Treasury and the IRS announce their intent to propose regulations implementing the Saver's Match program under section 6433, the SECURE 2.0 provision paying federal matching contributions of up to $1,000 directly into the retirement accounts of eligible low- and moderate-income savers for tax years beginning after December 31, 2026. The notice requests comments by October 5, 2026 on eligibility, claiming and payment mechanics, financial-institution reporting, and treatment of erroneous payments.

PLANSPONSOR's coverage of the Saver's Match announcement, detailing how eligible Americans could receive federal retirement contributions of up to $1,000 per year and what the rulemaking will need to resolve before the program's 2027 start.

The government launches the regulatory process for SECURE 2.0’s Saver’s Match and takes a first step toward implementing the Executive Order establishing TrumpIRA.gov.

Witnesses testifying before a Senate panel urged lawmakers to pass legislation allowing 403(b) plans to invest in CITs. They also expressed support (and caution) for the DOL's Investment Selection Rule.

Today, plan sponsors face a changing environment, where industry consolidation, private equity ownership, proprietary product development, and participant monetization strategies are creating new fiduciary challenges.

Employees are facing rising financial stress, retirement savings gaps, and competing priorities, but new financial wellness trends are emerging to help.

Segal examines what the early end of the Medicare Part D Demonstration program means for premiums and retiree health plans.

The Departments of Labor, HHS, and the Treasury, together with OPM, released an implementation timeline guide for the federal IDR operations final rules, laying out when certified IDR entities and disputing parties must meet the new requirements.

A Milliman white paper on the GLP-1 market's dramatic growth, with U.S. spending rising from $13.7 billion in 2018 to $71.7 billion in 2023, now the largest and fastest-growing drug category. The authors examine payer coverage policies, utilization management, and cost containment, and urge payers to evaluate total cost of care, adherence durability, and long-term clinical return on investment rather than drug unit costs alone.

Francisco's mayor signed Ordinance 162-26, lowering the length of time an employee must be employed before qualifying for supplemental compensation under the city's Paid Parental Leave Ordinance.

A Pennsylvania federal court dismissed a class action challenging ATI's $1.5 billion pension risk transfer to Athene, holding under Thole that retirees whose monthly benefits remain unchanged lack standing, and that the alleged risk of future harm was too speculative. The decision deepens the district-court split over Athene-related de-risking suits, with standing rejected in Schoen, Camire, and Bueno but sustained in Konya and Doherty, both now on interlocutory appeal to the Fourth and Second Circuits. Nixon Peabody's ERISA litigation team advises sponsors to document annuity-provider selection under the DOL's six-factor guidance before closing, since no court has yet reached the fiduciary merits on a developed record.

In Pover v. Capital Group Companies, the Ninth Circuit held a 401(k) plan's arbitration clause unenforceable under the effective vindication doctrine because it barred participants from pursuing representative claims and the plan-wide relief ERISA section 409(a) makes available. Mayer Brown advises sponsors to review existing arbitration language, preserve all arbitrability arguments at the district court, and weigh whether arbitration's benefits still outweigh its limits for plan-wide monetary disputes.

A new 401(k) suit alleges employment discrimination for refusing to offer investment options that don’t invest in fossil fuels.

Thompson Hine tracks the spread of the “financial dominance” theory introduced in Barbich v. Northwestern University, in which participants challenge employer health plan design choices under ERISA, and surveys how the claims are expanding in 2026.

There are now more than 75 tobacco surcharge class actions pending in federal courts across the nation. Since our last article in January 2026, tobacco cessation litigation continues to heat up as cases have now spread to the First, Second, Sixth, Seventh, and Eight Circuit Courts of Appeal.

The next employee benefits challenge isn't offering more benefits. It's reducing complexity.

Watkins applies his terminal-wealth breakeven framework to in-plan annuities, arguing that fiduciaries weighing guaranteed-income options should quantify what participants trade away for the guarantee rather than rest on qualitative prudence claims.