Articles Discussing 401(k) Plans.

On August 7, 2025, President Donald Trump released an executive order to attempt to permit alternative assets among 401(k) investment options. It marks a shift away from Biden-era guidance that discouraged alternative assets in 401(k)s.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) indicated in court documents that it intends to begin new rulemaking to replace a previous rule that permitted 401(k) plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when choosing investment options in the plan.

Takeaway

The 2025 CAR does not alter ERISA’s substantive fiduciary standards and considerations but eases the DOL’s previously hostile enforcement stance toward cryptocurrency and similar digital assets in 401(k) plans, restoring a “neutral” DOL enforcement approach. 401(k) plan fiduciaries must still consider all relevant ERISA factors and apply the

Under current law, most 401(k) plans permit catch-up contributions that are equally available to all participants who are age fifty or over. Starting in 2025, the SECURE 2.0 Act allows eligible participants who are ages sixty to sixty-three to make “super-catch-up contributions” of up to the greater of: $10,000, or

A New Jersey federal district court recently granted summary judgment in defendants’ favor in an ERISA excessive fee case accusing Evonik’s 401(k) plan fiduciaries of keeping imprudent investments in the plan and of allowing participants to pay excessive recordkeeping fees. Harris, et al. v. Evonik Corp., et al., No. 20-02202, 2024

Of interest to 401(k) plan sponsors and administrators, the IRS recently issued Notice 2024-55, providing guidance on SECURE 2.0’s new exceptions—effective January 1, 2024—to the additional 10% tax on early qualified retirement plan distributions for emergency personal expenses and victims of domestic abuse.  Both types of distributions are optional and

Conflicting orders on motions to dismiss from two California courts foreshadow issues for a new theory of ERISA liability. Employers have faced a recent wave of novel ERISA class actions that challenge the reallocation of defined contribution plan forfeitures.  Such plans often include provisions requiring participants to work for the

Thanks to SECURE Act 2.0, newly established 401(k) and 403(b) plans must now have an automatic enrollment.  The SECURE Act 2.0 was passed in December 2022 and made sweeping changes to retirement plan regulations. We discuss many of those changes in our SECURE Act 2.0 blog series. 

Plans with an

Fiduciaries of retirement plans continue to be plagued by class actions brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) challenging their fiduciary management of investment options and participant fees. A recent federal court decision, however, shows that fiduciaries of ERISA retirement plans may be able to attack and

Employers that provide 401(k) plans on documents that have been “pre-approved” by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) beware: there is yet another annual notice requirement that may need to be added to your compliance list.

Employees, especially those far from retirement, are sometimes hesitant to put money into their employer’s 401(k) plan, knowing that their money won’t be available to them if unexpected expenses arise. Congress and the Biden administration, recognizing the long-term benefit of incentivizing retirement savings, included two new means for plan participants

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, and Division T of the Act contains legislation dubbed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0).  SECURE 2.0 contains an important provision regarding the eligibility of part-time employees to participate in an employer’s 401(k) plan or ERISA-governed

We recently summarized the regulatory back and forth of the past few years relating to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors and their impact on ERISA retirement plans and the fiduciaries that oversee them. 

As expected, the Biden administration released a proposed rule last year that re-opened the door