"Procedural Notice 5000-872764 ... states, 'Regardless of the requirements stated throughout this SOP for business valuations, an independent business valuation is not required when the Lender is making a loan involving ESOPs for the types of loans discussed in this Paragraph B. In lieu of an independent business valuation, the Lender may use the valuation obtained by the ESOP that was made in accordance with ERISA specifications.' "  MORE >>

"For non-profit plan sponsors of 457(b) plans, this is an important opportunity to not only satisfy the required updates but also to review any additional changes to conform the plan document to intended plan design and operations going forward. Amendments must be formally adopted by December 31, 2025, and plans should operate in accordance with the updated provisions to avoid compliance problems."  MORE >>

"[E]mployers that are part of a controlled group may have less flexibility in deciding whether to offer super catch-up contributions. The preamble to the final regulations says that if any plan in a controlled group offers super catch-up contributions, then all plans in the controlled group generally must do so ... [T]he final regulations say plans offering super catch-up contributions won't violate universal availability if all catch-up eligible participants can defer up to the statutory dollar amount that applies to them under the IRC. "  MORE >>

"Presently, it is not clear whether a change in 529 beneficiary triggers a new 15-year clock in the case of a 529-to-Roth IRA transfer.... For now, the most conservative course of action is to execute a 529-to-Roth IRA transfer only where the 529 plan and beneficiary have been in place for at least 15 years."  MORE >>

"[T]the Eleventh Circuit affirmed that an employer's credit for a prior partial withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan must be applied at the second step of the four-step statutory process for calculating withdrawal liability.... The PBGC and a district court in Illinois have concluded that the credit should be applied at the last step of the process, while the Ninth and now the Eleventh Circuits have held that it should be applied at the second step." [Perfection Bakeries Inc. v. Retail Wholesale & Dep't Store Int'l Union & Indus. Pension Fund, No. 23-12533 (11th Cir. Aug. 1, 2025)]  MORE >>

"A lawsuit [recently] filed ... offers a legal theory that is yet to be well addressed in ERISA case law -- that participant data should be treated as a 'plan asset' subject to ERISA's fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty.... Such an assertion highlights the real-world risk of permitting recordkeeper utilization of participant data for any purpose beyond core recordkeeping responsibilities ... This article provides practical contracting considerations for plan fiduciaries seeking to strike a balance between fiduciary risk and permitting financial wellness products." [Williams-Linzey v. Empower Advisory Group, LLC, No. 25-14660 (D.N.J. complaint filed Aug. 15, 2025)]  MORE >>

"That these behaviors produced no injury ... would almost seem to make the litigation irrelevant, though apparently Judge O'Connor saw enough evidence of biased behaviors that he felt it necessary to impose what would seem to be a fairly long and tedious list of procedural and notification requirements on the administration of the plan going forward." [Spence v. Am. Airlines, Inc., No. 23-0552 (N.D. Tex. Sep. 30, 2025)]  MORE >>

"Large retirement plans that require an audit often merge in the assets from small plans in connection with a stock acquisition or a merger of the plan-sponsor companies. Asset acquisitions can result in rollovers from the plan sponsored by the entity that sells the assets, if the participants terminate employment or the plan terminates, or in merged account balances if the purchaser adopts the plan."  MORE >>

"Companies with fewer than 10 employees own more than half of all cash balance plans, a group of retirement plans outpacing 401(k)s in growth."  MORE >>

"In general, clients who think their tax rate will fall in retirement should not make the conversion ... But many high-earning clients end up staying in the top tax bracket in retirement. For clients whose income remains stable, there's "a slight mathematical advantage to the Roth[.]"  MORE >>

"401(k) plan sponsors who also maintain a nonqualified deferred compensation plan [should] ... [1] Determine how the Roth catch-up requirement will be implemented.... [2] Review the terms of any nonqualified plans and assess whether the answers to item 1 above will affect the plans.... [3] Implement plan amendments and administrative procedures that ensure compliance by the 401(k) plan under Code Section 414(v)(7) and the nonqualified plans under Code Section 409A."  MORE >>