The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
October 9, 2026
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14 items · ~4 min read
Top of the Brief
PBGC Posts FAQs on Coverage Determinations and Assessments“Published October 08, 2026 PBGC insures or "covers" most private-sector defined benefit pension plans. Although it’s usually easy to determine if a qualified defined benefit plan is or is not covered by PBGC, that isn’t always the case.”
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (2) · Retirement Plans (5) · Litigation (3) · General Benefits (4)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
2 items“The short version: December 31, 2026, is still an important date, but not every SECURE and SECURE 2.0 amendment is due then. For required amendments, the IRS Required Amendments List (RA List) plays an important role in determining deadlines. Generally, if a mandatory change in qualification requirements appears on the RA list, the amendment deadline is tied to the end of the second calendar year following the applicable RA List. ... Notice 2024-2 extended the deadline for SECURE and SECURE 2.0 discretionary amendments to December 31, 2026, with later deadlines for certain collective bargaining plans, governmental plans, and 403(b) plan maintained by public schools.” MORE >>
Source: Boutwell Fay
“Published October 08, 2026 PBGC insures or "covers" most private-sector defined benefit pension plans. Although it’s usually easy to determine if a qualified defined benefit plan is or is not covered by PBGC, that isn’t always the case.” MORE >>
Source: ifebp.org
Retirement Plans
5 items“Many plans can keep benefit commencement at 70 1/2, but sponsors still need to adopt certain SECURE amendments before Dec. 31. SECURE Acts 1.0 and 2.0 which made several amendments to the way qualified plans operate, increased the age at which participants must begin receiving required minimum distributions (RMDs).” MORE >>
Source: HR Dive
“As state retirement mandates spur more small businesses to start plans, 401GO warns that fragmented recordkeeping, payroll and compliance systems could struggle to accommodate the growing volume The 401(k) industry seems to be facing a good news/bad news scenario in that retirement plan growth is accelerating, but much of the technology supporting those plans wasn’t built to handle the volume, CEO and co-founder of 401GO Dan Beck said this week. That disconnect could become increasingly apparent as state-facilitated retirement savings mandates bring thousands of small businesses into the retirement system.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“Following Tuesday’s oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee, industry professionals largely agreed that the justices appeared focused on whether plaintiffs should be required to identify a “meaningful benchmark” when alleging underperformance.” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
“Alto’s acquisition of Forge Trust combines custody and AI-powered technology to expand access to private market investments through self-directed IRAs While a growing number of RIAs would like to be able to have access to private market investments for their clients, access and legacy custodial architecture has long been an issue.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“As record corporate defined benefit plan funding levels and high interest rates push plan sponsors to consider de-risking, plan terminations and buyouts have dominated the flow of pension risk transfer deals so far this year.” MORE >>
Source: HR Dive
Litigation
3 items“A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled on September 28 that Trader Joe’s Co. is not liable for claims it improperly used forfeited participant 401(k) funds and that it offered poorly performing investments in the retirement plan, but found it liable for having failed to monitor “grossly excessive” recordkeeping fees.” MORE >>
Source: Roberts Disability Law
“The grocery chain was ordered to pay $1.2 million out of the more than $9 million former employees sought.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
“The plaintiff alleges that fiducuaries’ failure to remove an underperforming actively managed mutual fund from the 401(k) plan’s menu led to losses for participants.” MORE >>
Source: Roberts Disability Law
General Benefits
4 items“The Institutional Retirement Income Council’s Kevin Crain says using a common vocabulary would reduce participant confusion over income products.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
“In a recent essay, “Say This, Not That: Why Language Matters in Retirement Income Planning,” Crain cited a 2013 National Bureau of Economic Research study that found that 72% of respondents wanted an annuity when it was presented as offering payments to be used for spending, but only 21% wanted it when it was presented as an investment. Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters. “People don’t pay attention to things in detail; we know that,” Crain says. “Simplifying terminology will absolutely help people better understand and make better decisions.” In order to cut down the confusion, Crain offers IRIC’s Proposed Retirement Income Langu” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
[Retirement Plans]
Trump Accounts Launch as Employers Weigh New Benefits Role“The Trump Account program launches with auto-enrollment for millions of children, giving employers new options to support family financial savings An ambitious effort to extend savings accounts to 70 million American children was given a kick-off this week at a White House event touting the new investment program.” MORE >>
Source: Gibson Dunn
“The successful training and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) tools are highly dependent on the quality of their input data. As the proliferation of AI tools for healthcare applications continues, it is critically important that stakeholders consider the provenance and quality of any data used to power an AI application. Healthcare AI model output success depends on data selection, for small differences in initial inputs may produce vastly different outcomes.” MORE >>
Source: Milliman