The DOL plans to revisit and likely update the fiduciary advice rule in 2026, signaling major potential changes for plan sponsors and financial advisers. Below are the key points to watch.
A recent survey by Capital Group and C&C Multicultural of 1,000 U.S. small business owners and employees reveals generational and gender differences in retirement plan readiness and perceived importance. Most owners are optimistic and interested in offering plans, but Millennials lead the way, 77% view retirement plans as essential, and feel most prepared to offer them. Gen Z is less convinced (67%), and Gen X shows the lowest readiness (only 57%), despite being closer to retirement age.
Target-date funds provide age-based risk levels but overlook individual circumstances and savings differences, according to Allspring. Their 2025 study shows retirees aged 65–69 feel 8–15% less secure about retirement compared to 2023. While defaults and simplification work well for younger workers, they become less effective as participants age, says Nate Miles of Allspring.
Jamie Fleckner, chair of ERISA litigation at Goodwin Procter, mentioned at the PLANADVISER 360 Conference that pooled employer plans are likely to become a major target for lawsuits as they expand, with one recently surpassing $5 billion in assets. While Fleckner sees nothing fundamentally wrong with PEPs, he highlighted that plaintiffs' lawyers are entrepreneurial and drawn to large plans.
At the EBRI Virtual Policy Forum on Sept. 18, industry experts discussed trends in retirement plan investments aimed at growing account balances and increasing retirement income. Katie Hockenmaier (Mercer) and Kevin Crain (Institutional Retirement Income Council) highlighted emerging features and strategies for accessing retirement revenue, noting the dynamic and evolving nature of retirement income planning.
With the numerous SECURE 2.0 Act updates in recent years, it's easy to lose track of which changes truly affect your business. One of the most significant updates for employers is the new requirement for Roth catch-up contributions for high earners. This paper explains what this means, why it's happening, and what you should prioritize as 2026 approaches.
The questioner wants to know if 72(t) payments (Substantially Equal Periodic Payments) can be taken from a 401k plan, since they've received conflicting information about whether this rule applies only to IRAs or also to employer-sponsored retirement accounts.
ERISA's framework for 3(21) co-fiduciary advisors and 3(38) investment managers was meant to simplify plan governance, but in practice, it created complexity. Many plan sponsors assume delegation equals protection, yet without oversight, conflicts arise, often subtle and structural. This tension underpins today's fiduciary marketplace, where outsourcing and managed solutions still leave the core question unresolved: who truly safeguards participants?
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Collected Wisdom™
Our researchers look for what they think are some of the better resources available to assist you in administering your plan or helping your clients. We group these resources in our COLLECTED WISDOM™ topics to make it easy for you to locate the information you need. Each item in a category contains a summary and date of when it was placed in the group.
We also maintain some older material in these collections for perspective and context.
