John Iekel

The Treasury Department, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have announced that they will issue a joint request for information (RFI) seeking public input to help them review the effectiveness of existing... READ MORE

Plan professionals may find it useful to know that plan sponsors continue to make participants’ retirement security a priority, and are boosting their work to enhance it.  JP Morgan, in its fifth Defined Contribution Plan Sponsor Survey, which provides the results of an online survey of 788... READ MORE

More than 900,000 participants of terminated plans were receiving benefits from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023, says the agency in its FY 2023 annual report.  The Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)—... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a final rule adjusting for 2024 the civil penalties for failure to provide certain notices or other material information and for failure to provide certain multiemployer plan notices. The PBGC is required to amend its regulations annually... READ MORE

From New England to Key West, from the Atlantic to the Great Plains, there are bills before state legislatures that would expand retirement plan coverage for certain public-sector employees.   Rhode Island  Rep. Patricia Serpa (D-West Warwick) on Jan. 5 introduced HB 7026, a measure that would... READ MORE

Like a snowflake dancing on the breeze uncertain where to land, how private-sector pension plans fared was a bit indeterminate in December, according to a variety of analysts.  This continues the neither-fish-no-fowl results reported in November and that have held sway since August, with some... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has updated the instructions for filing premiums as well as the portal through which they can be filed. Rules Are Rules  Sections 4006 and 4007 of ERISA and the PBGC’s Premium Regulations require that premiums be paid to the PBGC; every plan covered... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has work to do in order to accomplish its mission and better serve plans and participants, says a just-released report by the PBGC Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate.  The 2023 Annual Report of the Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate Pension... READ MORE

Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are more than regulatory requirements—they affect real people. In its latest issue of Employee Plans News, the IRS provides a refresher concerning the application of the RMD rules regarding plan beneficiaries.  Spousal Beneficiaries  Spousal beneficiaries... READ MORE