The new administration has recently taken steps to revise guidance with respect to two retirement plan investment options: cryptocurrency, and funds focusing on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors. These two...more
6/10/2025
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rulemaking Process
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02 (the “Bulletin”), clarifying the annual funding notice requirements applicable to defined benefit pension plans under section...more
Background - Many defined contribution plans are designed to permit participants to take advantage of an increased employee contribution limit starting the year they turn 50....more
2/13/2025
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
IRS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning ,
U.S. Treasury
In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released Compliance Assistance Release No. 2024-01 and its updated cybersecurity guidance for employers that sponsor employee benefit plans governed by the Employee...more
Five years ago, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”) made several significant changes to certain distributions required pursuant to Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section...more
Pension-Linked Emergency Savings Accounts (“PLESAs”) are a special retirement plan feature created under SECURE ACT 2.0. PLESAs were first permitted to be made available to participants as of January 1, 2024. PLESAs, which...more
4/8/2024
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
On November 22, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released new regulations (the “New Regulations”) further clarifying the rules governing how retirement plan fiduciaries should approach plan investments under the...more
On September 26, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2022-45, extending the deadline to amend eligible retirement plans (including nongovernmental qualified plans and 403(b) plans and individual retirement...more
On January 24, 2022, in a rare, unanimous 8-0 decision (Justice Barrett recused herself from the case), the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Supreme Court”) vacated a Seventh Circuit affirmation of the dismissal of...more
3/3/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Plan Participants ,
Remand ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SCOTUS
On December 9, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-86 which provides guidance relating to certain changes to the safe harbor rules that apply to 401(k) plans made by the Setting Every Community Up...more
As part of our series of continuing updates on different aspects of The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”) and related legislation that may impact (or provide opportunities...more
The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), made sweeping changes to retirement plan rules. As part of our ongoing efforts to summarize key provisions of the SECURE Act that may...more
Signed into law on December 20, 2019 as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), made sweeping changes to retirement...more
The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”), made sweeping changes to retirement plan rules. As described in our prior alert, certain provisions took effect immediately and were...more
The IRS recently issued IRS Notice 2020-50 (“Notice 2020-50”) which provides guidance for retirement plan sponsors and administrators, as well as to individuals, relating to the application of coronavirus-related...more
COVID-19 has made traditional notarization, where the notary is in the same physical location as the signatory, a potentially hazardous and often undesirable requirement. Many states have reacted to this by permitting remote...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748), known as the CARES Act, was enacted today. This legislation contains several important provisions for employers and plan administrators regarding their...more
On December 20, 2019, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “FCAA”) was signed by the President after passing both houses of Congress. Within the FCAA, which was primarily a budget and spending law, a...more
On September 23, 2019, the Department of Treasury published the final regulations relating to changes to the hardship distribution rules that apply to qualified retirement plans and 403(b) plans, that were enacted under the...more
On September 29, 2017, the Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017 (the “Act”)1 was signed into law to provide aid to victims who are recovering from the recent hurricanes in August and September...more
10/25/2017
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Hurricane Maria ,
Natural Disasters ,
Puerto Rico ,
Retirement Plan
The IRS announced (through the two announcements 2017-11 and 2017-13) relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey, which struck Texas and surrounding areas in August 2017, and victims of Hurricane Irma, which struck Florida and...more
9/27/2017
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Form 5500 ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Hurricane Irma ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Extensions ,
Tax Returns
Many tax exempt employers sponsor Section 403(b) retirement plans to help their employees save money for retirement. A 403(b) plan offers the ability for an employee to make pre-tax contributions to the plan (similar to the...more
In January 2017, the IRS published Revenue Procedure 2017-18 which set March 31, 2020 as the last day to take advantage of the remedial amendment period under Revenue Procedure 2013-22 to retroactively fix defects in 403(b)...more