"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"  MORE >>

"The much-welcomed final regulations answer a number of open questions ... [1] Designated Roth contributions counted for purposes of Roth catch-up requirement ... [2] Determination of FICA wages -- aggregation of related employers ... [3] Super catch-ups ... [4] Applicability date of rules."  MORE >>

"In response to questions about what happens if an individual, who has a Deemed Roth Catch-up Election in place, ceases to be an Affected Participant, the Final Regulations note that such a 'Deemed Election' must cease to apply within a 'reasonable period of time' thereafter. Catch-up contributions that were 'deemed' as Roth contributions before the end of the 'reasonable period of time' do not need to be recharacterized as pre-tax catch-up contributions."  MORE >>

"The final regulations maintain the rule that MRC status is determined solely based on the employer and not on a controlled group basis.... The final regulations retain the exception to the universal availability requirement so that catch-up contributions of Puerto Rico participants can be limited by the Puerto Rico tax code."  MORE >>

"This article focuses on the DOL's guidance in a 2020 Information Letter ... on the inclusion of private equity in 401(k) plans. The discussion in that Information Letter ... is foundational for any guidance that will be issued by the DOL in response to [Executive Order 14330]."  MORE >>

"[1] Attach the audit to your Form 5500 ... [2] Review the audit results with your plan committee ... [3] Address internal control recommendations ... [4] Document any corrections made during the audit ... [5] Use the findings to prepare for next year."  MORE >>

"More than half of US retirement plan sponsors -- 53% -- expect that the next 12 months will be more volatile than 2022 and early 2023, a period that saw the return of inflation. Forty-one percent anticipate the next year could be even more volatile than the Global Financial Crisis. The top macroeconomic concerns for respondents were tariffs and protectionist trade policies (83%), an economic downturn (60%) and higher inflation (57%).... 51% of the plans now rank portfolio resilience as their top investment priority."  MORE >>

"[It] costs an average of $103,000 each year in added compensation and benefits when an employee works past age 65. For employers with a sizeable population over that age, the impact can reach millions annually.... [Plan sponsors] can purposefully design plans to help improve retirement readiness -- reducing the financial strain of delayed retirement and supporting employees in retiring on their own terms."  MORE >>

"Nongovernmental Code section 457(b) plans are a simple way for nonprofits to offer key employees a way to defer compensation in excess of the limits under their organizations' section 403(b) or 401(k) plan. For larger nonprofits, a section 457(b) plan is frequently offered in conjunction with an individually tailored, separate Code section 457(f) plan to attract and retain key employees."  MORE >>

"[T]he Achilles' heel that ERISA plaintiff attorneys should focus on is the obvious inconsistency of the standards between ERISA 404(a) and NAIC rule 275 and the potential fiduciary liability that exists, liability which is going to completely blindside many plan sponsors ... Investment fiduciaries who receive a recommendation to include an annuity, any type of annuity, should always require the annuity salesperson to provide a written, properly prepared breakeven analysis on the annuity being recommended."  MORE >>

"For wealth advisors and RIAs, the implications of this ongoing dispute extend beyond the legal maneuvers. Deferred compensation remains a powerful retention tool across the wirehouse and brokerage landscape ... If courts or regulators were to determine that such programs fall under ERISA, it could significantly alter how firms structure advisor pay, adding compliance burdens and limiting forfeiture provisions that firms rely on to retain talent." [DOL Advisory Opinion 2025-03A; O'Neill v. Morgan Stanley, No. 24-00358 (FINRA Aug. 8, 2025)]  MORE >>