The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
July 2, 2026
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11 items · ~4 min read
Top of the Brief
Trump Accounts Investment Lineup Released by Treasury Department“At launch, all contributions to Trump Accounts will be invested in the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM), a low-cost exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index. ... children who are U.S. citizens and born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028 will be eligible for a one-time $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury, invested upon election by an authorized adult when filing federal taxes. In addition, for any U.S. child under 18, individuals may contribute up to $5,000 per year to a Trump Account.”
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (4) · Retirement Plans (1) · Litigation (3) · General Benefits (1) · Webinars (1) · Jobs (1)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
4 items“At launch, all contributions to Trump Accounts will be invested in the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM), a low-cost exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index. ... children who are U.S. citizens and born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028 will be eligible for a one-time $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury, invested upon election by an authorized adult when filing federal taxes. In addition, for any U.S. child under 18, individuals may contribute up to $5,000 per year to a Trump Account.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“The IRS has updated the list of the required modifications (LRM) for defined benefit plans. The refreshed list takes into account changes in the plan qualification requirements, regulations, revenue rulings, and other guidance in the 2026 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements. ... The 2026 Cumulative List identifies recent changes in the qualification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that (1) were not taken into account during the first three remedial amendment cycles for DB pre-approved plans and (2) will be taken into account regarding the form of a plan submitted during the Cycle 4 submission period, which begins on August 1, 2026, and ends on July 3” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
“SFA assets remain subject to the program's restrictions and conditions, including requiring SFA assets to remain segregated from other plan assets and that they are used only for benefit payments and administrative expenses. ... In determining withdrawal liability, the PBGC requires merged plans to continue using the PBGC interest assumptions applicable to SFA plans when calculating unfunded vested benefits attributable to the pre-merger SFA plan. These requirements continue until the later of ten plan years after the first year in which the plan received SFA or the projected exhaustion date of SFA assets. If a proposed withdrawal liability settlement exceeds $50 million, the merged plan mus” MORE >>
Source: Morgan Lewis (ML BeneBits)
“A proposed rule by the Department of Labor (DOL) that would replace the Biden-era guidance concerning the use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors by retirement plan fiduciaries when making investment decisions has been submitted for review.” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
Retirement Plans
1 item“Last year, 6% of Vanguard participants took a hardship withdrawal, up from just 2% in 2021, according to the company's annual report. The report also showed that about 13% of plan participants had an outstanding loan, a level that has remained consistent over the past three years and suggests some participants have ongoing liquidity needs. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 allows in-plan emergency savings accounts and provides some new flexibility for retirement plan withdrawals and loans, offering penalty-free, self-certified emergency distributions and repayable short-term loan options (up to $1,000 once per year), without halting ongoing contributions.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
Litigation
3 items“On March 12, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice v. United States Department of Labor (FACC v. DOL), granted plaintiffs' motion that the DOL's advice fiduciary rule and its related amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24 be vacated. Plaintiffs' motion was not opposed by defendant DOL. The court's order puts an end (for the moment at least) to DOL's 2024 effort to reform ERISA's advice fiduciary rule.” MORE >>
Source: October Three
“A former participant in the Parsons Corp. Retirement Savings Plan filed a class action complaint accusing Parsons Corp.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
“The law firm is known for filing class action ERISA suits against UnitedHealth Group and General Electric A notable civil rights law firm has filed a $28 million dollar lawsuit against a financial corporation for allegedly violating its fiduciary duty.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
General Benefits
1 item[Retirement Plans]
More Tracks, More Benefits“More than one-quarter of workers now seek help in areas such as emergency savings, paying down debt and overall financial wellness, double the share of workers who reported looking for such assistance in 2023, according to Bank of America's "2025 Workplace Benefits Report." ... On the plan side, solutions include enhancements such as those included in the SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022, including emergency savings linked to retirement plans; student loan matching contributions; and expanded automatic enrollment and automatic escalation. ... Nearly half of plan sponsors now say they are providing financial education and coaching outside of what is available from their recordkeeper, a trend Smrecek sa” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
Webinars
1 item“SPDs are often treated as a compliance checkbox, but a well-crafted SPD can be one of a plan’s most valuable risk-management tools. This presentation will move beyond ERISA’s bare disclosure requirements to highlight the provisions that the most effective SPDs include and that many plans inadvertently leave out.” MORE >>
Source: Foley & Lardner
Jobs
1 item“NCPERS regularly highlights the latest industry job listings, new hires, and retirement announcements on behalf of its member pension funds, stakeholders, and service providers.” MORE >>
Source: NCPERS