Retirement Plans Newsletter
July 2, 2025
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💼 New Job Opportunity Today
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[Official Guidance]
Draft of 2025 IRS Form 4972: Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions (From Qualified Plans of Participants Born Before January 2, 1936) (PDF)
Jul. 2, 2025. "Use Form 4972 to figure the tax on a qualified lump-sum distribution ... you received in 2025 using the 20% capital gain election, the 10-year tax option, or both. These are special formulas used to figure a separate tax on the distribution that may
result in a smaller tax than if you reported the taxable amount of the distribution as ordinary income." MORE >>
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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[Guidance Overview]
DOL Proposes Rescission of Certain 'Obsolete' Guidance, Requests Comments
"[DOL has] published a set of three direct final rules (DFRs) in the Federal Register.... Each DFR removes a regulation or
interpretive bulletin that DOL has identified as unnecessary or obsolete. However, it is likely that some plan sponsors and service providers will want to continue to rely on some of the guidance the DOL proposes to rescind." MORE >>
Groom Law Group
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[Guidance Overview]
Florida Stands Pat on Teachers' Eligibility for Deferred Retirement Program
"Legislation had been introduced in both chambers of the state legislature would have deleted the time limitation for DROP eligibility for certain instructional personnel. It also would have expanded the reach of the DROP program to include education-related administrative
personnel and educational support employees.... Since the legislation failed, language concerning DROP participation that would have been stricken from Florida law remains in place." MORE >>
American Retirement Association [ARA]
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Invictus Managers Withhold $10M, Trigger ERISA Asset Showdown
"For wealth management firms, the case underscores the risks of assuming that contractual protections will stand up when ERISA assets are involved. It’s a reminder that managing plan assets comes with strict compliance obligations, and that ERISA can override agreements
that might seem protective on paper." [Invictus Special Situations Master I, L.P. vs Invictus Global Management, LLC, No. 2023-1099-NAC (Del. Chanc. Jun. 30, 2025)] MORE >>
InvestmentNews; subscription may be required
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Choosing Between a State‑mandated Retirement Plan and a 401(k): A Guide for Small Business Owners
"State-mandated retirement programs are ... simple and cost-free for employers, but also limited -- often capping contributions, restricting investment choices, and lacking flexible features.... [A] private 401(k) plan offers greater versatility: higher contribution
limits, broader investment options, customizable plan designs, and features like participant loans and hardship withdrawals. Eligible small businesses may also qualify for substantial tax credits under SECURE 2.0 when they start a 401(k)." MORE >>
Employee Fiduciary
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What Can the DC Universe Learn from Annuities in 403(b) Plans?
"Despite the challenges, 403(b) plans have had success with annuities, which could offer plan sponsors of 401(k) plans solace to adopt the products. But research by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, indicated the high cost of annuities in 403(b) plans.... [D]ifferences
in the participant base between 403(b) and 401(k) plans make it difficult for the defined contribution space to broadly apply lessons from annuity use in 403(b)s plans." MORE >>
PLANSPONSOR; login may be may be required
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Pension Finance Update, June 2025
"Pensions enjoyed another positive month in June due to strong stock markets. Both model plans ... gained ground last month: traditional Plan A gained 1%, ending the month up 3% for the year, while the more conservative Plan B gained a fraction of 1% last month, ending the month
slightly in the black through the first half of 2025." MORE >>
October Three Consulting
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Retirement and Cognitive Function in Later Life (PDF)
77 pages. "[The authors] synthesize the literature on the relationship between retirement and cognitive functioning ... Most studies find no effect or a negative effect of retirement on cognitive functioning and risk of cognitive impairment.... A few studies find a positive
effect of retirement on cognition among individuals employed in manual labor or skilled trades." MORE >>
Pension Research Council, The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania
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Older Households’ Goals and Resources Throughout Retirement (PDF)
50 pages. "[The authors] use the Health and Retirement Study to consider US households' wealth ahead of and through retirement ... This chapter contributes insights into how households' goals and resources lead to healthy aging and successful
retirement." MORE >>
Pension Research Council, The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania
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Benefits in General |
[Guidance Overview]
July Filing Deadlines for Employee Benefit Plans
"By July 31, employers that sponsor self-funded medical plans must report and pay their PCORI fee. By July 31, employers that sponsor calendar-year employee benefit plans that are subject to ERISA must file a Form 5500 (unless an exception applies) or request an
extension by filing a Form 5558." MORE >>
Venable LLP
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Supreme Court Decision Does Not Affect Universal Injunction Blocking FTC Noncompete Rule
"The CASA decision let stand the Ryan decision and similar federal district court opinions that have vacated
federal regulations in reliance on the authority vested in federal district courts under the APA.... For now, Ryan remains on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and a current stay of the appeal expires in early July. It remains to be seen whether the FTC will withdraw its appeal following expiration of the stay." [Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 24-0986 (N.D. Tex. Aug. 20, 2024; on appeal to 5th Cir. No. 24-10951)] MORE >>
Faegre Drinker
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Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans |
Takeaways from the SEC Roundtable on Executive Compensation Disclosure Rules
"[P]anelists representing issuers, advisors, and investors scrutinized many of the SEC’s disclosure rules, contemplated the utility of the disclosures provided, and discussed potential rule changes. ... Panelists were unanimous in remarking how CD&A disclosure has swelled over the years.... The requirement to disclose the ratio of a CEO's total compensation to the median total compensation of all other company employees drew significant criticism.... One participant remarked that the [pay-vs-performance] rule
resulted in disclosure written by economists, for economists." MORE >>
Carlton Fields
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Employee Benefits Jobs
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Selected New Discussions |
Allowing Specifically-Named NHCEs to Enter the Plan Early
"I know that it is an allowed correction to let participants stay in a 401(k) plan if they were accidentally let in early, but would it be allowed to amend (prospectively) to let one employee in early by using his actual name in the eligibility waiver section of the document? My
opinion is that it could be discriminatory towards the other employees that were NOT let in, and I advised they do a waiver for all if they want to allow him in, but they don't want to do that. This is an NHCE, but still doesn't seem allowable to me."
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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EACA Mandate and QACA
"I have a question on implementing a new start up QACA -- does the plan have to follow the SECURE 2.0 EACA mandate of a deferral minimum of 3% and escalate up to 10 or 15%? Or, can the QACA follow the QACA rules of 3% minimum and escalate up to a 6% required
maximum?"
BenefitsLink Message Boards
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Press Releases |
State Street Global Advisors Rebrands as State Street Investment Management
State Street
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Webcasts and Conferences (Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation) |
SEC Roundtable on Executive Compensation Disclosure Requirements
RECORDED
Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]
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Collective Investment Trusts and 401(k) Plan Investments: Guidance for Fiduciaries and Employee Benefits Counsel
July 15, 2025 WEBINAR
Strafford
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409A Guidance on Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans: Compliance Strategies
September 9, 2025 WEBINAR
Strafford
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
Important Tax and Employee Benefits Provisions to Watch in the Senate Tax Bill Negotiations
Barran Liebman LLP
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District Court Declines to Expand ERISA Disclosure Requirements
Jackson Lewis P.C.
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Plan Sponsor Considerations for In-Plan Annuity Offerings
Kutak Rock LLP
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BenefitsLink® Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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