FTC and Florida Focus on Non-Competes, SCOTUS to Rule on Pension Withdrawal Liability - #WorkforceWednesday® - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Navigating Fiduciary Responsibilities in a Tide-Turning ESG Era
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Big Changes to Catch-Up Contributions in 2025
How ERISA Litigators Strengthen Plan Compliance and Risk Management: One-on-One with Jeb Gerth
Maximizing Financial Growth: Insights on HSAs and Smart Investment Strategies with Shaun Eddy
5 Key Takeaways | IRS Final RMD Rules & Proposed Regulations to Address SECURE 2.0 Act Issues
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Tax Relief and Possible Retirement Plan Resources for Hurricane Victims
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
Bitcoin has blown past $120,000 and, predictably, the buzz is back. Advisors are getting questions. Participants are curious. And yes, some plan sponsors are starting to wonder if it’s time to add crypto to their 401(k)...more
On July 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued some new interpretive guidance as part of a request for information (“RFI”) about pooled employer plans (“PEPs”) and an employer’s fiduciary responsibilities that...more
Here we go again. Another jumbo 401(k) plan, another lawsuit, another round of alleged fiduciary misconduct that reads like a broken record for those of us who’ve been watching this space since before fee disclosure was a...more
Fifteen years into my solo practice, you’d think I’d be desensitized to the absurdities of the 401(k) world. But no. Every time I think I’ve seen it all, a plan sponsor, or more accurately, the people advising them, reminds...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
Another week, another Adams v. Goliath story in the world of ERISA litigation—and this time, Goliath is Cigna. The company is now facing its second lawsuit in as many months over how it handled forfeitures in its $13 billion...more
Let me be honest: most fiduciary training out there is about as exciting as watching paint dry in a compliance office. It’s often a checkbox exercise—generic, outdated, and completely divorced from the real-world problems...more
After close to 30 years in this business—wearing the hats of TPA employee, ERISA attorney, plan document drafter, and occasional therapist to frantic plan sponsors—I’ve seen it all. The horror stories, the lawsuits, the...more
I enjoy business history and why certain businesses and organizations fail. I knew Sears and Blockbuster Video would fail, years ahead of time. I knew the synagogue where I was a member and where my son had his bris, would...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
Empower recently made headlines by announcing a bold new initiative: giving defined contribution (DC) retirement plan participants access to private market investments. On the surface, it sounds like a win—more choice,...more
When I draft a new 401(k) plan for a client, one of the first provisions I’ll recommend—including with some reluctance—is a loan feature. Not because I enjoy dealing with it. On the contrary, it’s an administrative pain. But...more
The landscape for retirement plan investments and fiduciary risks is shifting in the early part of the second Trump Administration, both due to changes in the administration’s policies and developments in the courts....more
When acquiring a company that offers its employees retirement benefits via a 401(k) plan, a lot can go wrong and recent law changes and litigation trends have created more complications. Buyers who fail to understand and...more
Artificial Intelligence. It sounds futuristic, impressive, and maybe even a little terrifying—like something you’d expect in a sci-fi movie where robots take over the world. I’m still convinced that AI is just Skynet in...more
I have experienced several bear markets as an ERISA attorney, and it’s never easy, especially with the current volatility due to tariffs....more
A recent complaint (Dylan Handy v. Paychex, Inc.) highlights the potential for plan administrators, and their delegates, to continue monitoring distributions after being made. In this particular situation, the participant...more
I’ve been in the retirement plan business for 26 years and I’ve been through a few recessions in that time. There was the dot-bomb implosion, added by 9/11. Let us not forget when our entire financial system was on the verge...more
by Alex Smith A recently filed lawsuit related to Swiss Re’s 401(k) plan stands out because of the extensive assortment of allegations...more
At work and at home, one of the worst things I ever did was make a mistake and not accept responsibility for it. Instead of owning up, I would make excuses, turning the fight over the mistake into a bigger issue than the...more
As I have always said, the most important 401(k) plan provider you can hire is a Third-Party Administrator (TPA). That’s because a TPA does so much work, and their incompetence can lead to you getting penalized or forcing you...more
On January 14, 2025, the DOL issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2025-01, providing sponsors and administrators of ongoing defined contribution plans with a new option for missing participant balances of $1,000 or less:...more
There has been a recent uptick in ERISA class actions challenging the use of 401(k) plan forfeitures. Forfeitures are employer contributions that participants forfeit when they leave employment before those contributions vest...more
Investments in Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming more and more mainstream. Driven by outrageous returns, and presenting outrageous volatility and risk, both traditional institutional and individual...more
The Government Accountability Office recently urged the U.S. Department of Labor to release guidance on cybersecurity matters in an effort to mitigate risks to 401(k) and other retirement plans. The GAO noted that there were...more