"[S]tarting with the 2023 Form 5500 series, new compliance boxes require any qualified DC or DB plan that relies upon an IRS opinion letter issued to an IRS pre-approved plan to insert both the serial number and date of the latest such letter.... [T]his clearly will call to IRS's attention any plans that are relying on an out-of-date opinion letter[.]"  MORE >>

"Even though the proposed program is voluntary, this might change.... [A] voluntary filing may promote head count reduction and [PBGC] savings in the long term.... Gathering and submitting the database information is expected to take significant internal resources and costs ... Data privacy laws and contractual provisions may come into play related to the sharing of participant data ... Cybersecurity and fraud concerns also need to be considered."  MORE >>

"When assessing the cybersecurity of a retirement plan service provider that is a financial institution, plan fiduciaries may want to be aware of these requirements as part of their assessment process. For example, the changes to the SEC requirements for incident reporting may be useful to retirement plan sponsors as they consider their own incident response plans, should a data breach experienced by a 401(k) plan involve the data of their current and former employees."  MORE >>

"In the preamble to the fiduciary regulation, the DOL discusses 'hire me' as follows: 'An investment advice provider can recommend that a retirement investor enter into an advisory relationship with the provider without acting as a fiduciary.' ... However, the DOL goes on to admonish that there is a limit. 'Hire me' only covers touting one's services; it does not cover any recommendations of others or of products that may come up in hire me conversations[.]"  MORE >>

"The court noted that 'the arbitration agreement that the Trustees seek to enforce is not some separate instrument governed by an entirely different body of state contract law, but rather is an integral part of the documents governing the Plan and is governed by ERISA.' ... The Second Circuit also observed that ERISA has an expansive preemption clause and thus it 'preempts state law as to the enforcement of arbitration agreements between core ERISA entities contained within plan documents or terms.' " [The Trustees of the N.Y. St. Nurses Ass'n Pension Plan v. White Oak Global Advisors, LLC, No. 22-1783 (2d Cir. May 21, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[1] Auto-everything ... [2] Reconsider the appropriateness of a default lifetime income option ... [3] Add an Emergency Savings Option ... [4] Periodic value audit ... [5] Get more value from plan service providers ... [6] Avoid conflict-of-interest fees ... [7] Focus on data."  MORE >>

"A death audit policy should be written clearly and specific to the needs of the multiemployer plan.... [I]nclude a process for collecting data on not only those currently in 'pay status' who are receiving benefits but also their beneficiaries as well as active participants, terminated vested participants and anyone who could have a future benefit, ... A number of services are available for purchase to assist with participant verification.... An ongoing audit of plan records will ensure that the right participants and beneficiaries continue to receive the benefits they are due while helping the plan avoid overpayments."  MORE >>

"Age 50: Begin making catch-up contributions ... Age 59½: No more tax penalties on early withdrawals from employer-provided retirement savings plans ... Age 62: Earliest age to collect Social Security retirement benefits ... Age 65: Sign up for Medicare and Medicare Part D. Age 66-67: Start receiving Social Security full benefits, depending on your birth year. Age 67-70: Earn Social Security Delayed Retirement Credits which increase monthly benefits ... Age 73: Start taking minimum withdrawals from most retirement accounts[.]"  MORE >>

"Almost one-third of retirees in the United States are considering taking on temporary work to help cover costs ... [O]ne-fifth of those polled (20%) have already returned to work, and 42% of working seniors who have never retired said they're considering picking up additional temporary work on top of their regular jobs.... 71.6% said it was due to the increased cost of living, and 20% said it was due to insufficient savings."  MORE >>

"The [DOL] relied partly on a Morningstar forecast that reducing conflicts of interest could help retirement savers avoid about $32.5 billion in non-variable indexed annuity costs over 10 years ...  But Morningstar has no way to gauge whether that predicted impact is big or small relative to the size of the non-variable indexed annuity market. Morningstar, in effect, provided a numerator for a fraction without being able to provide even a ballpark estimate for what the denominator might look like."  MORE >>

"[I]ndividuals and businesses in Texas that were affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding that began on April 26, 2024 ... now have until Nov.1, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households that reside or have a business in: Calhoun, Collin, Cooke, Denton, Eastland, Guadalupe, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Liberty, Montague, Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, Walker and Waller counties qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>

"[1] Don't ignore it.... [2] Do ask for help.... [3] Don't overshare.... [4] Do reflect and correct."  MORE >>

"The use of environmental measures in incentives has increased to 61% globally ... [In] the U.S., 52% of large-cap companies now use environmental incentive measures, up significantly from 34% in 2022 and 8% in 2021."  MORE >>