Ongoing Fiduciary Education

DOL Updates Cybersecurity Guidance

Author | Bonnie Treichel In September 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued “new” guidance for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, recordkeepers, and plan participants on best practices for maintaining cybersecurity, including tips on how to protect the retirement benefits of…

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A Fiduciary Focus on Forfeitures

Author | Bonnie Treichel Roughly a year ago, a pair of attorneys located in Pasadena, California launched the first of what would become a series of lawsuits targeting the use of plan forfeitures to offset employer contributions as a breach…

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Student Loan Matching Programs

Author | Bonnie Treichel SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) has dozens of optional provisions. One of those provisions permits employers with a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), or SIMPLE IRA plan to provide matching contributions based on student loan…

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The Demise of Chevron

Author | Bonnie Treichel As of June 28, courts will no longer be required to defer to the judgement of the regulatory agencies in terms of applying and interpreting ambiguous laws. This is the outcome of the Supreme Court case…

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Forfeiture Accounts

Author | Bonnie Treichel The total plan assets include all dollars in the retirement plan, but as the plan sponsor, do you have a good handle on all those dollars? Sometimes plan sponsors forget about the small dollar accounts such…

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Compliance Testing Basics

Author | Bonnie Treichel Retirement plans involve a lot of rules. One set of rules, involving nondiscrimination testing, is meant to ensure highly compensated employees (including company owners) don’t unfairly receive more contributions into the retirement plan when compared to…

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Retirement Plan Safe Harbors

Author | Bonnie Treichel Do you ever hear the term “safe harbor” thrown around in a lot of different contexts, but you aren’t sure what it means? If that’s the case, you aren’t alone. The term safe harbor comes up…

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