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Regulatory Compliance
A panel at the Oct. 22 opening session of the 2023 ASPPA Annual Conference expressed agreement with the notion of closing the coverage gap but also evinced great concern over the effect legislation that would create a federal retirement savings program could have on the private-sector retirement...
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Automatic enrollment provisions contained in SECURE 2.0 were the focus of an Oct. 23 presentation at the ASPPA Annual conference in National Harbor, MD.
Craig Hoffman, an Attorney/Senior Consultant with Nova 401(k) Associates in Houston, Texas, said that in SECURE 2.0, Congress went much further...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) has taken the first step in exploring ways to improve the effectiveness of retirement plan disclosures under ERISA, consistent with Section 319 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.
More specifically, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) on Oct. 18...
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The IRS on Oct. 19 issued updated mortality improvement rates and static mortality tables for defined benefit plans for 2024. The update is contained in Notice 2023-73.
Notice 2023-73 provides a mortality table for use in determining minimum present value under Internal Revenue Code Section (IRC...
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In response to numerous questions posted by House Education and the Workforce Committee members, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told the lawmakers that the Labor Department is committed to moving forward on a new rule.
“Our concern consistently has been and continues to be with financial...
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The nation’s highest court has decided not to decide the applicability of an arbitration clause in fending off an ERISA suit.
The case that had been appealed to the United States Supreme Court was decided in favor of the participant-plaintiffs by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced on Oct. 17 that the guarantee limits for single-employer plans that fail in 2024 will be 5.30% higher than the limits that applied for 2023.
The increase in the guarantee limit is almost 3.5 percentage points less than that announced in...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Oct. 13 issued the premium rates for 2024.
2024 Premium Rates
The PBGC determined the premium rates applicable for 2024 plan years in accordance with the indexing rules provided in Section 4006 of ERISA, as amended by The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022...
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Pension actuaries and professionals working with defined benefit plans face a unique set of challenges when it comes to meeting the Oct. 15 deadline.
This date is pivotal for annual filings and compliance. It’s important to be prepared with strategies to help minimize the stress that can come...
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Oct. 15 has finally passed. A day even spookier than Halloween! Which explains all the treats in the kitchen area at work for those hard at work on their 5500s.
Let’s take a flashback to our May issue in which Tiffany Myers, Manager, Actuarial Services at the Cash Balance Center of Excellence,...
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An explanation and history of fiduciary liability insurance were among the topics addressed at the recent ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C.
The panel discussion “Fiduciary Liability Insurance” featured Euclid Fiduciary’s Daniel Aronowitz, Sompo International’s Joe Kelly, and Marsh...
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For the second time in a month, a law firm has brought suit challenging the use of forfeitures in a 401(k) plan.
The lawyers are from Hayes Pawlenko LLP, a South Pasadena, CA-based duo (who met in law school, according to their website) positioning themselves as an employment litigation firm “...
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House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) on Oct. 5 sent a letter to Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Assistant Secretary Lisa Gomez that raises concerns about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) potential regulations that could affect retirement plans...
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Service providers take care of the nuts and bolts and fine details of running a retirement plan. So what are plan sponsors looking for in a third party administrator? A recent blog entry offers a look.
In “10 Things to Look for in Retirement Plan Administration,” Kushner & Company suggests...
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Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series about service providers’ audits of clients and their plans.
That’s what a first financial audit can feel like, says an industry expert. But it doesn’t have to.
“Death by a thousand cuts. That’s what initial 401(k) and 403(b) audit clients...
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Noting that "the settling parties agreed to the proposed settlement only after vigorous arm's-length negotiations between counsel experienced in ERISA class actions and under the auspices of … a third-party private mediator with extensive experience mediating ERISA actions”—the parties in yet...
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The IRS has updated the content it provides through an issue snapshot on the deductibility of employer contributions to a 401(k) plan made after the end of the tax year. The refresh accounts for application of the SECURE 2.0 Act.
The Issue Snapshot discusses the timing rules of the Internal...
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The IRS has updated the information it makes available concerning its voluntary compliance program (VCP). It issued the reminders in the Sept. 29 edition of Employee Plans News.
Check Status
The IRS reminds taxpayers that they can check the status of any submissions they have made under the VCP...
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October is cybersecurity month, “something that pairs nicely with Oktoberfest,” American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff joked during a panel called “Fulfilling Cybersecurity Oversight Requirements” at the ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2.
It was a moment of levity in...
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Another federal judge has weighed the assertions made in an excessive fee suit—and found them lacking both in terms of a “meaningful benchmark,” and specificity of the claims made.
The Suit
The plaintiffs here—Jennifer R. Lard, John G. Juergens, Gerald L. Robinson, Scott W. Anderson, Thomas A....
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