Retirement Regulation

Demand for in-plan retirement income is strong as defined benefit plans continue to be phased out, according to Michael Dullaghan of Franklin Templeton.

There are currently over 600,000 micro 401(k) plans in the U.S., with less than $5 million in assets, and that number will increase to more than 1 million, driven in part by state mandates and federal tax incentives, according to a new Cerulli report.

Rep. Rick Crawford's 401(edu) plan proposal, family leave proposals and meal delivery came up at a House Ways and Means brainstorming session.

The banking giant has been hit with a class action lawsuit, alleging it used retirement plan contributions from departing employees to “offset its employer contributions” rather than reducing plan administrative fees, violating ERISA.

Participants contributed an average of 7.8% of pay (up from 7.4% in 2022), and employers contributed 4.9% of pay (up from 4.7%) for a combined savings rate of 12.7%, according to PSCA’s annual survey of 401(k) plans.

On Wednesday, the justices were divided on the class action lawsuit on behalf of 28,000 Cornell University employees accusing the school's retirement plans of paying excessive recordkeeping fees.

"CryptoMom” Hester Peirce, who was appointed by President Trump to the SEC in 2018, will lead the new task force to develop clear rules for digital assets, encouraging compliance and reducing fraud.

In addition to the $40 million Vanguard agreed to pay to investors as part of a class action suit in November, the SEC now finds that the firm did not provide retail investors accurate information about the capital gains and tax implications of a change to investment minimums.