The SECURE Act: Significant Changes for Retirement Plans and IRAs
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
The Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it has finalized, together with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), the third and final round of revisions to the Form 5500 Annual...more
A federal court in Wisconsin recently allowed a putative ERISA class action in Lucero v. Credit Union Ret. Plan Ass’n to proceed to discovery on the claim that a 401(k) plan paid excessive recordkeeping fees. This decision...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) announced changes to Form 5500. For Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs), new codes have been added to Line 8a of Part II to identify different types of MEPs, such as pooled employer plans,...more
The recently published final regulation implementing last year’s massive multiemployer pension plan bailout contains a very thin silver lining, but overall, more bad news for already overburdened employers....more
It’s no secret that the statutory deck under ERISA is stacked heavily in favor of multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs) and against employers contributing to (or withdrawing from) Taft-Hartley trust funds....more
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released their final revisions to the Form 5500 and the Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan for the 2021 plan...more
I have worked with several associations in setting up a multiple employer plan (MEP) and even more associations that didn’t want to start one. ...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final regulation (Final Rule) on December 29, 2021, updating the 2021 Form 5500 to reflect certain statutory changes included in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement...more
Multiemployer pension plans are collectively bargained defined-benefit employee benefit plans that are funded by several unrelated employers for the benefit of unionized employees. In recent years, the crisis of significantly...more
Many employers in the retail, construction, service, entertainment, manufacturing and transportation industries contribute to multiemployer defined benefit pension plans (MEPs) on behalf of their unionized employees. A large...more
Whether it’s a single employer plan, a multiple employer plan (MEP), a pooled employer plan (PEP), or a plan provider, they can always be a target for ERISA litigation....more
With January 1st past us, we knew that many plan providers were going to launch Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs). I know, because I helped launch four and still in the process of converting two multiple employer plans (MEPs) into...more
Multiple employer plans (MEPs) have become larger targets for litigation when they achieve a plan of substantial size....more
If there is one famous quote that’s landed me in trouble, it’s one from my favorite football coach Bill Parcells. Parcells was coaching the New England Patriots and he wasn’t getting along with the new owner Robert Kraft...more
I rarely talk about legislation because so many bills over the years get proposed with zero action by Congress. It took more than 4 years for Roth 401(k) plans to be a thing. However, I want to take time to talk about...more
I'm a big fan of business history when it comes to brilliant business moves, as well as some pretty awful ones. In terms of bad business decisions, I always find it amusing when I can spot one when it's made and I could see...more
If you become big enough, you can get sued. That is the lesson I tell everyone when someone mentions to me when a large plan provider or a large plan gets sued. Jerry Schlicter’s law firms has targeted the Pentegra Defined...more
As an ERISA attorney an ERISA 3(16) administrator, I’ve been asked by many clients, advisory firms, bundled providers, and third-party administrators. Many advisory firms want their own pooled employer plan (PEP) and I think...more
When dealing with companies that may act as an adopting employer for a multiple employer plan (MEP) or pooled employer plan (PEP), I think the worst thing you can do is to market the MEP and PEP to a company. You think I’m...more
In the movie Casino, Robert Deniro’s character Lefty Rosenthal warns Joe Pesci’s character Nicky Santoro that his actions will get him into the Gaming Control Board’s “Black Book”, which means he would be banned from all...more
I always say that the retirement plan business is relationship-driven. It’s a business built on trust and it’s built on time. One of my dear friends in this business is James Holland, an advisor based in North Carolina. We...more
The SECURE Act: What It Is And What It Is NOT - As part of a large year-end piece of legislation, the provisions known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Security Act (the “SECURE Act”) were enacted into...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was signed into law late last month and makes significant positive changes impacting retirement plans. Many of the provisions are effective today, so...more
The SECURE Act, included as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, was signed into law on December 20, 2019. This new law contains many significant changes that may impact employer-sponsored benefit plans....more
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “Appropriations Act”) that includes the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019” (the “SECURE...more