"Section 317 of the SECURE 2.0 Act permits eligible sole proprietors to start a solo 401(k) plan by the deadline for their tax returns (excluding extensions) and retroactively make employee salary deferrals (pre-tax and/or designated Roth).... To take advantage of Section 317, [1] The company must be a sole proprietorship or single-member limited liability company (LLC), [2] It cannot have any employees other than the owner, and [3] This must be the first year starting a 401(k) plan."  MORE >>

"Plan sponsors should develop processes to [1] identify participants who will be subject to the new Rothification requirement, [2] track FICA wages, and [3] implement the deemed Roth catch-up elections; and work with counsel to ensure plan documents, employee communications, and summary plan descriptions reflect these new Rothification requirements."  MORE >>

"You still have a few weeks, until April 15, to make a contribution to your Roth and traditional IRAs for 2024.... [These tables] give you the contribution limits, income limits and rollover rules for IRAs: Roth, traditional, SIMPLE and SEP at a glance. "  MORE >>

"ERISA 3(21) nondiscretionary fiduciary: advisor as a guide ... ERISA 3(38) discretionary fiduciary: outsourced chief investment officer ... ERISA 3(16) administrative fiduciary: handling the paperwork ... How to use this information: [1] Review your service agreement.... [2] Document everything, or ensure your advisor is.... [3] Ask tough questions.... [4] Compare their services and fees."  MORE >>

"[1] Build a benchmark group ... [2] Consider the quality of the managed account provider ... [3] Consider the services of the managed account provider ... [4] Consider the value delivered by the managed account provider ... [5] Consider the fees charged by the managed account provider."  MORE >>

"Asset-liability management (ALM) is fundamental to insurers, making certain that assets are structured to meet future liabilities in expected amount and timing while managing financial risks effectively.... This article explores ALM strategies for annuities at different levels of maturity and sophistication, from basic approaches suitable for smaller insurers to advanced techniques used by firms with significant balance sheet risks."  MORE >>

"During February, the estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process ticked up from 101.6% to 101.7% of a plan's accounting liabilities (accumulated benefit obligation, or ABO).... During the same time period, the average annuity purchase cost across all insurers ... remained level, at 104.3%."  MORE >>

"Although the [September 2024] blog post refers to cases unrelated to ESOPs or ESOP-specific fiduciary issues, it suggests an approach to the DOL's role that seeks to reign in what [EBSA nominee Daniel Aronowitz] sees as an overly aggressive plaintiffs' bar on ERISA cases. That is notable given that most recent ESOP litigation has come from just three law firms."  MORE >>

"[T]he sheer complexity of ERISA and of its application in specific circumstances often requires multiple decisions by multiple courts before a consensus is reached on what the correct rule on a given issue actually should be.... [P]erhaps the best solution is a structure that feeds any conflicting circuit court opinions automatically to a designated and specialized appellate bench above the circuit courts but below the Supreme Court, to maximize the opportunities for such diverse decisions to be synthesized."  MORE >>