PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
La Reforma Pensional en Colombia
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
Multiemployer Pension Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE 2.0 Act - Navigating New Retirement Plan Provisions in 2024 - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0: Leveraging Opportunities Employees Want Most
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Qualified Plans — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Virginia Launches New Retirement Savings Program
The DOL’s fiduciary regulation was scheduled to become effective this September 23. The exemptions were scheduled to become partially effective this September 23 and fully effective September 23, 2025....more
On April 25, 2024, the Department of Labor published its final regulation defining fiduciary status for investment advice and the related exemptions—PTE 2020-02 and 84-24. The exemptions provide relief from prohibited...more
As recently noted by the US Department of Labor (“DOL”), since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), “the retirement plan landscape has changed significantly, with a shift from defined...more
I always say a retirement plan provider needs to find its niche to stand out in the retirement plan marketplace. A new firm, Annuity Research & Consulting, has been created to help 401(k) retirement plan sponsors and their...more
SECURE 2.0, which was included as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, was signed into law in late December 2022. The statute contains 92 substantive sections making reforms to a broad array of...more
There has been a push to add annuities to retirement plans, but I don’t see it gaining ground. According to Alight, plan sponsors are hesitant to add it, which was part of the 2019 SECURE Act. ...more
When it comes to plan design, I believe in the idea of KISS: keep it simple, stupid....more
With a push for fixed income products, there is n shock that BlackRock is putting annuities in American workers’ 401(k)Plan....more
Earlier this year, we discussed the lifetime income disclosure requirement that was included in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”). When the disclosure requirement becomes...more
The SECURE Act of 2019 made three statutory changes to ERISA regarding lifetime income benefit payments from defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing, and money purchase pension plans). This blog will...more
In a little more than 35 years, 401(k) plans have become the dominant employer-sponsored retirement plan. 401(k) plans place the investment risk and reward squarely on the participant. The employee’s ultimate benefit is...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas dealt a major blow to the putative class action Torres v. American Airlines, Inc., finding that the four named plaintiffs are not adequate class representatives for...more
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that spousal consent to the waiver of a qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA) that is necessary to elect an optional retirement payment form must be signed in the...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
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, the most important retirement legislation since the Pension Protection Act of 2006. One of the most...more
There are several tools that can be used to correct or fix governmental plan problems. First, some classification. Practically all the retirement plans we discuss are “tax-advantaged” in one form or another. However,...more
A growing number of U.S. employers are adding lifetime income solutions to their defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, according to the 2019 Lifetime Income Solutions Survey by Willis Towers Watson....more
By now you have probably seen a number of articles about the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019) and its safe harbor for guaranteed retirement income in 401(k) plans. Some have...more
Major changes in federal law are in the works that could significantly impact employers’ qualified retirement plans, which could require amending such plans to reflect mandatory and elective changes. The U.S. House of...more
CHANGES TO INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS, CORPORATE LAW AND PENSIONS - The 2019 Budget proposes to introduce legislative amendments to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Canada...more
PBGC staff have taken the position in informal guidance that plan sponsors that structure pension annuity purchases through spinoff and termination transactions should not be able to achieve the significant savings on PBGC...more
The issue over the Fiduciary Rule, and whether it will be implemented, revised, vacated, forgotten, etc. has been ongoing. In March 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of several business groups who...more
As reported in our November 28 client alert, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Annuity Suitability Working Group (Suitability WG) circulated the proposed Suitability and Best Interest Standard of...more
For the past several months, we have written about potential litigation issues under the “revised temporary” DOL Rule involving the offer and sale of annuities in the IRA market. This article continues that discussion. ...more
For the past several months, we have written about potential litigation issues under the “revised temporary” DOL Rule involving the offer and sale of annuities in the IRA market. This article continues that discussion. Recall...more