Updated Nov. 8, 2024. "[1] Employer contributions: What is the basic rule for employers re-employing veterans? ... How long does an employer have to make these makeup contributions? Are there special rules for forfeitures or lost earnings? [2] Employee contributions: ... How long do rehired veterans have to make up elective contributions? ... In a 401(k) plan, who decides whether the returned employee's 401(k) contribution is a makeup contribution or a current deferral? ... [3] Participant loans: Can a plan allow for a suspension of plan loan repayments when the participant is performing military service? What happens to the loan when the veteran is rehired? Is there a cap on the interest rate used during the military service period? [4] W-2 reporting."  MORE >>

"EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2024-01 provides the following forms of relief: [1] General ERISA fiduciary compliance guidance.... [2] Claims for benefits.... [3] [A]dditional time to make claims for benefits and to appeal denied claims.... [4] [E]xtends the deadlines for furnishing required notices or disclosures ... [5] Verification procedures ... for plan loans or distributions ... [6] [T]he DOL will not take enforcement action if there is a temporary delay in forwarding ... payments or contributions to the plan.... [7] [R]elief applies to blackout notices that are required to be provided after the blackout period begins."  MORE >>

"BMO has been added to a recent flurry of plan forfeiture lawsuits as the plaintiffs' bar tests what some experts have described as a relatively common practice of using forfeited fees to pay down plan costs.... The complaint claims that forfeitures were used to reduce company contributions of $1.28 million in 2023 and $1.18 million in 2022." [Shulak vs. BMO Financial Corp., No. 24-9615 (C.D. Calif. complaint filed Nov. 6, 2024)]  MORE >>

"Beyond enhancing retirement benefits and 401(k) matching contributions for employees, plan sponsors are adopting a heightened focus on improving the holistic financial well-being of participants ... [O]nly 12% of employers are looking to increase their DC contributions over the next two years.... [W]hile the median employer contribution remains approximately 7.1% of pay, the median has declined over the past two decades from 11.4% in 2000 to 9.5% in 2010 to 7.4% in 2020. "  MORE >>

"77% of middle-income households (those with between $50,000 and $99,999) are saving for retirement at an average rate of 7.8% of their income before receiving additional contributions from their employers.... [W]hile family and friends were reported to be the most influential in inspiring them to start saving, the survey found employers, financial professionals, and retirement plan service providers to be increasingly more helpful sources of information when they began saving."  MORE >>

"[This] article covers: [1] Statistics on people who are living paycheck to paycheck; [2] Data on low DC plan balances by age bands and income bands; [3] A comparison of expected vs. actual retirement ages; [4] Four aspects of the DB plan advantage."  MORE >>

"With a little lead time, you can use your RMDs to improve your portfolio's risk/reward profile. Rather than giving each of your holdings a haircut to raise the cash for the RMD, or automatically cutting back the most conservative positions, the starting point for approaching RMDs is to check up on your portfolio. Armed with knowledge of its problem spots, you can then concentrate your RMD-related sales in those areas that you want to fix anyway."  MORE >>

"While there is no evidence that plan participants read or understand fee disclosures, and plan sponsors do not need fee disclosures because they have investment advisors with more robust fee analyses, insurance underwriters appear to be the only human beings that actually read fee disclosures.... If you want to know how to improve fee disclosures, fiduciary underwriters are the most qualified stakeholders in America to do the job. [This article provides an] analysis of the GAO 2021 recommendations and [the author's] own recommendations as to how to fix obvious problems with fee disclosures."  MORE >>

"Traditional DB pension plans will likely remain highly unattractive to plan sponsors and many of their employees ... We may see other employers do what IBM is doing, replacing DC contributions with cash balance accruals in existing overfunded DB plans, at least temporarily. However, once the surpluses are gone, the DC plan will look better again. In any case, employees would almost always be better off with the DC."  MORE >>

"The updated guidance reinforces the importance of cybersecurity across all ERISA-covered plans. To adhere to the DOL's expectations and mitigate cyber risks effectively, plan sponsors and fiduciaries should ... [1] Evaluate service provider cybersecurity ... [2] Implement robust cybersecurity policies ... [3] Educate participants ... [4] Leverage HHS resources for health plans ... [5] Conduct a cybersecurity self-audit."  MORE >>

2-page chart includes 2025 limits for qualified retirement plans, IRAs, PBGC, Social Security, and health and fringe benefit plans, along with corresponding limits for 2024 and 2023.  MORE >>

"Plaintiffs were formerly employed by Twitter ... and were participants in one of two Severance Plans that covered Twitter's most senior and other key executives.... Plaintiffs allege that in the days leading up to the closing of the merger, Musk, who was aware that Plaintiffs would be entitled to payment under the Plans, decided to manufacture fake 'cause,' and terminate Plaintiffs before they could resign and claim their benefits.... [T]he Court found that for purposes of the Motion to Dismiss, ... Musk was acting as a fiduciary and not as an employer when he fired Plaintiffs to avoid paying benefits owed under the Plans." [Caldwell v. Musk, (N.D. Cal. Nov. 1, 2024); Agrawal v. Musk, (N.D. Cal. Nov. 1, 2024)]  MORE >>