"IRS Employee Plans presented the seminar, Retirement Plans: Avoid These Pitfalls When Managing Your Small Employer Plan.... Part of [the] presentation focused on a series of plan checklists that may help small business owners keep their plans in compliance. [1]  401(k) Plan Checklist ; [2]  SEP Plan Checklist ; [3]  SIMPLE IRA Plan Checklist ; [4]  SARSEP IRA Plan Checklist .... [A]nswers to some of the most common questions [submitted after the presentation are included in this document]."   MORE >>

"While perhaps unexpected, these additional extensions allow the adoption of SECURE Act, Miners Act, CARES Act, and 2020 Relief Act changes with a single amendment. As a result, most plans will not be required to adopt IRS required changes this year. But, of course, plan sponsors who want to amend their plans now to reflect the CARES Act and 2020 Relief Act provisions, while still somewhat fresh in their mind, can proceed with little concern."   MORE >>

"[To] survive a motion to dismiss in the Seventh Circuit, the recent ruling in Albert v. Oshkosh Corp. reiterated that plaintiffs must allege both high fees and substandard services or performance in comparison to other similar 401(k) plans." [ Albert v. Oshkosh Corp. , No. 21-2789 (7th Cir. Aug. 29, 2022)]   MORE >>

"Fidelity's decision to plunge into the choppy waters and invest in blockchain and cryptocurrency clearly reflects the bullish excitement and potential for many investors who are eager to participate in this emerging opportunity. These and other recent developments in the financial services industry may actually be a sign that the crypto winter is experiencing the first signs of a major thaw."   MORE >>

"40% of workers age 45 and older are delaying their retirement because of rising living costs -- double those who said they delayed retirement last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic."   MORE >>

"While the typical target-date retirement fund devotes about 30% of assets to equity, the highest is about one-and-a-half times that level at 44%, while the lowest is about one third that level, at roughly 10%.... From 2018 to 2021, funds with higher equity weightings posted higher total returns on average. Those with 33% to 43% equity averaged 7.7% annualized; funds with 30% to 33% equity averaged 6.5%; funds with 25% to 30% equity averaged 6.3%; and funds with 11% to 21% averaged 4.9%."   MORE >>

"While not yet back to pre-COVID levels, average deferral rates are up, more participants are contributing, more plans are permitting immediate eligibility, and employer contribution rates to 403(b) plans rose almost 24% year-over-year[.]"   MORE >>

"While both techniques allow a plan sponsor to get a sense of the risk -- that is, the volatility of outputs -- that is otherwise opaque in the traditional single deterministic model, stochastic modeling provides some advantage in that the individual economic scenarios are not manually selected.... Stochastic models are particularly useful in forecasting ... The output of the model will show not only the underlying riskiness of an output variable -- for example, funded status or contribution requirements -- but also how the risks may change over time."   MORE >>

"[In] the 2000s, ... plan features began changing. Some plans, more in tune with the financial risks than most, started cutting back in the 1990s already, or even sooner.... Public plans are now within shouting distance of solvency, if not already there.... This report looks at some of the common ways in which this outcome was achieved, and which were most commonly used, by whom."   MORE >>

"[1] All plans will refund public employees if they leave public service before retirement, and a majority will refund their contributions with interest.... [2] Most pension systems allow employees to purchase service credits for different types of government service (including out-of-state government service).... [3] In most systems, workers can leave their contributions in their accounts, even if they leave public employment."   MORE >>

"[T]he current volatility in securities markets and lower expected returns in the midterm do not warrant a change in ... suggested retirement saving strategies.... Plan sponsors can help participants navigate market volatility by increasing adoption of target date funds in their plan lineup and providing emergency savings vehicles."   MORE >>

"In determining whether to proceed with a stock option repricing, and determine which method is most suitable, publicly-traded companies should evaluate [certain] key considerations ... There are multiple methods that companies may employ when implementing a stock option repricing program. The key features and considerations of each stock option repricing method are summarized [in this article]."   MORE >>