"[U]nder the old rules, a trust with a mix of Eligible and Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiaries would have been automatically subject to the 10-Year Rule for Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiaries. Under the new rule, if the trust is divided into separate subtrusts for each beneficiary, the Eligible Designated Beneficiaries can each receive 'stretch' distributions over their own life expectancy -- while only the Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiaries will be subject to the 10-Year Rule. Notably, the IRS regulations only allow this 'separate accounting' treatment when the trust document includes a provision to divide the trust into separate subtrusts before the account owner's death."  MORE >>

"England argued on appeal that comparing the plan's recordkeeping costs with what other large employers paid should have been sufficient without the district court requiring the proposed class to get into details on the types of services provided across the different plans in the complaint.... [T]he Sixth Circuit panel rejected that argument[.]" [England v. DENSO Int'l Am. Inc., No. 24-1360 (6th Cir. May 6, 2025)]  MORE >>

"Workers seeking denied benefits from ERISA-covered plans typically must show they've first raised the issue through the plan's internal appeals process before filing suit.... [C]ourts within the Eleventh Circuit also extend this requirement to plaintiffs alleging statutory violations of ERISA.... [Judge Adalberto Jordan] was quick to provide a roadmap for elevating the issue to the Supreme Court or the full Eleventh Circuit[.]" [Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Corp. of Am., Inc., No. 22-4602 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 5, 2023; on appeal to 11th Cir. No. 24-10084, argued May 13, 2025.]  MORE >>

"Top areas of focus for DC plan sponsors in 2024 included investment management fees, fund/manager due diligence, and investment structure evaluation. In line with the past four years, most sponsors used participation rate to gauge plan success.... 12% of respondents said they evaluated a guaranteed lifetime income feature within a target date fund framework in 2024, but only 2% added such a feature to their target date fund offering. In 2025, 20% plan to evaluate such a feature, with 6% saying they plan to add one."  MORE >>

"In stock acquisitions and mergers, it is not uncommon for both the target company and the buyer to sponsor 401(k) plans, which requires the buyer to decide prior to closing whether to terminate the target's plan, continue it, or merge it into the buyer's plan.... [T]he options of what to do with a target's 401(k) plan are much more limited after the transaction closes[.]"  MORE >>

"The House Committee on Ways and Means has released draft text of a budget bill and a section by section summary ahead of a full committee markup of the bill ... [1] ABLE provisions extended ... [2] 529 account usage expanded ... [3] New savings account proposed ... [4] HSA usage expanded ... [5] IRC Sec. 162(m) aggregation rule added."  MORE >>