The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
July 27, 2026
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12 items · ~4 min read
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (2) · Retirement Plans (4) · General Benefits (5) · Litigation (1)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
2 items“The December 31, 2026 deadline is fast approaching for most non-governmental plan sponsors to amend their tax-qualified retirement plans to comply with changes made by the SECURE Act of 2019, the CARES Act, the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Act of 2021, and the Secure 2.0 Act (the “Acts”).” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
“The proposal, which will clarify how employers can contribute to Trump Accounts, should be published soon. Trump Accounts are savings accounts created for minors. They grow tax-free during the “growth period,” until the child turns 18. At that point, the account essentially becomes an IRA. The annual contribution limit is $5,000, and employers can contribute up to $2,500 toward that total.” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
Retirement Plans
4 items“Our 2026 Survey of Plans’ Zone Status presents actual data through December 31, 2025, on calendar-year plans (not estimates or projections) based on PPA-required certifications that were filed by March 31, 2026. As a group, the plans in the survey had over $202 billion in assets and provided benefits to just over 2.7 million participants and beneficiaries as of December 31, 2025. To provide perspective on changes over the long term, the survey also includes data from 19 years of zone-status certifications.” MORE >>
Source: Segal
“Auto portability automatically transfers small-balance retirement savings from a participant’s old employer’s plan into a new employer’s plan when they change jobs. The system works on the participant’s behalf — making the right decision the easiest decision. It Helps Participants Preserve Their Savings Cashing out may seem easy — but it can seriously damage retirement security. Auto portability reduces this risk by: It Simplifies Participants’ Financial Life Managing multiple retirement accounts across different employers can be overwhelming.” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
[General Benefits]
Spousal Consent in the DC Lifetime Income Assessment Process“One of the key fiduciary roles in the assessment of any DC lifetime income program process necessarily involves whether, and how, the plan or the vendor accommodates any required spousal consent rules related to the payout of annuities.” MORE >>
Source: Business of Benefits
“This is growing interest among defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors in adding alternative investments to their 401(k) lineups, says a recent study — although many are seeking more information first.” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
General Benefits
5 items“The Department also agreed to implement several reforms to its use of common interest agreements. Among other things, the Department will: (i) develop a written policy standardizing its practices; (ii) scrutinize such agreements for potential bias; (iii) require staff involved with common interest agreements to attest that they were not employed with related external parties in the past year and would comply with the post-employment restrictions impose by federal law; and (iv) formally track executed common interest agreements and the information shared with non-governmental entities pursuant to such agreements.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
“Why Wall Street Wants to Escape the SEC’s Performance Standards By Christopher B. Tobe, CFA, CAIA One of the most important conversations I have had in years was my recent interview with Jeffrey Snyder on the Broadcast Retirement Network.” MORE >>
Source: The Commonsense 401(k) Project
“An insurer may report a contract at 100 cents on the dollar because the customer is not permitted to demand the underlying assets, sell the contract freely, or force the insurer to mark the obligation to market. But when actual buyers are asked what they would pay for the contract—or when consumers are asked what certain payment they would accept in exchange for the insurer’s uncertain promise—the value can fall toward 70 to 80 cents on the dollar. The new NBER paper makes that argument much harder to dismiss.” MORE >>
Source: The Commonsense 401(k) Project
[Retirement Plans]
Developing Legislation to Rein in Mega IRAs Introduced“The ranking Democrats on the congressional tax-writing committees on July 21 introduced S. 5040 and H.R. 9813, legislation that would rein in so-called mega-IRAs to avoid subsidizing retirement savings once account balances reach very high levels. Rep. Richie Neal (D-Mass.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are the top Democrats on the House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance committees, respectively. They introduced legislation that would prohibit further contributions to a Roth or traditional IRA if the total of an individual’s IRA and defined contribution (DC) retirement plan vested account balances exceeds $10 million for the prior year.” MORE >>
Source: American Retirement Association
[Retirement Plans]
Why Email Open Rates Fail to Measure True 401k Participant Engagement“Viewing this content requires a Basic (Free) Membership or better. You are not currently logged in. If you have an account, you may login below, or use the "Log In" option at the top of the page.” MORE >>
Source: Fiduciary News
Litigation
1 item“Former employees at American Express (Amex) have filed suit alleging that the credit card company maintained underperforming funds in its 401(k) plan, including target-date funds (TDFs). In their Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) proposed class action, the workers claim that the investment mismanagement cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in future savings. The case is Rivetti et al. v. American Express Company et al., Case Number 1:26-cv-04082, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Matthew Rivetti, Natalie Feliz, and Shamroze Moosa filed their complaint on behalf of a proposed class of all participants in the Amex employee 401(k) plan, which holds ab” MORE >>
Source: Hall Benefits Law