"This list includes pre-approved plans that were submitted to the IRS for opinion letters from May 2, 2022 to May 22, 2025, covering the 2022 Cumulative List. Rev. Proc. 2021-37 changed the pre-approved program so that Prototype and Volume Submitter plans are combined into a single opinion letter program. Additionally, the types of plans are now reflected simply as either standardized or non-standardized pre-approved plans.... Please note that virtually all opinion letters were issued at the same time, November 29, 2024."  MORE >>

10 pages Jul. 1, 2025. "Use Form 5329 to report additional taxes on: IRAs, Other qualified retirement plans, Modified endowment contracts, Coverdell ESAs, QTPs, Archer MSAs, HSAs, or ABLE accounts."  MORE >>

"(FEMA) issued a Major Disaster Declaration on July 6, 2025, for Texas severe storms, straight-line winds, and flooding, for the incident period of July 2, 2025, and continuing. For a limited period of time following a disaster declaration, eligible IRA owners and employer plan participants may take qualified disaster recovery distributions and ... may qualify for plan loan relief and additional hardship distributions."  MORE >>

"Although Notice 2016-16 provides a helpful checklist for changing the definition of compensation in a safe harbor plan mid-year for safe harbor matching contributions, there is no discussion in the notice regarding whether it is possible to change the definition of compensation mid-year for safe harbor nonelective contributions.... [B]ased on the rules for matching contributions, we can extrapolate that any mid-year change to the definition of plan compensation that affects nonelective contributions must increase safe harbor contributions, be effective for the entire plan year, and satisfy notice requirements."  MORE >>

"[A]ttorneys for ERISA fiduciaries must hope that the district courts can quickly develop a body of case law under Rule 7(a)(7) that will allow them to screen out meritless prohibited transaction claims. At the very least, litigation counsel for ERISA fiduciaries should become familiar with case law concerning application of the Rule in their Circuit and prepare to file motions for an order requesting a Rule 7(a)(7) reply in each lawsuit where a prohibited transaction count is alleged." [Cunningham v. Cornell Univ., No. 23-1007 (S.Ct. Apr. 17, 2025)]  MORE >>

"[A recent issue brief] explains how workers who lack access to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans face financial hurdles making it difficult for them to save, and as a result, their future heavy reliance on government-provided social services will come at an enormous cost to both state and federal taxpayers."  MORE >>

"[T]he federal government is sending mixed messages about the 'elimination' of taxes on Social Security benefits. Taxpayers 65 and older with income under $75,000 (or $150,000 for a couple) can take the new deduction, which expires after 2028. Were taxes on benefits to be eliminated by future legislation, trust fund insolvency projections would worsen."  MORE >>

"The bottom line is that 'yes' people are claiming later, but the increase in claiming age is slightly less than what one would expect from the increase in work at older ages -- and that finding holds regardless of whether the focus is people claiming in a given year or people born in a given year."  MORE >>

"It seems likely that private fund investment options will be introduced into 401(k) plans, perhaps not as standalone investments, but as parts of portfolio investment strategies. Since most plan sponsors lack the knowledge to prudently select and monitor private funds, they will likely rely on their plan advisers to do the analysis for them.... However, there are legal issues under ERISA that impact the inclusion of those investments in participant-directed plans. This article discusses some of those legal issues."  MORE >>

"From additional tax deductions for workers to new savings vehicles for children, the benefits-related sections introduce changes that span traditional compensation structures, family support programs, and organizational compliance obligations."  MORE >>

"Cassidy's Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act establishes a safe harbor under federal law for companies that would like to voluntarily provide benefits.... Scott's Modern Worker Empowerment Act gives workers clarity and consistency by instituting a single employment test under federal law.... Paul's Association Health Plans Act ... [amends ERISA] to give small business employees, sole proprietors, and gig workers the ability to aggregate together and access health insurance through Association Health Plans (AHPs). "  MORE >>

"[A] digital total rewards experience is meant to be up-to-date, personalized, interactive and comprehensive, helping employees clearly understand the full value of what they receive beyond salary. It's accessible anytime, mobile-friendly and can even be aligned with what matters most to each individual. The difference is not just in presentation, but in how effectively the experience drives awareness, appreciation and retention."  MORE >>

"[T]he 'tobacco surcharge' cases are a relatively new development, but they are part of a broader trend of ERISA class action fiduciary litigation that arguably threatens to upset the careful balance that ERISA strikes between the legitimate interests of plan sponsors and participants. As a result, plan sponsors are increasingly being forced to put the threat of the plaintiffs' bar ahead of the interests of the business and their employees when making critical decisions about how to design and operate their plans, or whether to continue offering them at all." [Mehlberg v. Compass Group, USA, Inc., No. 24-4179 (W.D. Mo. Apr. 15, 2025); Bokma v. Performance Good Group, Inc., No. 24-0686 (E.D. Va. May 20, 2025)]  MORE >>

"The first panel focused on the process surrounding executive pay decisions and how investors interpret and consider disclosure.... In the second and third panels, attention turned to the evolution of disclosure rules implemented over the past two decades, including those arising from the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, and the ways such rules have (or have not) benefitted investors and burdened public companies."  MORE >>