"[T]he RBD (when RMDs are officially 'turned on') is April 1 of the year after the year person turns age 73, or April 1 of the year after the year a person retires if using the still-working exception. You must live long enough to reach that date for RMDs to officially begin. [When an employee dies] before the RBD applicable to his 401(k) plan, there is no year-of-death RMD from the plan for his beneficiaries to worry about."  MORE >>

"[N]on-governmental 457(b) deferred compensation plans must be amended ... to account for: [1] Extensions relating to commencement of required minimum distributions (RMDs) ... [2] Implementation of the 10-year RMD Rule ... the December 31, 2025 deadline is unique to non-governmental 457(b) plans. "  MORE >>

"According to the complaint, Rick Case Enterprises moved its 401(k) plan to Principal Financial Group from Empower Retirement in late 2022 ... [E]mployees were placed in a blackout period during the transfer ... When Principal received the funds in early January 2023, [the complaint] alleges that participant account balances were approximately 9% lower than before the transfer." [Hebert v. Rick Case Enterprises Inc., No. 25-62255 (S.D. Fla. complaint filed Nov. 7, 2025)]  MORE >>

"According to the complaint, Fidelity's recordkeeping services to the ... plan created a conflict of interest because its affiliate, Fidelity Management Trust Co., served as trustee of the plan's assets, while Fidelity's separate affiliate, Strategic Advisors, served as investment advisers to the plan. The complaint alleges that Fidelity charged participants between $39 and $50 in annual administrative costs for the 2019 through 2023 plan years ... [while] comparable plans using Fidelity had costs of about $3 to $31 per participant[.]" [Clark v. Centene Corp., No. 25-09743 (C.D. Calif. complaint filed Nov. 12, 2025)]  MORE >>

"Fidelity Technology Group is suing and seeking an injunction against the Palo Alto software maker in a festering contract dispute to prevent dire outcome that would stop most RIA client servicing in its tracks.... Broadcom Inc., a key Fidelity Investments software provider, is threatening to pull the plug on Fidelity's computers two months from now, creating a massive blackout for RIAs, clients and the company itself." [Fidelity Technology Group, LLC v. Broadcom Inc., No. 2584CV03035 (Mass. Sup. Ct. complaint filed Nov. 3, 2025)]  MORE >>

"[T]he court of appeal concluded that the Regents had never communicated with members in a way that would reasonably create any confusion over the availability of retroactive retirement rights, and thus did not have a fiduciary duty to dispel such confusion. [The court also held] that retirement systems' fiduciary duties to their members do not mean that systems have a duty to maximize each member's benefits. That is, systems are not under any obligation to provide a member bespoke advice that will maximize their retirement allowance in light of their own particular circumstances." [Mass v. The Regents of the Univ. of Calif., No. A170424 (Calif. Ct. App. Oct. 28, 2025)]  MORE >>

"[M]ore than half of plan sponsors rank cybersecurity as their No. 1 'plan fear,' ahead of poor investment performance (45%) and insufficient participant savings (43%).... High profile breaches, such as the recent attack on a leading recordkeeper affecting more than 1,000 participants and traced to a third-party client management cloud application, demonstrate how a single weak point can compromise participant data and disrupt operations."  MORE >>

"The scale of the problem prompted Congress to establish the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database in SECURE 2.0, which is intended to help reunite participants with their lost and forgotten retirement plan accounts. This post breaks down why missing participants and uncashed checks happen, why they matter, and how to get ahead of them without turning your retirement plan into a private detective agency."  MORE >>

"[N]early two-thirds (64%) of Americans worry more about running out of money than death, and failure to protect against outliving retirement savings is a top financial regret of more than one-third of retirees. The current environment presents an urgent need for action, as the largest wave of retirements in American history coincides with Social Security's financial challenges that could leave millions without adequate guaranteed lifetime income."  MORE >>

"The California pension approved the proposed change to implement TPA -- the first institutional allocator in the U.S. to do so -- by July 2026.... The total portfolio approach views and manages portfolio assets under a single objective, in contrast to strategic asset allocation, in which separate asset classes are siloed and managed separately. TPA has become increasingly appealing for asset owners in recent years."  MORE >>

"A key component of a comprehensive and effective retirement plan includes estimating potential costs and risks in retirement, including those associated with health care and long-term care. Four in 10 FPs and consumers surveyed agree this is one of the most difficult aspects of retirement planning.... [W]hile most FPs say they are discussing these topics, less than half of consumers recall these discussions: 96% of FPs say they talk about physical health issues with clients, but only 44% of clients recall those conversations. 90% of FPs report discussing cognitive decline, yet just 31% of clients say the topic came up."  MORE >>

"Made a mistake? The IRS might be more lenient if you relied on the right professional.... IRS says: you cannot claim advisor error when you are the administrator.... A favorable PLR might come down to who administers the account.... Be careful when relying on articles, even from industry experts.... Can you rely on artificial intelligence for IRA guidance? ... IRA rules are complex, and solutions often depend on facts unique to each case."  MORE >>

"State and local governments have been making higher pension contributions to their employees' pension funds, but not because public pension benefits have become more generous. Instead, growing debt from past underfunding of pension benefits has largely driven the increase in contribution rates. Today, the majority of contributions made to public pension systems go toward amortizing unfunded liabilities rather than funding the benefits promised to current employees."  MORE >>

"What indicators signal potential related employer group status for business owners? ... What events typically alter or create related employer group classifications? ... What grace periods apply when related employer status emerges from transactions? ... How does related employer aggregation affect retirement plan testing and ACA obligations?"  MORE >>