Monthly Archives: August 2025

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) just dropped an RFI (RIN 1210–AC10) and some limited guidance on pooled employer plans (PEPs), asking for public input, especially from small employers. If you’re a small business or work with … Continue reading →

You can cut corners in business. You can play fast and loose with your vendor contracts. You can even get away with sloppy recordkeeping—at least for a while. But when you mess with employee 401(k) contributions, you’re not playing games … Continue reading →

If you’re a TPA and you’re not talking to your small business clients about SEP-IRAs, you’re missing the plot. But if you’re only talking about SEP-IRAs, you’re missing the opportunity. I’ve always said that plan providers, especially TPAs, need to … Continue reading →

Let me start with a confession: I love Bitcoin. I admire what it represents—decentralization, monetary freedom, borderless transactions, and the kind of disruption that makes traditional finance sweat. I hold it, I follow it, and I believe digital assets have … Continue reading →

I love Bitcoin. I love private equity. They’re two of my favorite investments, personally. But when it comes to 401(k) plan participants? I hate them. Not because the asset classes themselves are bad, they’re not. But because plan participants, by … Continue reading →

Schwab’s latest 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study—based on self-reported data from approximately 1,288 independent advisory firms holding over $2.4 trillion in client assets—delivers powerful insights into what’s driving growth, efficiency, and performance in the RIA space today 1. Growth: Organic Remains King … Continue reading →

Sometimes, in the strange world of ERISA litigation, you get a surprise. And in Hutchins v. Hewlett Packard, we got one: the Department of Labor, yes, that DOL, the one whose name alone strikes fear into the heart of many … Continue reading →

There’s a hard truth about being a plan sponsor or a plan provider: you can be doing everything right and still get sued. That’s the world we live in—especially in the retirement plan space. You can dot every “i,” cross … Continue reading →

There’s a hard truth about being a plan sponsor or a plan provider: you can be doing everything right and still get sued. That’s the world we live in—especially in the retirement plan space. You can dot every “i,” cross … Continue reading →

Could listing designated beneficiaries on a participant statement spark a fiduciary breach lawsuit? In today’s world, the answer is always yes — and in LeBoeuf v. Entergy, it did. This case involved Alvin Martinez, a longtime Entergy employee who remarried … Continue reading →