"[One] way that an employer can prepare for a disaster is to provide for hardship distributions to plan participants from their retirement accounts. An employer that has put them in place would do well to refresh its memory regarding how they work and the rules and regulations governing them."  MORE >>

"Private equity and real estate ... can offer access to private deals and growth opportunities not found in typical mutual funds. Annuities ... are marketed as a way to guarantee income in retirement ... However, these offerings are much harder to evaluate and even harder to escape. That makes them risky for the average saver who doesn't have a team of analysts at their side.... The strongest push is coming from the companies that stand to profit, such as insurance firms, recordkeepers and investment managers."  MORE >>

"69% of Gen Xers view retiring before age 65 as a key part of the American Dream. However, 40% admit they are not financially prepared to make that dream a reality. This disconnect between aspiration and readiness raises questions about how Gen X can close the gap, and whether early retirement is still within reach."  MORE >>

"One in four Americans (25%) have a child under 18 and a living parent and are part of the 'sandwich generation' with the dual responsibility to care for their own children and aging parents [including nearly] half of Millennials (46%) and 18% of Gen Xers ... More than half of all Americans in the sandwich generation (59%) say they have reduced or stopped contributing to their retirement savings account due to having to financially support both their children and parents."  MORE >>

"There may be some reasons for a plan sponsor delaying a PRT ... [S]ome risks have to be taken into account: [1] Accounting discount rates could decrease, which typically raises your plan's liability on your books. [2] There could be less competition ... [3] Timing uncertainties exist, as many PRT deals take several months to complete. [4] There's a potential for funded status volatility, depending on your investment returns relative to annuity purchase rates."  MORE >>

"Pensions gained modest ground for the fifth consecutive month in August due to higher stock markets. Both model plans ... gained ground last month: traditional Plan A gained more than 1%, ending the month up 5% for the year, while the more conservative Plan B gained a fraction of 1% last month, ending the month up 1% through the first eight months of 2025."  MORE >>

"The new regulatory agenda for the [DOL] indicates that new regulations for ESOP valuations could come as soon as January 2026. The regulations were required by Section 346 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022."  MORE >>

"PE-backed RIA count rose 16% year-over-year, from 255 firms in July 2024 to 295 in July 2025.... Total AUM controlled by PE-owned RIAs climbed 14% to nearly $6.0 trillion, representing 22.96% of all $100M+ RIA assets."  MORE >>

"Citing to five separate legal challenges to the [2024 Rule] and its intention to 'reduce unnecessary burdens on employers and employees,' the Trump DOL aims to retool its independent contractor rule. This announcement ... comes on [the] heels of the Trump DOL announcing on May 1, 2025 that it would no longer enforce the 2024 IC Rule."  MORE >>

"On September 4, 2025, the US Federal Trade Commission filed an enforcement action and simultaneous proposed settlement ... [T]he day after filing the enforcement action, the FTC voluntarily dismissed its appeal of the court rulings prohibiting the FTC from enforcing its Non-Compete Rule, which attempted to ban all employer-employee non-competes. The enforcement action signals continued focus on non-competes even though the ban is no longer on the table."  MORE >>