For calendar-year defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans, these retirement plan compliance calendars list key IRS, PBGC, and DOL reporting and disclosure deadlines.  MORE >>

"The court emphasized that fiduciaries may choose among a 'range of reasonable judgments' and that weighing tradeoffs between risk and return does not in itself constitute imprudence. Further, the plaintiff failed to show that the Plan's strategy was an extreme outlier among similar multiemployer plans." [Carlisle v. The Board of Trustees of The American Federation of The New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund, No. 25-0511 (2d Cir. Nov. 21, 2025)]  MORE >>

"Plans are very detailed with a tremendous amount of data, and things can go wrong, and they absolutely do. Data issues occur, and the good news is, there are ways to fix that.... TPA's usually have an annual questionnaire to complete and an employee census.... Employee notices ... What should you do if you notice inaccuracies or any part of the process is done improperly?"  MORE >>

"[S]maller plans tend to favor a minimum eligibility age of 21 and larger plans prefer 18 or no minimum age at all.... The percentage of plans with 18 as their minimum age moves from 33.3% in 2020 to 37.1% in 2024, with a low point of 27.4% in 2021. The percentage of plans using 21 as their minimum had a low point of 35.9% in 2020 and a high of 40.1% in 2021. Plans that had no stated minimum age at all varied from a high of 31.8% in 2020 to a low of 25.5% in 2024."  MORE >>

"With the Saver's Match set to go into effect in 2027, the Treasury Department announced that it plans to issue guidance stipulating that undocumented immigrants are ineligible to receive the match, as well as certain other tax credits, even if they pay federal taxes."  MORE >>

"As Schwab follows Fidelity in taking additional security measures targeted at customers who shared their credentials with third parties, the fintech platform at the center of the controversy is insisting that its platform for external advisors to manage investors' 401(k) holdings enjoys broad support from regulators and other stakeholders."  MORE >>

"Many people worry about running out of money in retirement, and that concern has risen in recent years because, in general, we're living longer. Knowing how to navigate the drawdown phase is crucial.... [1] The bucket strategy ... [2] Proportional withdrawals, coordinated with the bucket strategy ... [3] Be wary of the 4% rule ... [4] Generating income on top of Social Security."  MORE >>

"More than half of all 401(k) assets -- and virtually all 403(b) and governmental 457 assets -- are held in products that are not SEC-regulated mutual funds. Tens of billions more sit in: Insurance company general-account annuities, Separate account annuities, State-regulated Collective Investment Trusts (CITs) ... Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) annuities.... Yet the federal agency responsible for enforcing ERISA -- the [DOL's EBSA) -- has almost no staff with expertise in investments, securities analysis, annuities, credit, or risk modeling."  MORE >>

"[T]he final judgment obtained by the plaintiff's politically charged crusade against American Airlines has an unfortunate streak of irony. That is, the plaintiff's lawsuit alleging that American Airlines engaged in political activism with no monetary benefit for the plan turned out to itself be a form of political activism with no monetary benefit for the plan.... Following the court's September order, the plaintiff's attorneys filed a motion asking the court to award nearly $8 million in attorneys' fees. If the court grants the millions of dollars requested in attorneys' fees, it will provide plenty of incentives for copycat lawsuits against similarly situated plan sponsors." [Spence v. Am. Airlines, Inc., No. 23-0552 (N.D. Tex. Sep. 30, 2025)]  MORE >>

"The period immediately following the deadline is a critical time to reflect, correct, and prepare.... [1] Conduct a Post-Filing Review.... [2] Address operational errors promptly.... [3] Update documentation and plan amendments.... [4] Evaluate internal controls.... [5] Plan ahead for next year."  MORE >>

"Nearly half (46%) of all surveyed employees said they found the volume of communication they receive about benefits, pay and well-being to be overwhelming, up five percentage points from the 2024 study. However, non-managerial employees (28%) were much less likely to think there is too much communication than those in middle management/supervisory roles (55%) and in senior management (66%)."  MORE >>