53 pages. "This final rule updates the interest, mortality, and expense assumptions used to determine the present value of benefits for a single-employer pension plan under subpart B of the [PBGC]'s regulation on Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans, to determine components of mass withdrawal liability for a multiemployer pension plan, and for other purposes."  MORE >>

"This article provides an overview of the spousal consent requirements under the Internal Revenue Code, the proposed rules for remote consent, and best practices for spousal consent requirements under qualified retirement plans."  MORE >>

"Is this a qualified distribution (age 59 ½ AND 5 years in the Roth plan), or is it non-qualified? How long was the Roth IRA held? (The Roth IRA clock will take precedence.) A qualified distribution means all plan dollars come over as basis. With a NON-qualified distribution, the rollover dollars 'maintain their character' when dumping into the Roth IRA contributions and earnings buckets."  MORE >>

"There is one way to help avoid such litigation in the future, one lawyer says: Get rid of vesting schedules.... 'We are very surprised that the California federal court found the Qualcomm forfeiture case plausible.' ... said Daniel Aronowitz, president of Encore Fiduciary ... Qualcomm followed the language in its plan document, so it does not appear to have violated what the DOL and IRS have long allowed, he noted." [Perez-Cruet v. Qualcomm Inc., No. 23-1890 (S.D. Calif. May 24, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[Mark Iwry, of the Brookings Institution] attributed the DB decline to the dominance of financial industry interests, whereas [Lloyd Katz,of the AAA's pension committee] put it on the lower risk and simplicity of DC plans.... Andy Banducci, senior vice president of retirement and compensation policy with the ERISA Industry Committee, attributed part of the decline of DB plans to high [PBGC] insurance premiums"  MORE >>

"The report, Igniting Growth Through Innovation ... spans more than a million program members across different ages and career stages, the largest employers across industries, and the leading retirement plan recordkeepers.... A key takeaway from the report is that managed accounts are driving value for program members that extends far beyond providing help with asset allocation decisions. "  MORE >>

"If, as appears to be the case, the push for annuities in 401(k) plans has come mainly from insurers and asset managers -- more than from plan sponsors or plan participants -- then it's not surprising to see the push for education about annuities and retirement income coming from the same source.... Some surveys have shown that participants want retirement income tools, at least in principle. But most participants aren't asking plan sponsors for annuities."  MORE >>

"[Attendance at] workshops on holistic financial wellness topics, such as debt management, budgeting, and spending ... is 320% higher than sessions on plan-specific content.... Expanding your education offering to cover these topics more often could curb early 401(k) withdrawals."  MORE >>

"[1] Discourage DIY investing ... [2] Develop personalized benchmarks for each employee ... [3] Go beyond auto-enrollment ... [4] Build fund replacement criteria into Investment Policy Statements ... [5] Listen to employees."  MORE >>

"[1] Promote engagement with incentives.... [2] Show leadership support.... [3] Take advantage of decision moments.... [4] Raise benefit awareness through integrated communication strategies.... [5] Make the benefit unique to each audience."  MORE >>

23 pages. "Regardless of income, American workers were more likely to report feeling high or overwhelming levels of financial stress than in prior years ... After working with a Financial Coach in 2023, there was a 53% increase in those who were in the planning/optimizing stages. This means that these employees are able to be focused on their long-term financial goals, instead of needing to work on their short-term financial needs."  MORE >>

"The aggregate funded ratio for U.S. corporate pension plans increased by an estimated 0.4 percentage points in May, ending the month at 100.6% ... The aggregate funded ratio is estimated to have increased by 4.8, but declined by 0.6 percentage points year-to-date and over the trailing twelve months, respectively."  MORE >>

"The fundamental lesson from the case is that an attack on an expert's methodology typically must include a showing that the expert's analysis ignores relevant factors, relies on assumptions for which there is no evidence or otherwise lacks logical rigor." [Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin., Inc., No. 22-0532 (E.D.Va. May 29, 2024)]  MORE >>