"The pilot program has three key features: [1] Advance notice of an upcoming audit ... [2] 90-Day review period to self-correct errors ... [3] Reduced fees for errors not eligible for self-correction."   MORE >>

"Although the IRS announcement is not specific, it appears that the pilot program will apply to IRS examinations of both 401(a) and 403(b) retirement plans. The IRS announcement does not state whether all or only some retirement plans selected for audit will be offered the pre-examination pilot program."   MORE >>

"The proposed amendments to the exemption application regulations include some of the DOL's existing policy positions that are already being applied to exemption requests and would also add a number of significant new requirements."   MORE >>

"As the June 30, 2022 CalSavers deadline bears down on employers with five or more California employees, many small employers may be giving thought to adopting a simplified retirement plan, whether a SEP or SIMPLE IRA.... [E]ach of these types of plans imposes participation notification duties that employers often overlook, and noncompliance can put the tax-sanctioned status of the whole arrangement at risk."   MORE >>

"For [certain] individuals, the complaint alleges, when the plan converts [a single life annuity (SLA) to a joint and survivor annuity (JSA)], it uses a mortality table that is more than 40 years out of date, 'despite massive increases in life expectancy in the intervening decades.' " [Knight v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 22-4592 (S.D.N.Y. complaint filed Jun. 2, 2022)]   MORE >>

"[T]his development serves as more direct evidence that there is an increasing demand from the workforce to have access to crypto products. While several financial experts expect that crypto may eventually have a place in 401(k) offerings, the time period for this adoption, and the parameters for such inclusion, remain to be seen." [ForUsAll v. DOL, No. 22-1551 (D.D.C. complaint filed Jun. 2, 2022)]   MORE >>

"One of the most common errors in 401(k) plan administration continues to be a mismatch between a plan's definition of compensation and the actual compensation taken into account for plan purposes ... [This blog post reviews] scenarios in which this problem occurs and steps plan sponsors can take to minimize the risk of this happening to them."   MORE >>

"The inclusion of 'legacy debt' -- unfunded liabilities from long ago -- with current liabilities impedes effective pension policy. A new approach would separate legacy debt from other unfunded liabilities in order to: spread the legacy cost over multiple generations; and properly identify fixed vs. variable costs. It would also use the municipal bond yield -- rather than the assumed return on assets -- to calculate liabilities and required contributions."   MORE >>

"Following a record-setting 2021, pension buyout sales started 2022 strong, totalling $2.7B in Q1 2022. This represents a 163% increase compared to Q1 2021. 75 buyout contracts were sold, compared to 43 in the first quarter of 2021. The outlook for the rest of the year remains strong, and total annual sales should once again surpass at least $25B."   MORE >>

"Retirees who wish to implement a safety-first investment strategy should be cautious about adopting financial asset investment strategies that do not consider household non-financial assets. They should also be cautious about adopting investing rules of thumb such as 60%/40% investments or accepting common adages respecting rebalancing of such percentages."   MORE >>