BENEFITS DIGEST

A multiemployer pension plan will owe PBGC $42 per participant for 2027, up from $40. Morgan Lewis points to the work behind that calculation. Properly resolving small balances and deceased-participant records may reduce the count, but losing contact with someone doesn’t erase the plan’s obligation or justify removing that person. Administrators should distinguish a benefit that has been settled from a participant who simply hasn’t been found.

Vanguard’s small-business supplement to How America Saves covers 21,000 plans with up to $50 million in assets, averaging 49 participants each, and the headline depends on which participation measure you pick. Averaged plan by plan, 73 percent of eligible employees participate. Counted across all eligible employees, only six in ten do, against 83 percent at large plans. The driver is design. Only 26 percent of small plans use automatic enrollment, against 61 percent of large plans, and auto-enrolled plans see 79 percent participation where voluntary plans see 51 percent. Once enrolled, small plan workers save like everyone else, contributing 7.5 percent of pay on average and 11 percent with employer money included, nearly identical to large plans. The report’s message for small employers is that these plans work once people are in them, and getting people in is the unfinished part.

Mercer works through the mechanics of S. 5040, the bill from the top Democrats on Senate Finance and House Ways and Means targeting mega retirement balances. Starting in 2027, high earners, with income thresholds running from $225,000 to $450,000 by filing status, could make no new contributions once combined DC plan and IRA balances exceed $10 million, with a 6 percent excise tax backstopping the limit. Starting in 2034 the bill would force distributions of half the excess over $10 million, Roth first for balances above $20 million, and employers would be required to permit those distributions. Mercer also flags what was dropped from the 2021 version, the ban on Roth conversions of after-tax amounts and the $2.5 million account reporting requirement. The proposal faces long odds in the current Congress, but it is the clearest marker yet of where Democratic tax writers would start if the majority changes.

Vanguard’s How America Saves data show 51 percent of workers earning $150,000 or more hit the 401(k) contribution limit last year, down from 60 percent in 2018, and the share fell from 22 to 10 percent in the $100,000 to $149,999 band. Vanguard attributes part of the drop to mechanics, since higher limits and wage growth make the max harder to reach, but EBRI’s Craig Copeland describes a real behavioral shift. Some savers contribute enough to receive the full employer match, then direct additional savings to health savings accounts, Roth IRAs or brokerage accounts. Their reasons include tax diversification and, depending on the account and withdrawal, easier access to the money. Fidelity counts a record 769,000 401(k) millionaires, and while 97 percent of its plans now offer a Roth option, only about 19 percent of workers with access use it. Alicia Munnell supplies the counterweight, “We all need a little discipline and a little guardrails.”

The Economic Innovation Group's updated census-data analysis puts the coverage gap at 76.2 million workers: 61 million employed by an organization that offers them no plan, 15 million self-employed. Nearly half of private-sector workers (49.1 percent) lack access, and among part-time workers the number is 77 percent. The gap is especially wide between lower-paid and higher-paid workers. Among the lowest-paid tenth of private-sector workers, 88 percent lack access, against 14 percent of the highest-paid tenth. Only 37 percent of workers received any employer contribution in 2025, with a median of about $3,000. EIG's policy answer is the Retirement Savings for Americans Act, a House bill that would create federally administered accounts for uncovered workers.

The Economic Innovation Group's updated analysis puts numbers on the coverage gap. About 76.2 million U.S. workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, 61 million employed by an organization and 15 million self-employed. Nearly half of private-sector workers lack access, and 77 percent of private-sector part-timers. Only 37 percent of workers received any employer contribution in 2025, with a median of about $3,000. The gap tracks income more than any demographic measure. In the bottom tenth of household income, 88 percent of private-sector employees lack access; in the top tenth, 14 percent. For employers, these are the numbers behind the steady spread of state auto-enrollment mandates, which reach businesses that don't offer a plan of their own.

U.S. retirement assets reached $51.2 trillion as of June 30, a 7.9 percent rebound from a down first quarter and a third of all household financial assets. IRAs remain the largest segment at $19.9 trillion, compared with $15 trillion in workplace defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s.

About 76 million workers lack access to an employer retirement plan, according to the Economic Innovation Group. That's nearly 52 percent of working Americans ages 18 to 64. Among private-sector part-time workers, the share rises to 77 percent. Only 37 percent of all workers receive an employer retirement contribution. Among those who do, the median annual contribution is $3,000.

WTW's Thinking Ahead Institute counts $27.7 trillion in the world's 300 largest retirement funds after 13.4% growth in 2025, the fastest pace since 2017, with defined contribution assets growing 15.8% against 9.4% for defined benefit. The report's warning lands close to home for US sponsors. The weakness appears at retirement, when institutional support falls away and individuals face fragmented markets on their own.

DCIIA's 2026 Data Dashboard counts nearly 1.1 million defined contribution plans holding $14.5 trillion for 148 million participants, and projects almost 1.3 million plans by 2031. The sobering number inside the growth story is leakage. For every dollar entering the DC system this year, more than seven dollars will roll out to IRAs.

Average self-directed brokerage account balances climbed 8.7% to nearly $397,000 in the second quarter as trading activity picked up. Millennials posted the strongest year-over-year growth at 19.5%, and NVIDIA held the top stock position for a fifth consecutive quarter.

401(k) Specialist digs into Fidelity's second-quarter numbers and finds strong gains for women and Millennial savers, along with growing interest in small business retirement plans.

The Retirement Learning Center addresses what happens to outstanding 401(k) loan balances when employees arrive through a merger or acquisition, a recurring administration question in deal integration.

New Vanguard research finds 80% of participants under 35 hold only a target-date or balanced fund, versus 43% of those 55 and older, and the share of all participants using a single fund jumped from 46% in 2016 to 66% in 2025. Menus keep shrinking in response, though Vanguard cautions that participants nearing retirement may still benefit from a broader lineup.

Fidelity's second-quarter analysis found 401(k) and 403(b) balances grew 10.5% last quarter, the strongest quarterly growth since the end of 2020, driven by record participant savings rates alongside market gains.

New CRFB analysis finds Americans retiring this decade are scheduled to receive benefits equal to 133% of combined worker and employer payroll taxes, as the program heads toward a 2032 trust fund shortfall.

Cash balance plans grew by 1,025% over two decades, according to an Ascensus report.

Industries with historically low plan participation rates and hourly employees are seeing particularly large gains in coverage, according to Gusto.

The number behind the EBRI release covered here Wednesday: average HSA balances hit a record $5,532, while just 18 percent of accountholders invest any assets outside cash.

PBGC filed a comment letter supporting FASB's proposal to discount qualifying market return cash balance obligations at the plan's assumed interest crediting rate. An accounting change rather than a compliance obligation, but one that would move reported pension obligations for hybrid plans.

Average HSA balances hit a record high, but EBRI finds most account holders still contribute well below the maximum and few invest beyond cash. The accounts are growing as savings vehicles faster than they are maturing as investment vehicles.

A Milliman case study on designing a cash balance pension plan for a law firm's partners, allowing deferral of significant taxable income until retirement with contribution flexibility by career stage. The design supported deferrals exceeding $250,000 annually per participant, with potential accumulations over $3.5 million by retirement.

VAPPs can help funded pension plans balance risk, support retirement income and create a more sustainable path forward.

Cash-balance plans lead the way in groundswell of support for offering a more meaningful approach to generating retirement income for cash-strapped workers.

Even high-income employees are uncertain about where to put their next dollar, highlighting the need for workplace guidance on financial wellness.

How rising interest rates, evolving fixed income opportunities, personalized investing, and retirement income needs are driving fiduciaries toward a more balanced approach that combines the strengths of active and passive management to improve participant outcomes.

American workers struggle to balance saving for retirement with other concerns such as emergency funds, paying down debt, healthcare and everyday expenses

This update would amend Topic 715 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, which governs the measurement of pension liabilities for a plan sponsor’s financial statements. Under the current