MAY 2026 Newsletter
“Retirement Security Rule” – Latest Developments Move to Ease Form 5500 Filing Burdens
With the Department of Labor (DOL) declining to challenge industry groups’ motions for final judgment, the 2024 version of the fiduciary rule known as the Retirement Security Rule has been vacated. The 2024 rule would have extended ERISA fiduciary duties to cover certain one-time professional retirement investment recommendations such as rollovers, annuity purchases, and plan menu design.
In March this year, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a ruling to...
Growing Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Financial Decision Making
Artificial Intelligence(AI) is now a copilot for everyday tasks, helping people with emails, meal planning, workout routines, and more. It's also impacting how participants approach retirement planning.
While health and wellness rank as a top use case for AI (44%), finance is a close second (41%), according to a recent Credit Karma survey. A separate Empower study found...
Survey: Knowledge Gap Drives Retirement Plan Nonparticipation
Among people who choose not to participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plan, many cite a lack of understanding as the primary reason, according to recent surveys.
Regulatory mandates have attempted to harness the power of automatic features and strengthen retirement readiness. SECURE 2.0 requires 401(k) plans established on or after December 29, 2022 to automatically enroll employees at 3-10% of pay, with annual 1% escalations up to 10-15%. (Businesses with 10 or fewer employees or those operating for less than three years are exempt until they cross those thresholds.)
Despite mandates like these and the prevalence of automatic features, some employees...