"Employers have begun enrollment in Minnesota's Secure Choice Retirement Program according to a phased schedule with the first deadline on June 30, 2026. All Minnesota employers with five or more employees that do not offer a retirement plan will be required to facilitate this state program for employees via payroll contributions. Employees are automatically enrolled in the 5 percent contribution unless they affirmatively opt out. Minnesota employers that already have a retirement plan must file for an exemption." MORE >>
"For some plans, alternatives may offer meaningful diversification and long-term benefits when implemented carefully. For others, the added complexity, liquidity considerations, or cost may outweigh those potential advantages. Much depends on the plan's participant base, investment objectives, and governance structure.... ERISA continues to serve as the guardrail that ensures participant interests remain paramount." MORE >>
"The final rule aims to make improvements, particularly related to communications among group health plans and insurers, providers, and facilities with the certified IDR entities. The final rule includes varying applicability dates ranging from August 3, 2026, the effective date of the regulation, to 90 days after the effective date, depending on the specific provision. Final Rule on Independent Dispute Resolution Operations Share this page While the final rule is intended to improve IDR operations, it does not address other challenges." MORE >>
"[P]rivate equity products differ fundamentally from traditional mutual funds and public securities. They involve limited transparency, subjective valuation, conditional liquidity, complex fee structures, leverage, and performance reporting methodologies that are often not comparable to public-market investments.... This checklist is designed to help ERISA fiduciaries identify hidden risks, conflicts, prohibited transaction concerns, and misleading performance claims before adding private-market exposure to participant-directed retirement plans." MORE >>
"[ICI] found that though rollovers are driving IRA growth, participants prefer to seek rollover advice from professional advisors rather than their employer.... 64% said they consulted an advisor, 45% a financial service firm, and 35% consulted their employer which included written materials produced or made available by their employer. 35% also consulted their spouse or partner." MORE >>
"HHS and plan sponsor Star Group (SG) reached an agreement to resolve alleged HIPAA violations related to Star Group’s health plan, imposing $245,000 in fines and an extensive corrective action plan. The two-year corrective action plan will require the health plan to conduct a comprehensive HIPAA data security risk analysis, update training materials, and make annual reports to HHS. This enforcement action emphasizes the need for employers to prioritize security measures for health plan protected health information (PHI) and electronic protected health information (ePHI), as ransomware incidents can trigger government scrutiny and potential penalties under HIPAA." MORE >>
"The 401(k) record-keeping business is at a major crossroad. On the one hand, plan fees continue to decline, which, coupled with rising demand for service and costs, seems untenable. On the other hand, the opportunity to offer wealth services to the over 100 million active participants, either alone or in partnership with advisors, is immense." MORE >>
"[As] TrumpIRA.gov involves neither actual delivery of a retirement savings platform nor any sort of integration with payroll providers, and participation will be voluntary, whether the program will act to increase savings or long-term wealth for individuals is yet to be determined." MORE >>
"Cigna informed Plaintiff that it was denying coverage ... citing only its internal Medical Coverage Policy No. 0104 (MCP), a non-plan document ... The Ninth Circuit held that this was an improper post-hoc rationalization, because Cigna had relied only on the MCP during the administrative process, and the MCP and SPD are meaningfully different documents. A court may not affirm a denial on a rationale the administrator did not assert during the administrative process, as doing so deprives the claimant of the opportunity to respond and of the statutory right to full and fair review." [Roggenkamp v. Morgan Stanley Medical Plan, No. 24-7864 (9th Cir. June 5, 2026; unpub.)] MORE >>
"The proposed rules would split public companies into large accelerated filers and non-accelerated filers. Non-accelerated filers would be subject to scaled executive compensation disclosure rules, similar to those presently applicable to emerging growth companies (EGCs), and they would not be required to conduct Say-on-Pay and related advisory votes. The SEC estimates that approximately 81% of public companies would be non-accelerated filers subject to these scaled disclosure rules." MORE >>
"Rising healthcare costs make parental leave an especially visible target for cost reduction. But PFML has become one of the most valued benefits outside of medical coverage -- particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic -- and remains a driver of employee morale and retention. There's a difference between cutting costs and creating savings; PFML cuts often deliver the first, while PFML optimization delivers the second." MORE >>
"The Retirement Probability Simulator provides insight into the volatility and uncertainty inherent in investment returns. The Actuarial Financial Planner provides a disciplined, liability‑driven foundation for determining sustainable spending. Used together, they offer a more complete picture of retirement readiness than either tool can provide alone." MORE >>
"The expansion of Section 4960 to all employees represents a fundamental shift in the excise tax landscape for ATEOs and their related organizations. Organizations that previously needed to monitor compensation only for their five highest-paid employees must now consider the tax implications of compensation above $1 million paid to any employee.... [Notice 2026-36] limits the retroactive reach of the OBBBA expansion. In addition, preserving the limited hours and nonexempt funds exceptions is welcome news for organizations with complex multi-entity structures, as it provides continued relief for employees of related organizations who perform limited services for the ATEO." MORE >>
"While good health may buy you more time and a higher quality of life in your later years, it can also bring greater health care costs in retirement. That's because living longer not only extends the amount of time you'll need to pay for routine health care but also increases your risk of chronic disease.... Here's what health care could cost you -- and how to plan for it." MORE >>
"For adults in households below 150% of the federal poverty level (FPL), increases in public insurance coverage were associated with one-for-one decrease in uninsured and no change in ESI. For adults with incomes between 151% -- 400% FPL, each percentage point increase in public coverage was associated with about a 0.6 percentage point decrease in uninsured and a 0.4 decrease, or crowd out, in ESI." MORE >>
56 pages, rev. May 2026 "What's New for Tax Year 2025 ... [1] Due to the planned retirement of the Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) System, the IRS will no longer accept new Information Returns (IR) Applications for Transmitter Control Codes (TCCs) beginning July 21, 2026. Existing applicants can continue to update their applications through December 2026, after which they will become read-only and retained for historical reference. [2] Current FIRE users must complete an Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) Application for TCC and transition to IRIS for electronic filing beginning with the 2027 filing season. IRIS will be the only information returns electronic filing system, including current year, prior year, or corrections, after January 1, 2027." MORE >>
"Notice 2026-34 identifies recent changes in plan qualification requirements that the IRS will consider when reviewing defined benefit-qualified (DB-qualified) pre-approved plans for the fourth remedial amendment cycle (Cycle 4).... DB-qualified pre-approved plan document providers seeking Cycle 4 IRS opinion letters for the updated pre-approved plans they will ultimately offer for adoption by plan sponsors may submit applications from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027." MORE >>
"The pattern is familiar: employees elect to reduce taxable wages through an Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 125 cafeteria plan; the employer uses those amounts to pay premiums for a fixed-indemnity healthcare policy; and the insurer pays a monthly 'wellness benefit' regardless of actual medical expenses incurred by the employee to offset the reduced wages.... In June 2023, the IRS issued Chief Counsel Memorandum 202323006 concluding that such fixed-indemnity "wellness" payments are taxable wages because they are not reimbursements of actual medical expenses within the meaning of IRC Section 105." MORE >>
"[The SEC Staff Statement] acknowledges that PEPs were intended to fit within the framework that allows retirement plan trusts to avoid being treated as investment companies -- and says that while they don't fit neatly in the single trust exemption, the staff won't object if an otherwise compliant ERISA-covered PEP treats itself as a single trust.... The SEC essentially signals that while the exemption doesn't quite fit, they aren't looking for PEPs to start registering." MORE >>
"[The final rule] requires health insurers and plans (payers) to provide additional information on initial explanations of benefits (EOBs), reduces administrative fees to $15 per party per dispute, expands batching requirements, and implements substantial procedural reforms to the open negotiation and IDR initiation processes. These changes represent the most comprehensive revisions to the federal IDR process since its inception in 2022." MORE >>
"Chicago's updated rules (effective 06.01.26) clarify key aspects of its Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance, including compliance options, certification rules, and limits on sick leave use. The updated rules expand and define permissible uses and confirm employers may use a combined PTO policy if it meets accrual, carryover, and other requirements. They also address areas such as discipline for misuse and joint employer and successor liability." MORE >>
"[This article breaks] down the Section 415 limits, how they work, and why they matter, especially if participants work for more than one employer in a year, for related companies, or for companies that become related through a merger or acquisition ... how age 50+ catch up contributions factor into the equation ... [and] the correction method for excess annual additions." MORE >>
"The Eleventh Circuit's ... decision ... highlights growing litigation risk for defined benefit pension plans that rely on outdated 'legacy' actuarial assumptions, particularly outdated interest rates.... Pre‑1980s tables and fixed interest rates tied to older economic conditions are increasingly difficult to defend." [Drummond v. Southern Company, No. 24-12773 (11th Cir. May 26, 2026)] MORE >>
"[EBSA's] 2026 enforcement priorities emphasize conflicts of interest and fiduciary loyalty. Mental health coverage practices driven by cost-containment incentives may face increased scrutiny. MHPAEA comparative-analysis enforcement remains active. DOL and [CMS] continue issuing requests, insufficiency findings, and noncompliance determinations involving network adequacy, prior authorization, reimbursement methodologies, and other access-to-care barriers." MORE >>
"The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) would create a centralized reporting portal [called SURCH (States Unclaimed Retirement Clearing House)] for these plans to report any missing retirement funds. NAUPA would then take the data, the last known address of record, and the funds, distribute that to the appropriate state unclaimed property office, which would then take it from there and attempt to identify and remit the funds to the appropriate owner.... Once the funds are transferred ... retirement plan administrators and recordkeepers are relieved of responsibilities for those funds[.]" MORE >>
