"Although rooted in an executive order on alternative assets, the proposal addresses more than just alternative assets and outlines a new process-based safe harbor for fiduciary decision-making. This LawFlash outlines key themes and implications from the proposal."  MORE >>

"The SECURE 2.0 Act added this penalty exception, which is effective for distributions after December 29, 2025. Participants must provide a long-term care premium statement to the plan sponsor in order for the distribution to be qualified. The distribution will be qualified as long as the premium paid does not exceed the lesser of $2,600 (for 2026) or 10% of the participant's vested account balance."  MORE >>

"By now, many 401(k) plans have likely undergone the necessary administrative changes to manage this new requirement.... Despite best efforts, plan sponsors may still encounter errors where a higher-compensated employee's catch-up is withheld from their pay as traditional 401(k) rather than Roth 401(k). Fortunately, the IRS has provided options for plan sponsors to correct these errors and keep their plans compliant."  MORE >>

"Social Security covers virtually all private sector employees and about 72% of public employees.... At the end of 2025, it was providing benefits to 70 million people In 2025, it paid out $1.60 trillion in benefits and expenses and received income of $1.45 trillion.... The year in which a worker attains age 62, dies, or becomes disabled is called the 'eligibility year.' Benefit computations are based on the benefit formula parameters in effect for the eligibility year."  MORE >>

"The program -- also known as PhillySaves -- was signed into law by Mayor Cherelle Parker on January 20, 2026, but its implementation required passage as a ballot measure. After Philadelphia voters approved the initiative in the city's May 19 elections, the program went into effect immediately, though contributions do not begin until July 1, 2027, likely in a phased implementation."  MORE >>

"Not all withdrawals are planned. Sometimes they occur because an employer loses a business contract and simply no longer has work on which to deploy that union workforce.... ERISA allows contributing employers to annually request from a multiemployer plan estimates of withdrawal liability. They are just that. Estimates.... [H]ad M&K requested an estimate during the plan year in which it withdrew, that estimate would have used the old 7.5% interest rate, around $1.8 million. Yet their actual withdrawal liability was $6.2 million." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[T]he Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgment upholding an arbitrator's determination that General Electric Company qualified for the building and construction industry exemption to withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA), and therefore owed no withdrawal liability to the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust on either of the Fund's partial withdrawal assessments." [General Electric Co. v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust, No. 25-1442 (8th Cir. May 26, 2026)]  MORE >>

"The Trump Accounts app will be the main interface for the most historic policy for American families in decades and is available on all major mobile app stores.... The next phase of the Trump Accounts program will include account activation beginning for millions of American families ahead of the official launch on July 4, 2026. As of today, parents and legal guardians who have already signed their children up for Trump Accounts by submitting IRS Form 4547 will begin receiving emails with instructions to complete the account setup process. Activation e-mails for these families will be sent out in phases between now and July 4, 2026. "  MORE >>

"Among participants who were 100% invested in TDFs at year-end 2016, 85% remained fully invested in TDFs through year-end 2022. When moving away from TDFs, participants in their 60s were the most likely to completely exit TDFs. In contrast, when moving away from TDFs, younger participants were more likely to reduce their TDF holdings rather than exit completely. When moving away from TDFs, older 401(k) participants typically made larger adjustments to their equity allocations than younger participants."  MORE >>

"Fiduciary oversight is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Taking time each year to review plan operations, investments, fees, and participant engagement can help plan sponsors support employees’ retirement readiness while maintaining strong governance practices."  MORE >>

"Estimated competitive retiree buyout cost, as a percentage of accounting liability, decreased by 80 bps from 100.9% to 100.1% during April. Average pricing buyout costs decreased by 50 bps from 103.9% to 103.4%."  MORE >>

"[In] its pursuit of a fiduciary safe harbor, the DOL is making the following mistakes: [1] Applying the standards of very large companies, with their substantial resources, to the small and mid-market plan sponsors and their fiduciaries; [2] Giving examples that appear to be imposing mandatory rules, which is inconsistent with a principles-based standard -- the prudent person standard of ERISA."  MORE >>

"[A]sset managers and private equity fund sponsors have launched a coordinated push to bring private equity, private credit, and other alternatives into participant-directed accounts.... It is, we are told, time to democratize access. What this framing tactfully omits is that the accredited investor standard, the prudent expert rule under ERISA, and the diversification and liquidity expectations baked into Section 404(a) exist for reasons.... Stripping those guardrails away is not democratization. It is the unilateral repeal of protection, sold to the people who lost it as a favor."  MORE >>

"[T]he Valuing Employee Stock Today Act [HR 8660] ... would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act ... by adding restricted stock units to an existing exemption ... to ensure that restricted stock units (RSUs) are not subject to overtime pay calculations."  MORE >>