PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire
5 Key Takeaways | IRS Final RMD Rules & Proposed Regulations to Address SECURE 2.0 Act Issues
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Helping Employers Address the Gender Gap in Retirement Savings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Millennials, Boomers and 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 - Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
2022 Resolutions: What Healthcare Practices Need To Tackle In the New Year
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2020 Year-End Checklist
Under the current administration, the Department of Labor has once again changed course on its view of permissible investing strategies for retirement plans, warming to crypto and private equity, and confirming their distrust...more
In Compliance Assistance Release 2025-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) rescinded its prior guidance that cautioned fiduciaries against offering cryptocurrency investments in their retirement...more
The just-released 25th Edition of the 401k Averages Book confirms what many of us on the fiduciary side have known—and preached—for years: fees continue to fall, but not evenly. While this is welcome news, it’s also a wake-up...more
The Department of Labor recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 rescinding Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 that directed 401(k) plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before adding...more
On May 28, 2025, the US Department of Labor (the “Labor Department”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 (the “2025 Release”), memorializing the Labor Department’s decision to rescind Compliance Release No....more
Crypto may be back on the table for 401(k) plans, but fiduciary duties remain as demanding as ever. On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) indicated in court documents that it intends to begin new rulemaking to replace a previous rule that permitted 401(k) plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG)...more
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 (the “Release”), reversing previous guidance that cautioned plan fiduciaries offering investments in digital assets in...more
On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) began to articulate the Trump administration’s retirement policy priorities with its decisions to (i) end its defense of the Biden-era ESG rule in a long-running lawsuit...more
On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) provided updated guidance on two employee benefit plan-related investment areas: (1) cryptocurrency and (2) environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) investing....more
On May 28, 2025, the DOL released Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01. The 2025 CAR rescinds the DOL’s previous Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (2022 CAR), issued in 2022, which indicated an unfavorable DOL...more
On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 which rescinds the DOL’s prior Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 which had warned 401(k) plan fiduciaries against adding...more
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Rescinds Prior Guidance Limiting 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies Since March of 2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) operated under the guidance of the Compliance...more
Most SECURE 2.0 articles focus on the changes applicable to defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, and rightly so, since those plans were the most impacted by the law. However, SECURE 2.0 did make a handful of...more
Following previous failed attempts to expand the fiduciary liability of financial services providers, the DOL released a new rule that broadens the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The new rule is expected to face...more
The new “retirement security rule” package, issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 31, 2023, is the latest chapter in an almost 15-year effort by the DOL to amend the five-part test in its 1975...more
Responding to the “terrifying” reality that conflicted investment advice is costing retirement savers billions of dollars each year, on October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed rules representing its...more
As Bitcoin starts inching back up, I’m in the black again and expect more clamor for crypto options in 401(k) plans. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, reintroduced legislation to create a law, the Financial Freedom Act...more
With the new Department of Labor (DOL) rules on ESG funds, it should be no shock that mutual fund companies starting mutual fund offerings for 401(k) fund lineups. Putnam has launched the Putnam Sustainable Retirement Funds...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
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final rule (the “Final Rule) addressing how ERISA fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governmental (ESG) factors in making investment decisions for retirement...more
As 2022 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered health and welfare plan...more
On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor published Compliance Assistance Release 2022-01, 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies”. The Release strongly discourages the addition of cryptocurrency (and other digital...more
A recent release by the DOL raising concerns about plan sponsors allowing cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans has gotten the attention of both sides of the Congressional aisle as well as industry groups. Some of the...more
Fidelity Investments recently announced that it will offer its 401(k) plan clients the opportunity to offer bitcoin as a 401(k) plan investment option later this year. While this may sound intriguing to some plan fiduciaries...more