PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part IV Using Post-Retirement Medical Plans to Raise AUM and Sell Life Insurance
NOWOTNY ON DEATH AND TAXES EPISODE 35 USING POST-RETIREMENT MEDICAL PLANS TO RAISE AUM
KNOCK YOURSELF OUT - RESUSCITATING TAXPAYERS WITH BUYER'S REMORSE!
Coronavirus-Related Retirement Plan Distributions, MPPPs, and Governmental 401(a) Plans
Blakes Continuity Podcast: COVID-19: The Regulatory Impact on Pensions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2019 Year-End Checklist
The SECURE Act 2.0, enacted in December 2022, made several updates to what must be included in annual funding notices (“AFN”) issued by defined benefit pension plans. For large plans (as defined below) with a plan year ending...more
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued important new guidance for employers that sponsor defined benefit (pension) plans. This guidance provides new model notices and addresses several outstanding...more
SECURE 2.0 introduced many changes for retirement plans, including updated disclosure requirements for a defined benefit plan’s annual funding notice (AFN). These updated AFN disclosure requirements apply for all plan years...more
Happy Holidays! Employee benefits limits for 2025 have been promulgated by the government. Click the link below to view 2024-2025 comparisons of important employee benefits limits....more
On the latest episode of “Just Compensation,” Andrew E. Graw, Taryn E. Cannataro, and Jessica I. Kriegsfeld address single-employer defined benefit plans in the context of a business transaction, and the potential liabilities...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS just announced the 2024 annual limits that will apply to tax-qualified retirement plans. For a third year in a row, the IRS increased the annual limits, allowing participants to save even more in...more
Acknowledging uncommon market conditions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced Technical Update Number 23-1 (the Update), which provides a one-time waiver of certain reporting requirements for some...more
For decades, it was common for employers to maintain employer-funded defined benefit pension plans (“DB Plans” or “Plans”) to provide retirement benefits to their employees. In recent years, DB Plans have become increasingly...more
On November 14, 2022, Ontario introduced Progress on the Plan to Build Act (Budget Measures), 2022 (Bill 36) to implement certain budget measures introduced as part of Ontario's 2022 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As Seyfarth has blogged about on multiple occasions, the CARES Act provided relief for qualified plans as a result of COVID-19. With respect to qualified defined benefit pension plans, the CARES Act...more
Payroll Tax Relief Under CARES Act, FFCRA, and Executive Order - While the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act permitted employers to defer depositing the portion of the FICA taxes the employer pays...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBGC published unofficial guidance for plan sponsors of single-employer plans on certain reportable events, PBGC premium payments and plan termination...more
Carlton Fields tax attorney Lowell Walters discusses an important issue employers with money purchase pension plans or governmental 401(a) plans should consider before allowing coronavirus-related retirement plan...more
Employers are facing a number of serious challenges that make managing a defined benefit pension plan even more difficult than usual. ...more
On April 10, 2020, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) announced that deadlines for upcoming premium payments and certain other required filings due from April 1, 2020 through July 14, 2020 will be extended...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) signed into law on March 27 by President Trump provides some welcome funding relief for employers who sponsor single-employer defined benefit pension...more
The unusual circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic are pushing businesses, individuals and governmental authorities, including pension regulators, to quickly adapt to changing restrictions and capabilities....more
Eleven cases have been filed against defined benefit pension plan sponsors and certain fiduciaries alleging that the plan’s assumptions—called “actuarial equivalence factors” or “actuarial equivalence assumptions”— for...more
A federal district court recently handed plan sponsors their first victory in a string of actuarial equivalence lawsuits filed against large defined benefit pension plans. Although the decision is a positive development for...more
As imagined by plan sponsors of closed defined benefit pension plans, the IRS issued Notice 201-49, the fifth extension for an additional year of the temporary nondiscrimination relief for “closed” defined benefit pension...more
The US Supreme Court recently agreed to review the Eighth Circuit’s decision in Thole v. US Bank, in which the Eighth Circuit held that participants in an overfunded defined benefit pension plan lack standing to sue for...more
Due to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) change in course published in Notice 2019-18, plan sponsors may now offer retirees lump-sum windows as another pension “de-risking” option. Plan sponsors considering pension de-risking...more
Defined benefit pension plans can be troublesome for sponsoring employers to maintain. The long-term liability for funding pension benefits coupled with unpredictable investment returns creates volatility. Companies...more
In December 2018, class action lawsuits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) were filed against several large single-employer defined benefit plans. The suits focus on the calculation of joint and...more
Given that a variety of qualified retirement deadlines are approaching, we thought a refresher on the subject would be helpful, especially for plans that utilize a calendar plan year. This article is intended to alert plan...more