There has actually been relatively little helpful legal insight published by the courts, due to the fact that many Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) cases end with settlements, while others are dismissed early on for pleading deficiencies. Even though a ruling was issued in Schwab’s attempt to compel arbitration of a participant’s complaint, the decision left unanswered questions. Hopefully, guidance will come from the U.S. Supreme Court in the cases it is reviewing. Meanwhile, clear guidance has been issued from the IRS about new hardship withdrawal rules. Enjoy this edition of PLANSPONSOR Weekend!
Michael Barry, president of O3 Plan Advisory Services LLC, discusses how differing views by courts in various ERISA cases results in no clear guidance.
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The effect of the 9th Circuit decision on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) lawsuits is uncertain, and arbitration is not the perfect option plan sponsors may think.
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The U.S. Solicitor General and the Pension Rights Center have filed briefs with the Supreme Court for a fiduciary breach case the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed based on the fact that a DB plan had enough money left over to keep paying benefits.
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The question before the court is: May an ERISA plan participant or beneficiary seek disgorgement of unreasonable profits derived from a plan contract from a non-fiduciary party in interest?
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Michael A. Webb, with Cammack Retirement Group, says there are no substantive changes from the proposed regulations, but he points out certain items in the final regulations plan sponsors should note.
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The plaintiffs say the plan’s terms reduce benefits using “Early Retirement Factors” and “Joint and Survivor Annuity Factors” which result in plan participants receiving less than the actuarial equivalent of their vested accrued benefit, as required by ERISA.
Based on the conversations industry advocates are having in Washington, none of the leadership in the Senate or the House opposes passage of the SECURE Act.
GE is freezing pension plans and offering a lump-sum window to certain former employees, but John Lowell, with October Three, questions whether a design-based solution would have helped the company continue to offer DB benefits to employees.
The Retirement Savings Selector Tool for Small Businesses was created to help small businesses identify a retirement savings option that may be a fit for their business by answering a few quick and easy questions.
