68 pages. "This document provides information for plans paying premiums for plan years beginning in 2022, including instructions for each data element that must be reported.... If you are filing for a previous year or amending a filing for a previous year, you must follow the instructions for that year ... However, because contact information and information about electronic funds transfers change periodically, the most recent information should be used instead of the information included in an instructions booklet for a prior plan year."   MORE >>

"What's New: [1] Life expectancy tables updated.... [2] Form 8915-F replaces Form 8915-E for reporting qualified 2020 disaster distributions and repayments of those distributions made in 2021 and 2022... [3] Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) may be reduced."   MORE >>

"This document provides notice of the pendency before the [DOL] of a proposed individual exemption from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of [ERISA] and/or the Internal Revenue Code ... If this proposed exemption is granted, certain entities with specified relationships to Credit Suisse AG (CSAG) and Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited (CSSEL) will not be precluded from relying on the exemptive relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14, notwithstanding the judgments of conviction against CSAG and CSSEL[.]"   MORE >>

"The following individuals have been designated as members of PBGC's 2021 Performance Review Board: [1] Gordon Hartogensis, Director; [2] Kristin Chapman, Chief of Staff; [3] David Foley, Chief of Benefits Administration; [4] Patricia Kelly, Chief Financial Officer; [5] Alice Maroni, Chief Management Officer."   MORE >>

"[The National Defense Authorization Act] ... creates a Department of Defense pilot program which allows companies that are or become 100% ESOP-owned to qualify for a sole source award on a follow-on contract. This is a game-changer for ESOP-owned government contractors."   MORE >>

"While PEPs can shift a lot of responsibility from the employer to the PPP and plan investment fiduciaries, adopting a PEP is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for employers. They must still prudently select the PEP and its array of service providers, evaluating conflict and risk mitigation, and all PEPs are not equal. There are professionals who can assist in this process. Also, if an employer has a qualification problem, it must respond to correct it, as directed by the PPP."   MORE >>

"This paper first reviews strategies to navigate the onerous legal and regulatory issues faced by plan fiduciaries today, which will understandably take precedent over any other plan consideration. [It then examines] tactics to better fund future 'liabilities,' including increasing savings and creating more efficient investment strategies for both active participants and retirees, with an overall objective of increasing the likelihood that employees will have successful retirement outcomes."   MORE >>

"If the participant was clear and followed the plan's procedures for naming a beneficiary, the fiduciaries of the plan are bound by ERISA to follow that result.... The plan language may have requirements or exceptions. For example, some plans will provide that a divorce automatically revokes a beneficiary designation that was previously filed. Any specific rules or exceptions found in the plan language must be followed scrupulously by the fiduciaries."   MORE >>

"At oral argument in Hughes, the Justices grappled with several interrelated issues that will shape whether, and how high, they set the bar for excessive fee claims: [1] What's the standard for prudent fiduciary conduct? ... [2] Excessive fees versus excessive options.... [3] What is an appropriate comparator?.... [4] Are subsequent plan changes fair game?" [ Hughes v. Northwestern Univ. , No. 18-2569 (7th Cir. Mar. 25, 2020; oral arg. transcript Dec. 6, 2021)]   MORE >>

"[T]he new complaint levels allegations against several financial services providers involved in the operation of the retirement plan in question ... It also includes new allegations against the plan sponsor for alleged failures in its process of monitoring the actions and performance of these providers.... [It alleges] that certain advisory professionals ... were not properly licensed or were not otherwise in good standing with regulators but were nonetheless still allowed by the plan sponsor defendants -- which include various individuals and plan committees -- to work with the plan and its participants." [Fleming v. Rollins, Inc., No. 21-5343 (N.D. Ga. complaint filed Dec. 30, 2021)]   MORE >>

"Despite the demise of the 4% Rule implied in Dr. Finke's article title, ... the 4% Rule, and its many iterations and 'safe withdrawal rate' cousins, are, unfortunately, not dead. The rule is just too popular with retirees, financial advisors and the financial services media to be killed.... [The authors] recommend a dynamic actuarial approach that involves building a Floor Portfolio of non-risky investments to match household investment risk with household spending (in)flexibility."   MORE >>

"Under the fiduciary standard, plan sponsors can't default to simplistic rules of thumb when selecting investments for a retirement plan.... Benefits to plan participants, not litigation risk or convenience, should be [the] focus.... Active or passive, plan sponsors have the same responsibility.... Active and passive are not diametrically opposed.... Active investments add value.... Plan sponsors should focus on 'value for cost' of specific investments."   MORE >>

"Auditing standard SAS 136 ... [adds] new procedures to CPAs' audits beginning December 15, 2021. The burden for producing the added plan-related documentation required will likely fall to employers' human resources departments. SAS 136 transfers a significant amount of liability for an audit's accuracy from an auditor to a plan's fiduciaries, increasing the need for error-free payroll files and impeccable compliance in areas like compensation, distributions, and vendors' fees."   MORE >>