"This guide is for people who are trying to divide a benefit in a PBGC-trusteed defined benefit pension plan as part of a divorce. This guide can help you navigate the QDRO process, ensuring the participant and alternate payee will receive the benefits as determined in the divorce proceeding. PBGC's QDRO guidance: Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO) and PBGC, provides significantly more detail than this practical guide, and will control if there is a conflict between the two"  MORE >>

"After years of proposals, reproposals and court decisions invalidating them, the [DOL's] revised fiduciary rule has officially ceased to exist. The Trump Administration has indicated that it will not be issuing its own proposal. Where does that leave fiduciaries and those who would have become fiduciaries because they were deemed to be giving investment advice under the DOL rules?"  MORE >>

"State-administered defined contribution plans must offer self-directed brokerage accounts with at least one cryptocurrency investment option by July 1, 2027, with governing boards authorized to set investment parameters, valuation methodologies, and administrative fees."  MORE >>

"[T]he Sixth Circuit reversed the orders of two district courts that had granted motions to dismiss and held that the use of outdated mortality tables violates ERISA.... The [Missouri district court] held that the plain language of ERISA's statutory text does not require that mortality tables be periodically updated or reasonable and, therefore, use of the mortality table designated in the plan document does not violate ERISA or breach ERISA's fiduciary duties." [Reichert v. Kellogg, No. 24-1442, consol. Watt v. FedEx, No. 24-5945 (6th Cir. Mar. 16, 2026); Landel v. Olin Corp., No. 25-0096 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 20, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[This article examines] key considerations for DC plan fiduciaries seeking to incorporate private equity in their investment program. In addition to the committee's usual practice in reviewing a plan investment, what, practically, should a committee do when considering including a private equity 'sleeve' in a target date fund allocation?"  MORE >>

"Longer life expectancies, shifting workforce dynamics, and the gradual disappearance of defined benefit pensions are forcing employers and retirement plan sponsors to rethink how plans are designed and communicated.... Employers that embrace thoughtful plan design, behavioral insights, and improved participant engagement can help workers avoid common mistakes and build stronger retirement security."  MORE >>

"One of the notable trends in the U.S. retirement system over the past five decades is that private sector employees have become less likely to be covered by defined benefit (DB) pension plans and more likely to be covered by defined contribution (DC) pension plans. In recent years, more private sector workers have participated in DC plans than in DB plans. For example, in 2023, DC plans had 93.4 million participants, while DB plans had 11.1 million participants. Until 1984, DB plans had more active participants than DC plans did." [IF12007 Mar. 25, 2026]  MORE >>

"More than $600 billion has left defined contribution plans each year since 2000 through rollovers and cashouts ... If even half of those outflows had stayed in the system, ... total DC plan assets would be 27% higher today.... [M]ore than 70,000 new DC plans were added each year from 2022 to 2024 ... Just 0.3% of defined contribution plans from only 2,110 employers cover 50% of all participants, underscoring how outcomes for tens of millions of workers hinge on a narrow slice of the plan universe."  MORE >>

"Regulators and consumer advocates are raising concerns about how indexed illustrations are presented to consumers, focusing on complex illustrations and potentially inflated return projections that could mislead buyers planning for retirement."  MORE >>

11 pages. "Cash Balance plans currently outnumber traditional DB plans by nearly 2 to 1. Between 2015 and 2024, the number of Cash Balance plans increased by nearly 70%, while the number of traditional DB plans decreased by more than 50%.... The healthcare sector leads businesses in the number of Cash Balance plans ... Out of all new Cash Balance plans implemented with over 100 participants since 2018, the market-based interest crediting rate is the most common plan design structure."  MORE >>

"Critics of alternative investments often cite high fees, valuation concerns, the lack of exits for private equity portfolio companies, and instability in the private credit market as reasons these investments are unsuitable for defined contribution retirement plans. But these generalized critiques overlook how alternative investments are offered in DC plans today, and the specific manner through which President Donald Trump's August executive order encouraged federal agencies to expand access to these products: target-date and other asset allocation funds."  MORE >>