"When asked to select up to three supplemental benefits they believed would be of most value to them, 25% of respondents chose emergency savings accounts. ESAs ranked third overall, only behind 'sick/medical leave' (39%) and 'paid leave' (38%). However, only 9% of respondents reported having access to the prized employer-sponsored emergency savings benefit, equating to a 16-percentage-point gap between interest and access."  MORE >>

"[T]hree former Assistant Secretaries of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) offered their insights on some key matters affecting retirement plans and those who administer and serve them.... Lifetime income ... Alternative investments ... Panelists drew on their unique perspectives and offered a big-picture view of EBSA and its mission."  MORE >>

"Retirement plans as a talent magnet ... Building loyalty and engagement through security ... Financial wellness promotes business wellness ... Tax advantages that benefit everyone ... Maximizing the impact of your retirement plan."  MORE >>

"[T]here appears to be a contingent of folks who believe, irrespective of asset activity during the year, that end of year assets should always be zero for funding and deduction purposes in the initial year. The other -- and in [the authors'] opinion the clearly proper -- answer is that assets reflect the fair market value of the plan assets, reduced by deposits made, such deposits adjusted with interest."  MORE >>

"[T]here have now been multiple court rulings on motions to dismiss [pension risk transfer] lawsuits with varying results. This article will discuss those rulings and analyze the issues faced by plan participants whose pensions have been transferred by their employers to annuity providers that utilize non-traditional capital structures."  MORE >>

"Private equity firms are seeking a new legal definition of an ESOP, a new structure of tax benefits only they can receive, and broad exemptions from five decades of employee protections embedded in [ERISA].... [S]ober analysis of their public assertions and privately shared plans surfaces tremendous problems for the future of existing, and not yet formed, ESOP companies."  MORE >>

"ERISA’s Section 404 talks about acting prudently and solely in the interest of participants. That used to mean watching fees, monitoring investments, and keeping minutes. But in 2025, prudence means locking down your participant data like it’s Fort Knox. Every Social Security number, every date of birth, every account balance—those are plan assets in digital form."  MORE >>

"Pete Stavros, founder of Expanding ESOPs, shared ... a much more detailed public policy proposal with the ultimate aim not to promote ESOPs as we know them today, but to convince Congress to create a new type of qualified retirement plan under [ERISA] and to call them ESOPs. ... TEA agrees with some of the issues Expanding ESOPs highlights in its principles. However, the detailed STEP policy proposal is the wrong solution if the true goal is employee ownership and building retirement wealth for employee owners."  MORE >>

"In July 2025, the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act of 2025 (OBBBA) made permanent the tax rates of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) that were set to expire at the end of 2025. However, it also brought some changes that may affect planning for equity comp and company shares at year-end 2025.... [myStockOptions] asked many leading financial advisors, from different regions of the United States, for their ideas on financial and tax planning for the end of this year and the start of the next. [This article provides] their selected responses, presented in their own words."  MORE >>