Employers and their compensation advisors often assume that an arrangement to pay employees in the future for work done over time will be subject to the rules for ERISA pension plans unless it is limited to a “select group of...more
“Solo 401(k)” is a marketing term used for a 401(k) plan that is adopted by a sole proprietor or an incorporated business with no employees other than the owner. These plans offer a greater retirement savings opportunity...more
2/14/2025
/ 401k ,
Contribution Limits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Form 5500 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Planning
On October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor published a new proposed regulation (the “Proposed Rule”) defining “investment advice” for purposes of determining when someone advising an ERISA plan or participant or an IRA...more
Two recent court decisions bring into focus two seldom-asked questions about the reasonable compensation requirement under ERISA. When must an ERISA plan’s service provider compensation be reasonable?...more
Collective investment trusts (“CITs”) have become an increasingly popular choice for 401(k) plan investment menus over the past decade, consistent with a trend toward lower-cost investment options that has been driven, in...more
1/4/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Collective Investment Schemes ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Management ,
New Rules ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 457(f) ,
SECURE Act
On July 27, 2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a set of amendments to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14, the so-called “QPAM Exemption,” which permits an investment fund holding assets of ERISA plans and...more
Benefit plan sponsors sometimes send out Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) having given too little thought to the legal consequences. Two recent cases illustrate how an organization can end up in serious and costly litigation...more
The latest installment in the regulatory back-and-forth over the investment of ERISA-governed retirement plan assets based on environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors arrived on October 14, 2021 in the...more
10/20/2021
/ 401k ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan
This Client Advisory summarizes developments in the law governing employee benefit plans prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We explain what these developments mean for plan sponsors and highlight the need to adopt plan...more
8/19/2021
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Compensation ,
GINA ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Retirement Plan ,
Vaccinations
A recent survey of full-time college and university faculty found that, as of the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year, approximately 25% of those surveyed expected to retire later than they had anticipated before the...more