Insights
Short, practical pieces on the standards and decisions plan sponsors and their boards face, written by the firm's actuaries.
Short, practical pieces on the standards and decisions plan sponsors and their boards face. Written by the firm's actuaries.
Briefs
Participants whose prior-year FICA wages exceeded the threshold must make catch-up contributions on a Roth basis. Plans need a Roth source, a payroll feed that applies the wage test and a documented process for participants who have not made a Roth election. Sponsors without a Roth feature have to add one or stop catch-ups for the affected group.
Governments that adopted GASB 101 last year are now being asked why the liability moved. The usual answers are pay increases, leave balance growth and the usage assumption. A person-level reconciliation that separates those effects answers the auditor's question before it is asked.
Automatic enrollment and QDIA notices by December 1, and the safe harbor notice where the plan still requires one. Discretionary amendments adopted by December 31. Required minimum distributions paid. Prior-year forfeitures used. Credit balance elections made. The compliance calendar above generates the same list for any plan year.
Liability-driven investing: matching the assets to the promise
Why the funded status swings, and how a liability-matched portfolio changes the conversation with the CFO.
For plan committeesAnnuities inside defined contribution plans
What lifetime income options do for participants, and the fiduciary questions to settle before adding one.
For plan committeesPlan leakage: where retirement savings disappear
Loans, cash-outs and hardship withdrawals, quantified, and the plan design levers that slow them.
For public employersGASB 101: what counts as a compensated absence liability now
One recognition test now covers most leave, including sick leave expected to be used as time off.
For plans settling benefitsChoosing an annuity provider under Interpretive Bulletin 95-1
The factors fiduciaries weigh for each insurer, and why a written review matters.
For CPAs and business ownersCash balance plans: what to know before recommending one
How the design works, the deductions it allows, and the funding obligations that come with it.
For HR and finance leadersTotal rewards optimization: spending where employees see the value
How conjoint analysis shows which pay, retirement and health elements employees value, and how to redirect spend toward them.
For corporate plan sponsorsTerminating a pension plan: what the final year involves
The sequence, the funding test and the surplus question, from the board decision to the last check.
For contributing employersMultiemployer withdrawal liability: what employers owe and when
How the assessment is calculated, what the payment schedule looks like and the deadlines that matter.
For buyers and their advisorsBenefits due diligence in mergers and acquisitions
What a buyer inherits in a stock or asset deal, and how to put a number on it before closing.
For public employersRetiree health: funding, design and the GASB 75 discount rate
Why funding an OPEB trust changes the discount rate, and the design levers that move the liability.
For plan committeesRetirement plan governance: what happens between committee meetings
Why committees need more than charters and meetings: the evidence, oversight and records behind prudent decisions.