"[DOL's Disaster Relief Notice 2024-01]  gives retirement plan sponsors and service providers affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton extra time to provide required notices and disclosures and to complete certain other plan-related actions. The notice also provides relief from ERISA's plan loan requirements for loans issued or payments suspended under the disaster relief provision in the SECURE 2.0 Act. A separate joint DOL and Treasury Department notice gives participants and beneficiaries more time to file benefit claims and appeal adverse benefit determinations[.]"  MORE >>

"Central to improving IRA custodians' work, IRSAC suggests, is enhancing and improving their access to information that will enable them to better understand functions and distributions. That, they indicate, will better empower those custodians to serve clients and IRA holders and keep everyone in compliance."  MORE >>

"RISavers -- created by the Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program Act passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly in June -- will partner with an existing similar program in Connecticut to offer Rhode Islanders access to retirement savings. Vestwell, a third-party administrator, will run the program in coordination with the state's treasury[.]"  MORE >>

"[T]he relevance and demand for professional guidance is on the rise, with more than 80% of plan sponsors relying on consultants to navigate the complexities of the current financial markets -- with no sign this trend is slowing down.... [M]ore than a third [are] planning to increase their offerings, though not necessarily the number of asset managers with whom they work.... [An] overwhelming majority of plan sponsors agree that educational materials and tools to engage participants are crucial."  MORE >>

"[T]he Milliman 100 PPFI funded ratio dipped from 82.8% as of September 30 to 81.2% as of October 31, driven by the first month of investment losses since April.... [I]ndividual plans' estimated returns [ranged] from -2.9% to -0.6%. Combined, the plans lost market value of approximately $80 billion for the month.... [T]he deficit between estimated plan assets and liabilities expanded, from $1.090 trillion at the beginning of October to $1.193 trillion at month's end, representing a $103 billion drop in funded status."  MORE >>

"The U.S. retirement system isn't broken -- it works, but it's ready for an upgrade. Targeted reforms, greater access to savings options and better financial literacy will strengthen it for future generations, without losing what's already working."  MORE >>

"Qualified retirement plans: [1] Long-term part-time employees ... [2] Catch-up provisions ... [3] Forfeitures ... [4] Expanding automatic enrollment in retirement plans ... [5] Roth catch-up contributions ... [6] Required minimum distributions ... [7] Annual notices ... [8] Qualified plan amendments ... Health and welfare plans: [1] Gag clause prohibition compliance ... [2] End of telehealth extension ... [3] Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requirements ... [4] HIPAA privacy reproductive health protections ... [5] Health and welfare plans cybersecurity."  MORE >>

"Although employers generally outsource their ERISA plan administration to service providers, employers still retain an obligation as plan fiduciary to act prudently and in the best interests of plan participants and beneficiaries, which includes taking necessary precautions to protect sensitive data from cybersecurity risk."  MORE >>

This article describes annual cost-of-living increases for both qualified and health and welfare plans, and includes a summary table of penalties, percentages, and premiums under the employer shared responsibility requirements of Code Section 4980H.  MORE >>

"Benefits are no longer the sole domain of HR departments. Instead, they have become a crucial strategic lever as forward-thinking C-suite leaders emphasize how benefits can impact employee wellbeing, productivity and organizational culture. In this new paradigm, the role of the benefits advisor (or consultant) has also broadened from focusing on the design and efficiency of benefit plans to a holistic emphasis on how benefit strategies align with business objectives."  MORE >>

"Prior to [the recent release of IRS Form 15620], taxpayers who wished to elect to treat unvested property received in connection with the performance of services as taxable upon receipt were required to create their own self-drafted election letters.... [T]axpayers are not required to use Form 15620 when filing Section 83(b) Elections and they may choose to continue to file self-drafted elections."  MORE >>

"Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has updated its executive compensation policies, clarifying that, for purposes of say-on-pay vote recommendation, clawback policies must exceed Dodd-Frank requirements by explicitly covering all time-vesting equity awards to qualify as 'robust.' This update underscores critical considerations for public companies as they evaluate whether to adopt or amend discretionary policies in the upcoming 2025 compensation season."  MORE >>

"It is reasonable to wonder whether a second Trump administration will pursue pro-business and other changes relating to executive compensation that were suggested during the first Trump administration.... It would not be surprising if some discussion of executive compensation at least finds its way onto the radar of the new Department of Government Efficiency."  MORE >>