PBGC’s rate table now carries 2027 premiums. The single-employer flat rate rises to $116 per participant from $111, the variable-rate premium holds at $52 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits, and the per-participant cap on that variable premium rises to $783 from $751. The multiemployer flat rate rises to $42 from $40. Sponsors budgeting 2027 administrative costs can take the figures straight from the table.

October Three reviews three bills House Democrats introduced on October 1. The Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act would replace deferential review of benefit denials with fresh judicial review and restrict arbitration. The Protecting Workers’ Benefits Act would let defined benefit participants sue on a plan’s behalf and receive a litigation incentive of 0.5% to 1.0% of the amount recovered. The Workers’ Retirement Savings Protection Act would broaden fiduciary investment advice, including rollover advice. October Three sees little near-term prospect of enactment, and the bills create no current duties.

The Foundation’s answer to the recurring question of when SECURE 2.0 amendments are due is an inventory, not a single date. Amendments on the IRS 2024 Required Amendments List are generally due December 31, 2026, the 2025 list generally runs to December 31, 2027, and certain collectively bargained and governmental plans have until the end of 2028 and 2029. Discretionary changes follow their own timing, and operating in compliance now matters independently of when the plan document catches up.

Marcia Wagner and Ari Sonneberg describe how bundled recordkeeping, advice, investment management and plan-administration services have blurred the lines among provider roles. Fiduciary status follows the function actually performed and the authority actually held, not the label on the contract. The firm urges sponsors to map which entity does what, how it and its affiliates are paid, and whether the contract matches operations, because hiring a provider never transfers the duty to monitor it.

Writing in PLANADVISER, Eversheds Sutherland’s David Kaleda pushes back on the notion that collective investment trusts are unregulated. CITs must be maintained by a bank or trust company under federal or state banking oversight, and ERISA’s fiduciary and prohibited-transaction rules apply when plan assets go in. He argues that the growing use of alternative investments inside CITs makes liquidity, valuation and provider oversight the real diligence work, and he critiques aspects of the Labor Department’s proposed safe harbor along the way.

Lasher works through the familiar two-hats problem. An employer acts as a fiduciary when it exercises discretion over plan administration or control over plan assets, and as a settlor, making ordinary business decisions rather than fiduciary ones, when it designs, amends or terminates a plan. The practical point is that titles settle nothing. The analysis runs function by function, so contracts, communications and actual responsibilities need to line up with the hat the employer thinks it is wearing.

Specialists from J.P. Morgan, NISA and NEPC tell PLANSPONSOR that the private-assets question for pension plans is one of sizing rather than suitability. A fully funded frozen plan needing 4% to 5% returns and a terminating plan heading toward a risk transfer have very different room for investments that cannot readily be sold, since an annuity purchase consumes liquid assets and can leave the illiquid holdings stranded. The interviews frame allocation size and timing against each plan’s liabilities and liquidity rather than treating private assets as categorically good or bad.

Andy Ives catalogs the required-minimum-distribution errors that keep recurring, including trying to roll over an RMD, aggregating IRA and 401(k) requirements as if they were interchangeable, and assuming an earlier excess withdrawal reduces the next year’s requirement. He also walks through the limits of the still-working exception and the trap in delaying a first age-73 distribution to the following April 1, which puts two taxable distributions into one year. The missed-distribution penalty is 25%, with correction relief available in some cases.

Husch Blackwell makes the succession case for employee stock ownership plans in breweries, distilleries and wineries, pointing to Harpoon’s 48% employee ownership and Switchback’s full conversion. The article weighs founder liquidity and tax advantages, including the C corporation seller’s deferral conditioned on 30% employee ownership and qualified replacement property, against independent valuation requirements, trustee duties and the repurchase obligation that comes due as employee-owners retire. Liquor licensing and tied-house rules add industry-specific complications.

Mercer argues that longer working lives change benefits design across health, caregiving and retirement at once. The article’s report-based estimates illustrate how interruptions compound, with a five-year career break reducing retirement savings by an estimated 29% and a one-year caregiving break combined with the gender pay gap leaving women 24% behind on average. The recommendations run to prevention, return-to-work support, caregiving flexibility and gradual retirement rather than treating longevity as an investment problem alone.

Two research streams point the same direction. In Guardian’s June survey of 2,082 U.S. adults, 34% said they had planned how to receive income at age 80 and beyond, compared with 48% who had planned for income during their 60s, and 75% worried about unexpected events affecting their retirement savings. Cerulli’s participant research finds 46% want flexibility, about 40% want a concrete action plan, 39% want guarantees and 31% want investment choice. The shared conclusion is that no single income solution fits every participant, and that translating balances into income is where help is wanted.

LIMRA finds that many workers have thought about retirement income but spent little time planning for it. In the survey, 88% have thought about income, yet 76% spent five hours or less on planning in the past year, and only 40% worked with a professional. Those who did reported feeling prepared at 77% versus 47% without, an association the research does not establish as causal. About three-quarters want education on protected income, and a quarter expect such products to cover essentials.

PLANSPONSOR stitches together three surveys on how economic pressure reshapes retirement expectations. In F&G’s August survey of 2,001 adults 50 and older with at least $100,000 in investable assets, 51% of pre-retirees expect to semi-retire and 75% are considering delaying retirement. WTW’s global survey ties financial stress to burnout and missed work, and Payroll Integrations finds 62% of employees prefer higher pay or cost-of-living increases over additional financial tools. The common thread is affordability, not lack of education.

Cerulli reports that participants who interacted with their recordkeeper’s representatives were markedly more likely to rate their satisfaction nine or ten, 46% versus 28%, and to report high retirement confidence, 35% versus 23%. Only about a third had any such contact in the past year. The differences are associations rather than proof that advice caused them, and sponsors weighing recordkeeper advice programs still need to oversee the rollover conflicts that can come with them.

Voya’s first financial-confidence index, built from a June 22 to July 5 survey of nearly 4,100 benefits-eligible workers in workplace retirement plans, finds confidence running ahead of behavior, 67 against 62 on its 100-point scale. Workers who used workplace financial education reported stronger financial habits, with a behavior score of 71 against 59 for nonusers, and adviser users scored 69 against 57. The survey shows associations, not proof that the education caused the differences. Covering a $2,500 emergency ranked as the top confidence driver, and 35% report being always or often financially stressed.

The underlying WTW numbers show physical and financial well-being moving in opposite directions. Workers reporting they are physically thriving rose to 64% from 54% in 2019 while those feeling financially secure fell to 36% from 46%, and about half live paycheck to paycheck. Health costs register as a retirement barrier for 47% of respondents, and the high-stress group reports 23.6 days of combined absence and presenteeism, time at work impaired by poor health or stress. The article argues for affordable core health, retirement and leave benefits rather than more choices.

Scott Danner of Steward Partners writes about financial advisers who sell their practices and keep working through a defined transition. His focus is the adviser’s own succession, identity, client relationships and compensation, with practical advice running to defined duties, pay and transition milestones. It is business-succession commentary from inside the advisory industry rather than guidance on employer plan design.

King & Spalding lays out the final transparency rule’s staggered calendar. The rule takes effect December 7, 2026, core machine-readable-file and attestation changes land March 6, 2027, and the new context files and related requirements apply September 6, 2027. The first annual provider-utilization file, which identifies providers reimbursed for at least one covered claim, is due July 1, 2028. Allowed-amount reporting thresholds drop from 20 claims to 11, with a six-month reporting window and a nine-month lookback, and telephone cost estimates attach to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027.

Haynes Boone’s practical alert concentrates on the telephone disclosure. For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, participants must be able to call the number on their plan ID card and get personalized cost-sharing information, so employers should confirm now that their vendors can deliver it. Self-funded sponsors keep the compliance obligation even when a vendor does the work, while fully insured plans can shift it to the insurer by written agreement.

Bricker Graydon’s angle is the attestation. Plans must attest to the accuracy of their posted files and identify a senior official responsible for the data, and a qualifying vendor agreement can assign the attestation to that vendor. That makes it important for sponsors to understand what their vendors actually post rather than assume compliance. The alert also covers the standardized text file that tells users where the machine-readable files live, backed by a monitored contact email. If a plan limits telephone requests, the limit must allow cost information for at least 20 providers per operational day. Sponsors should spell out vendor duties in their contracts. Self-funded plans remain responsible even when a vendor does the work.

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman traces how the Marketplace subsidy proposal reaches employer plans. Tighter eligibility verification can generate more coverage inquiries to employers, employees who lose subsidies may migrate toward employer coverage, and repayment of excess credits becomes full for tax years after 2025. The firm recommends keeping offer and affordability records in order and updating employee communications, while noting the proposal’s several implementation schedules. Comments are due November 30, with a hearing set for December 8.

Holland & Knight expects the next wave of employer shared-responsibility notices, for tax year 2024, in late 2026, a timing estimate drawn from the firm’s experience rather than any IRS commitment. Letter 226-J proposes an assessment that often reflects reporting errors on Forms 1094-C and 1095-C rather than a real failure to offer coverage, so the response is reconciliation work against original returns, payroll and coverage records. The deadline that matters is the one printed on the letter, and more time can be requested.

EBN’s case for early FSA reminders is behavioral. An estimate the article attributes to Money.com puts annual forfeitures around $4 billion, and the fix offered is repeated fall messaging with concrete eligibility examples that reaches spouses and dependents too. Plans differ on carryovers, up to $680, and on grace periods that can run to March 15, so reminders have to match the plan’s actual terms. The interviewed expert works for Health-E Commerce, which operates FSA Store, a commercial interest readers can weigh.

Hall Benefits Law reminds employers that parity obligations did not pause with the 2024 regulations’ nonenforcement. The statute and the 2013 rules still apply, comparative analyses required since the 2021 appropriations act remain mandatory, and EBSA’s current enforcement guidance signals attention to exclusions, medical-necessity review practices and network adequacy. ERIC’s challenge to the 2024 rules has been stayed since May 2025, which leaves the older framework as the operative one for now.

HR Dive pairs WTW’s findings with an interview with Marsh’s Tracy Watts. Benefits satisfaction coexists with financial strain, and missed care splits sharply by age, with 41% of workers in their 40s delaying or skipping care against 21% of those 60 and older. Watts points employers toward affordability, payment arrangements and better coordination of existing benefits rather than a longer benefits menu.

Covington’s roundup leads with New York’s personnel-records law taking effect November 8, which gives employers five business days to provide copies, requires retention for three years after employment ends, and adds a 10-day notice when negative information goes into a file. New York City’s rules add 32 hours of unpaid sick leave to the existing 40 or 56 paid hours plus 20 hours of prenatal leave, under a final implementing rule issued July 23. Severance, job-posting, employment-waiver and AI-reporting bills still await the governor and are not yet obligations.

Lerch Early walks employers through the District of Columbia’s October 1 reductions. Family-caregiving leave drops from 12 weeks to 6 and an employee’s own medical leave from 12 weeks to 10, with the weekly cap down from $1,190 to $1,100, while parental leave stays at 12 weeks and prenatal leave at 2. The action items are updated notices, which are required at the worksite, annually, at hire and at relevant leave requests, and a fresh look at whether policies that top up public benefits now cost more.

A former participant in Rockland Trust’s roughly $300 million 401(k) plan filed a would-be class action in the District of Massachusetts on October 7, alleging the bank, its board and its plan committee kept the actively managed T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund on the menu through a decade of underperformance. The complaint says the fund trailed its own benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, over the trailing three-year, five-year and ten-year periods in every year from 2019 through 2025. It also underperformed six comparator funds across 94% of common risk-adjusted metrics, performance measures that account for investment risk, in the two years before the proposed class period. Counts for imprudence and failure to monitor seek plan-wide losses, and the allegations are untested.

Judge Gregory B. Williams grants summary judgment to Kraft Heinz in its suit to stop Teamsters Local 355 from arbitrating a grievance over a former Dover plant employee’s eligibility for the company retiree health plan. The collective bargaining agreement’s arbitration clause is broad, but its benefits section commits questions and disputes about benefit programs to the insurance policies and plan documents, and the plan documents supply their own procedures for eligibility disputes. That carve-out takes the grievance outside arbitration, and a permanent injunction will issue.

Roberts Disability Law examines the October 9 ruling for Christopher Cude, whose former employer’s disability plan argued he had released his ERISA claim in a February 2024 severance agreement. Judge Anne Hwang denied the Wells Fargo short-term disability plan’s summary-judgment motion and granted judgment for Cude on the release defense. His claim accrued only at the final denial on February 23, 2024, after the release was signed, and a backward-looking release cannot waive a claim that did not yet exist. The ruling resolves the release defense, not whether benefits are owed.

The National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals asks the District of Maryland to strike down a moratorium on training and registering new Marketplace agents and brokers for 2027 coverage. The moratorium runs through February 1, 2027, covering the November 1 to January 15 open-enrollment period. The complaint alleges the rule was adopted without required procedure or authority, says roughly 19,000 would-be new registrants are shut out, and asks the court to set the rule aside and order training to open. These are the association’s allegations.

True North Medical of Suffolk and a fellow provider have appealed, in a case docketed in the Second Circuit on October 15, from Judge Kiyo Matsumoto’s September 16 ruling dismissing their bid to confirm No Surprises Act arbitration awards against Aetna for lack of federal jurisdiction. The district court held that the Federal Arbitration Act supplies no independent jurisdiction and found no implied right of judicial enforcement in the No Surprises Act itself, while expressly not deciding that Aetna owes nothing. The dispute concerns how providers can enforce unpaid No Surprises Act arbitration awards.

PLANSPONSOR reports on the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Richard Kelly’s suit against Altria, which held that a recordkeeper’s administrative services agreement can be a plan document subject to ERISA’s plan-document disclosure rules when it sets out operational duties such as participant calls, balances and investment information. The opinion, decided August 10, remands on the penalty question. Practitioners interviewed suggest sponsors reread their service agreements with disclosure requests in mind.

PLANADVISER reports the October 1 indictment of Seku Shabazz, formerly Jason Brooks, accused of diverting roughly $38,000 in employee retirement contributions between January 2020 and May 2022 and of a related investment scheme exceeding $1.2 million. Prosecutors say he later drew about $220,000 in mortgage proceeds and repaid over $97,000 to the plan. The charges include embezzlement from an employee benefit plan, seven wire-fraud counts, three counts involving transactions in criminal proceeds and two counts of aggravated identity theft. The charges remain allegations.

NAPA reports the October 1 indictment of Seku Shabazz, formerly Jason Brooks, over the alleged diversion of employees’ retirement contributions and a separate investment scheme. Prosecutors allege he used contributions for personal expenses and later replenished the plan with mortgage proceeds. The charges remain unproved, and any discussion of sentencing exposure is conditional on conviction.

PLANSPONSOR reports the Supreme Court’s October 13 denial of review in the suit by 96 former Ruby Tuesday managers and executives against Regions Bank. The Sixth Circuit had rejected their state-law claims and the money remedy they sought, called a surcharge. The denial leaves that outcome in place without endorsing its reasoning or resolving the broader dispute over equitable remedies under ERISA.

Cohen & Buckmann’s short note flags Carol Buckmann’s comments to Pensions & Investments on the Supreme Court argument in the Intel case, which tests whether fiduciary-breach claims need a meaningful benchmark at the pleading stage. The note is a pointer to that coverage rather than an analysis of the argument itself.

Mercer’s running compilation, first published in 2023 and updated October 13, tracks the blocked federal noncompete ban, targeted FTC enforcement and the state patchwork, with a 39-page linked resource covering developments through this fall, including Tennessee’s July 1, 2026 restrictions and Washington’s 2027 dates. For benefits teams the relevance runs through compensation-forfeiture provisions and deferred-compensation design. It is a reference document with entries of varying vintage rather than a new rule.

Troutman Pepper Locke previews an October 29 conference session in Dallas where Laura Ferguson and Dr. Dominic Vu will take up PBM reform, pharmacy transparency and the questions employers should be putting to their pharmacy benefit managers. The page is an event announcement with logistics rather than analysis.