The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
July 1, 2026
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20 items · ~8 min read
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (1) · Retirement Plans (8) · Litigation (3) · General Benefits (7) · Press Releases (1)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
1 itemThe PBGC issued a final rule updating the spreads component of interest assumptions used to value benefits in terminating single-employer plans, applicable to plans with valuation dates from July 31 through October 30, 2026. Actuaries and plan administrators handling plan terminations must use these revised assumptions for asset allocation calculations during that period. MORE >>
Source: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Retirement Plans
8 items“Many older fixed accounts and guaranteed contracts include provisions such as: These provisions vary by contract, but they can make replacing a legacy insurance product expensive. Imagine a fiduciary committee learns that replacing an inherited insurance contract could immediately reduce participant account values because of contractual exit costs. That creates a difficult choice. Leave the contract in place and continue earning below-market crediting rates. Or recognize a substantial immediate loss.” MORE >>
Source: The Commonsense 401(k) Project
[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
Form 5500 Filing Season: What Plan Sponsors Need to Know Before They Sign“July 31 is approaching – and for most calendar year plans, that is the un-extended deadline to file IRS Form 5500. Now is the time for plan sponsors to be actively reviewing draft filings with their professional advisors. The Form 5500 is an annual filing made with both the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Form 5500 must be filed by most retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans) and many health and welfare plans.” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
IRS/Treasury Submit Final SECURE 2.0 Auto-Enrollment Regulations to OIRA — Final Rule Imminent“Draft final regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 414A, as added by Section 101 of the SECURE 2.0 Act, were submitted for review to the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on June 23 by the Treasury Department and IRS. ... Under the statute and the proposed regulations, the changes generally apply to applicable 401(k) and 403(b) plans established after Dec. 29, 2022, beginning with plan years starting after Dec. 31, 2024. Treasury and IRS had previously indicated that final regulations will not apply until at least six months after they are finalized, but plan sponsors are still expected to rely on a reasonable, good-faith interpretation of the statute” MORE >>
Source: NAPA Net
[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
Developing Annuities as QDIAs in 401(k) Plans: DOL Advisory Opinion 2025-04A and the 2026 Regulatory Push“MarketWatch Blog by Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher is a columnist for MarketWatch and a professor of the practice of economics at Boston College. He is also a research fellow at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.” MORE >>
Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
[General Benefits]
Can 403(b) Sponsors Rely On SECURE 2.0’s Unenrolled Participant Notice Provision?“Q: While we allow all employees the opportunity to make elective deferrals to our 403(b) plan, we have a large number of eligible employees who do not participate in our ERISA 403(b) plan, which creates a significant burden with respect to providing required plan communications to such participants.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
[Expert Analysis]
The Next Roth Revolution May Be Happening Inside America’s 401(k)s“According to Fidelity data shared with PLANSPONSOR, 21.4% of Gen Z participants now contribute to a Roth 401(k), up from approximately 12% five years ago. Principal Financial Group likewise shared that overall Roth participation in-plan rose to 16% over the past year with Gen X (13.9%) and Millennials (15.5%) leading the charge. ... more than 96.5% of Fidelity plans offer the ability to make Roth contributions in-plan, and every 401Go plan offers the option, the companies told PLANSPONSOR.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
[Expert Analysis]
Benchmarking Multiemployer Annuity Fund Administrative Fees | Segal“To help trustees of multiemployer DC annuity fund understand the fees they should expect or negotiate for their plans, Segal analyzed the administrative expenses reported by DC annuity funds in Form 5500 filings for 2023 and 2024. When segmenting the data by plan type, geography, plan size and participant size, the data not only showed clear patterns in administrative cost, but provided guidelines to help plan sponsors understand the fees they should expect or negotiate for their plans.” MORE >>
Source: Segal
[Expert Analysis]
Recordkeepers Prepare for Heightened Retirement Income Demand“Offering guaranteed income products is now the norm among recordkeepers: 77% of survey respondents reported offering at least one annuity to participants on their platforms. The availability of fixed index annuities has more than doubled since 2024, to 48% from 22%, and income annuity offerings grew to 52% from 33% in 2024. Guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits were the most frequently offered lifetime-income product in 2024 (available from 39% of recordkeepers), and availability grew by 4 percentage points, to 43%, over the past two years.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
Litigation
3 items“In Williams v. Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC Benefits and Investment Committee, No. 24-cv-07593-VC, 2026 WL 1865363 (N.D. Cal. June 29, 2026), United States District Judge Vince Chhabria granted in part and denied in part Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claim, and denied the defendants’ cross-motion in full. The court held that the plan fiduciaries breached their ERISA duties by giving Plaintiff materially false benefits advice, but found that a trial is needed to determine what monetary relief Plaintiff can recover.” MORE >>
Source: Roberts Disability Law
[ERISA Litigation]
California Court Lets ESOP Non-Company Stock Suit Proceed“In Dawson-Roberts v. Norman S. Wright Mechanical Equipment LLC, the plaintiff alleged that the ESOP's OIA had grown from approximately $4 million in 2021 to $12 million in 2024 while invested in cash equivalents, and that the OIA would be worth more today had those assets been invested in a portfolio including stocks and bonds. The court largely denied the defendants' motion to dismiss. ... Splitting with Trull, the court rejected the defendants' reliance on ERISA's exemption from the duty to diversify plan assets afforded to ESOP fiduciaries, holding instead that the carveout is limited by its terms to company stock.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
“The suit focused on alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regarding the $5 billion Hand Composite Employee Benefit Trust and the actions (or lack thereof) of the company's CEO David Hand, its President Stephen Hand and several other individual members of the company's board of directors. Specifically, the lawsuit (Sonderling v. Hand et al., case number 4:26-cv-05025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas) alleges that,” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
General Benefits
7 items“For employers, the key takeaway is that employer contributions generally should not trigger ERISA coverage—if the program remains voluntary and the employer avoids taking on plan-like control or endorsement. Employers that merely facilitate payroll deduction contributions should continue to observe the IRA payroll deduction safe harbor by maintaining neutrality and avoiding endorsement of the program or any provider. ... Employers considering a Trump Account contribution program should review plan communications, payroll processes, cafeteria plan design, nondiscrimination testing procedures, and vendor materials as appropriate to preserve the intended non-ERISA treatment.” MORE >>
Source: haynesboone.com
“U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) stressed her "strong opposition" to the DOL's proposed rule released in March, saying it would expose retirees to "assets that sophisticated investors are working to shed," and accelerate the "decline" of public markets. "A rule marketing as 'democratizing' access to private markets would in fact ratify a system in which the public markets—the markets that are actually open to, and protective of, hardworking Americans—continue to wither, while retirement savers are enlisted to backfill the capital issuers no longer need to raise in public view," Waters claimed.” MORE >>
Source: wealthmanagement.com
[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
Developing Trump Accounts are Exempt from ERISA: Should Employers Celebrate by Making Contributions?“The Department of Labor issued Technical Release 2026-02, announcing that the Accounts will—generally—be exempt from ERISA. ... Code Section 128 allows employers to contribute to an employee's Account or an employee's dependent's(s') Account(s) each year on a tax-free basis. The amount employers can contribute each year is capped at $2,500 (indexed for inflation after 2027) per employee—not per dependent. To make these contributions, employers must adopt a separate written plan which meets requirements that are similar to a dependent care assistance program (e.g., nondiscrimination, eligibility, notification of eligible employees, etc.).” MORE >>
Source: Boutwell Fay
[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
IRS Eases Gift Tax Rules for Trump Account Contributions“With nearly 6 million elections to open a Trump Account received as of early June and with the program’s official launch happening on Saturday, July 4, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued Revenue Procedure 2026-25 providing a gift tax reporting safe harbor for certain contributions to Trump accounts created under the Working Families Tax Cuts.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“Under SECURE 2.0, the DOL introduced a self-correction program for modest late contributions. This provides welcome relief for smaller corrections where lost earnings are under $1,000 and corrections occur within 180 days. ... If a correction does not qualify for the self-correction program—such as when lost earnings exceed $1,000 or the 180-day window has passed—it requires the full Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). ... Plan sponsors must file Form 5330 with the IRS and pay the applicable excise tax (typically 15% on lost earnings) to achieve full correction and protection.” MORE >>
Source: Hall Benefits Law
“The president plans to nominate Keith Sonderling — a Republican with several years of agency experience — to serve as secretary of labor, according to a Monday social media post. Sonderling, who was previously deputy secretary, took the helm as acting secretary after Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April amid reports of an investigation into potential misconduct. ... In Sonderling's time at DOL, he has voiced support for employer-friendly regulations and programs that encourage employers to perform self-audits, report employment law violations and take corrective action.” MORE >>
Source: HR Dive
[Press Releases]
Ascensus Launches National 403(b) PEP for Nonprofits“The 403(b) PEP comes with a bundled administrative structure combining recordkeeping, fiduciary oversight and plan administration. Newport, an Ascensus company, will serve as the pooled plan provider and administrative fiduciary, Ascensus will be the recordkeeper, and Arpio Inc. will provide independent investment fiduciary oversight. ... The plan is currently available through open distribution to advisers nationwide, according to the announcement.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
Press Releases
1 item“Empower will acquire the business for a total consideration of $340 million. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. ... Upon closing, the transaction will include the addition to Empower of 400 defined benefit plans with 790,000 plan participants and $80 billion in assets under administration. Empower also expects to acquire more than 1,100 defined contribution plans representing 750,000 participants and more than $50 billion in client assets. ... Approximately 100 health and welfare administration clients with about 100,000 plan participants will also join Empower.” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
Also of Note
- How Could AI Help Public DC Plans? — “By: Thomas Anichini, GuidedChoice When people hear “AI,” they often think of large language models and virtual assistants.” (NCPERS)