Identity theft has been on the rise—and that means plan sponsors have to up their cybersecurity efforts. According to AARP: Identity theft occurs when someone obtains someone else’s personal information, such as a Social Security number, home address, date of...

Most fiduciary problems at small and mid-size businesses don't start with bad intentions. Business owners sponsor retirement plans for good reasons: to help employees build their futures, to compete for talent, and to save for their own retirement too. Trouble...

While there is no doubt that sponsoring a retirement plan, like a 401k, for employees is a wonderful thing to do, the burden for small business owners can feel heavy. Meanwhile, getting engaged in the plan can feel overwhelming to...

If your business offers a 401(k) or another retirement plan, you have taken on a legal responsibility along with the employee benefit: retirement plans are regulated by the high standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). One piece...

With about 62.3 million Americans employed by small businesses, it’s clear that sponsoring a retirement plan is among the most critical actions small business owners can take. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, since most small businesses do not have the...

Every autumn, retirement plan sponsors must meet a fundamental compliance obligation: communicating about plan status to participants via the Summary Annual Report (SAR). For calendar-year plans, the standard distribution deadline for sharing 2025’s information is September 30, 2026 (or December...

When you sponsor a retirement plan regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), you're responsible for decisions that benefit participants — and that includes making sure plan fees stay reasonable. This is part of your fiduciary duty of...

Fulfilling fiduciary obligations around cybersecurity requires plan sponsors to oversee a complex network of recordkeepers, payroll systems, and custodians. With so many partners involved, answering "who can access what data" is rarely straightforward. Toward improved oversight, ERISA experts suggest three...

This year, underscoring the critical role retirement plan sponsors play in protecting the money and data of participants, the Employee Benefits Security Administration significantly updated its enforcement priorities, putting cybersecurity at the top of the list. That doesn’t mean however,...

When you sponsor an ERISA-regulated retirement plan, it's easy to get buried in compliance details and litigation risk management — and lose sight of what actually matters: making sound decisions and monitoring results. Here's a closer look at what that...