more than $1.5 million in savings scored twice as high as those with less than $100,000 (50% vs. 25%).... Americans in their 70s were slightly more knowledgeable than the younger set."  MORE >>

"Now that target-date funds have become the 401(k) option, they no longer need to justify their approaches. Everybody accepts their thesis that employees should invest heavily in stocks when they first begin working, then scale back over the years. The question is not why target-date funds use downward-sloping glide paths; it is why their potential rivals do otherwise."  MORE >>

"Lawmakers in Alaska continue to evaluate a proposal to bring the state’s teachers, police, firefighters, and other public workers back into a defined benefit (DB) pension structure. Before this significant, and potentially very costly decision is made, policymakers should examine the differences in value to employees between the current defined contribution (DC) structure and the proposed defined benefit pension."  MORE >>

"The reality is that American Airlines sponsors two jumbo defined contribution plans that contain no ESG investment funds. The amended complaint instead alleges that the funds managed by BlackRock in the plan are 'covert' ESG investments, because BlackRock's ESG mandate is so pervasive that every fund it offers is infected with an ESG drag on performance.... There is nothing 'plausible' about the far-fetched theory that the fiduciaries of American's 401k plans retained BlackRock because all of its investments pursue 'leftist political agendas.' It is pure speculation -- exactly what the Supreme Court has said does not meet the plausibility standard for filing ERISA fiduciary breach claims." [Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., No. 23-0552 (N.D. Tex. February 21, 2024) ]  MORE >>

"Section 4958 prohibits the payment of excessive compensation to certain individuals responsible for leading tax-exempt organizations. Executives who receive these payments ... could be subject to a penalty tax of 25% on the value of the excess benefit, plus additional penalty taxes if the excess benefit is not repaid to the organization.... To whose compensation does Section 4958 apply? ... How may a tax-exempt entity create a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness? ... Once a rebuttable presumption is created, then what?"  MORE >>

"Much of the personal use of corporate aircraft is attributable to travel associated with working remotely and challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the IRS has historically audited corporate aircraft issues ... this is a singularly focused audit initiative."  MORE >>