PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
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
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE 2.0 Act - Navigating New Retirement Plan Provisions in 2024 - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
6 Key Takeaways | Succession Planning in the Current Banking Environment
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
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Planning for Post-Retirement Medical Expenses with 401(h) Plans
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Planning for Post-Retirement Medical Expenses With 401(h) Plans
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part IV Using Post-Retirement Medical Plans to Raise AUM and Sell Life Insurance
NOWOTNY ON DEATH AND TAXES EPISODE 35 USING POST-RETIREMENT MEDICAL PLANS TO RAISE AUM
IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - INTRODUCING THE MALTA FREEZE
THE ACCIDENTAL ENTREPRENEUR PART IV
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cybersecurity Considerations for Retirement Plan Sponsors
COVID-19 Estate News: Five Important Takeaways from the CARES Act that Affect Your Estate
The SECURE Act: Significant Changes for Retirement Plans and IRAs
When people are sick, especially with debilitating illnesses or diseases, it’s natural for them to travel far and wide to get the best medi- cal coverage possible. People who are ill will try to find the best medical coverage...more
Two federal district courts in Texas have issued orders staying the implementation of the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2024 Fiduciary Rule (the Final Rule) and related prohibited transaction exemption amendments....more
The case involves a dispute over the sponsorship and funding obligations for a pension plan formed by a Hospital Authority in Georgia. Our...more
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, of the Eastern District of Texas, has frozen the new fiduciary rules, by issuing a preliminary injunction to freeze the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Retirement Security Rule, which is...more
What is old is new again. Experts at an ERISA Advisory Council hearing recommended that annuities should be part of a defined contribution plan’s default The council is a 15-member body that advises the Department of Labor...more
If the U.S. Department of Labor’s Notice of Proposed Information Collection Request, issued on April 15, 2024, becomes final, fiduciary retirement plan committees may be asked to evaluate the important question of whether the...more
A 401(k) plan has so many moving parts, that errors do happen. I always say that if you want to find a mistake within a plan, you will eventually find one. However, there is a simple difference between common mistakes and...more
On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published an updated final version of prohibited transaction class exemption 84-14, also known as the qualified professional asset manager exemption (PTCE 84-14 or the QPAM...more
Investment managers who manage private employee benefit plan and individual retirement account (collectively, “Plan”) assets have long relied on Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (commonly referred to as the “QPAM...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") plaintiffs' bar has found a new way to allege that 401(k) plan sponsors have breached their fiduciary duty....more
While I took a couple of courses on ERISA and retirement plans for my Boston University Tax L.LM degree, my real education began in September 1998 when I worked for Harvey Berman, who co-owned a third-party administration...more
We all know from your health, that if you neglect certain things, it will hurt you later down the line. Whether it’s your heart or your teeth, neglecting important health issues is only going to make the situation worse. The...more
They say that you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. As a kid from Brooklyn, I do sweat the small stuff. When they say that you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, they mean that you should not focus your energy on things that...more
On January 11, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a final rule that provides new figures reflecting the adjusted civil penalty amounts for 2024, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act...more
On November 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a collection of regulatory changes in its ongoing quest to update the definition of a “fiduciary” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the...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
Like it or not, “gig” work is becoming the norm and not the exception and a recent article published by CNBC proves the point. Earlier this month they reported that 20% of adults own what pension folks call an inactive 401(K)...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has sued New Jersey concrete manufacturer Di Ferraro Inc. for failure to remit participant deferrals for loan repayments and failed to make promised employer matching contributions to its 401(k)...more
For those with an eye on ERISA and its fiduciary rules, the past few years have caused whiplash when it comes to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investments in retirement plans....more
People are scratching their heads, the Department of Labor (DOL) had grave concerns over offering crypto in 401(k) plans, and less than a week later, Fidelity announced their plan to offer Bitcoin as an option for plan...more
The DOL published on July 27, 2022 a proposed change to the QPAM Exemption (“Proposed QPAM Amendment”) that may require retirement plan sponsors to update their collective trust agreements in order to satisfy the new DOL...more
The DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 (Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees), allows broker-dealers and their registered representatives (advisors) to receive conflicted compensation resulting...more
The DOL has issued FAQs that generally explain PTE 2020-02 and the expanded definition of fiduciary advice, particularly for rollover recommendations. The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice was described in...more
Any article that states that revenue sharing has been declining in 401(k) plans is stating the obvious. Like with a dying business or organization, you can see it a mile away. Revenue sharing has been dying since the day that...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more