The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
July 17, 2026
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13 items · ~4 min read
Top of the Brief
Witnesses Ask IRS for Trump Account Auto-Enrollment, State Partnerships“Witnesses at a virtual hearing Thursday urged the Department of the Treasury and the IRS to simplify enrollment in Trump Accounts, to enlist state governments in administering them, and to resolve operational questions, warning that millions of eligible children could otherwise miss out on federal seed money.”
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (2) · Retirement Plans (3) · Litigation (4) · General Benefits (4)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
2 items“PBGC concluded that, if the active participants are expected to remain employed, the reduction in headcount would not trigger a reportable event. Under ERISA section 4043, defined benefit plan administrators must notify PBGC when certain “reportable events” occur. One of those events is a reduction in the active participant headcount. Under that rule, if the headcount under a defined benefit plan is reduced by 20% or more from the count at the start of the year, the plan administrator must notify PBGC.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
“The proposed Regulation E-Delivery would impact how recipients receive a range of required information, including, among other items, prospectuses for funds and other issuers, fund annual and semi-annual shareholder reports, proxy statements, trade confirmations, disclosures pursuant to Form CRS, and Form ADV Part 2 Brochures, the SEC listed. According to the agency, the proposed legislation would expand access to electronic delivery options while allowing issuers to continue fulfilling paper delivery requests. It would also allow these groups to send required information through e-delivery without first receiving approval from recipients, in an effort to save issuers and investors from pape” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
Retirement Plans
3 items“Retirement plan participants overwhelmingly want employer support for their retirement planning and decisionmaking, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s 2026 Defined Contribution Plan Participant Survey.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
“A PEP is a single defined contribution plan shared by multiple unrelated employers. Instead of each company sponsoring and administering its own 401(k), they participate together in one plan run by a pooled plan provider (PPP) that serves as the plan's named fiduciary and administrator, coordinating compliance, recordkeeping, government filings, participant notices and all other functions required to operate the plan. The underlying mechanics are identical to a traditional 401(k). Contribution limits, tax treatment and participant rights are all unchanged.” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefit News
“Survey respondents, on average, believed they would need $1.2 million. Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news. “Advisers can use that opportunity, or that data, to educate individuals on how to better allocate their portfolio,” says Deb Boyden, Schroders’ head of U.S. defined contribution. Nearly one-quarter of surveyed plan participants (24%) did not know how their retirement assets were allocated.” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
Litigation
4 items“If your retirement plan holds American Century One Choice target-date funds, you have a target on your back. More than a dozen ERISA class actions have been filed against plans holding this single fund suite since early 2026, and the pace is accelerating....” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
“In less than three months, two federal courts of appeals have held that ERISA’s actuarial-equivalence requirement mandates reasonable actuarial assumptions, rather than assumptions that simply produce mathematically equivalent optional forms of benefits to the default form of payment.” MORE >>
Source: Thompson Hine (ERISA Litigation & Compliance)
“Quick Hits On May 13, 2026, the New York State Legislature passed Senate Bill S4424-A, titled the “Anti-Waiver of Employment Rights Act.” MORE >>
Source: Ogletree Deakins
“The Labor Department has filed a brief with the Supreme Court in support of plan fiduciaries, part of a series "focused on ending the overuse of litigation against ERISA retirement plans and those who manage them.” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
General Benefits
4 items[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
Social Security COLA Projections Drop as Inflation Eases in June“Nonpartisan seniors’ group The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) predicts this year’s COLA to be 3.8%, unchanged from last month’s forecasts but still 1% higher from 2026’s official figure of 2.8%. If TSCL’s projected 2027 COLA went into effect today, average benefits would increase by $73.62, or from $1,937.53 to $2,011.15. Meanwhile, Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security and Medicare analyst, forecasts the 2027 COLA at 3.7%, as inflation dropped for the month of June.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“Witnesses at a virtual hearing Thursday urged the Department of the Treasury and the IRS to simplify enrollment in Trump Accounts, to enlist state governments in administering them, and to resolve operational questions, warning that millions of eligible children could otherwise miss out on federal seed money.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
“Social Security’s long-term financing shortfall—estimated to be approximately $2.8 trillion from 2032 through 2036—coupled with already rising deficits and debt may become a critical fiscal inflection point in the early 2030s, the paper, “Social Security’s Fiscal Gap and the Risk of Bond Market Strain” stated. By 2033, the U.S. debt is expected to be $46.5 trillion, or 118% of projected GDP. Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund, which pays retirement and survivor benefits, is projected to be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, according to the latest Social Security Trustees Report.” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
“Plan sponsors often approach vendor searches with the best intentions and the wrong priorities. The most common mistake is treating the process like a shopping exercise instead of a fiduciary decision. Fees matter, of course. Nobody wants to overpay for recordkeeping or advisory services. But when cost becomes the dominant factor, sponsors often end up buying the retirement plan equivalent of the cheapest airline ticket, only to discover later that baggage, legroom, and arriving at the...” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra