401(k)

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On November 13th, the IRS released a number of inflation adjustments for 2026, including to certain limits for qualified retirement plans. The table below provides an overview of the key adjustments for qualified retirement plans.

Qualified Defined Benefit Plans

20252026Increase from 2025 to 2026
Annual Maximum Benefit$280,000$290,000$10,000

Qualified…

Revenue Ruling 2025‑15 (available here) provides guidance on withholding and reporting obligations when a plan participant or beneficiary fails to cash a distribution check and a replacement check is issued. As discussed below, the guidance is consistent with general constructive receipt principles.

First Check Issued to a Plan Participant or Beneficiary

When a qualified…

On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 which rescinds the DOL’s prior Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 which had warned 401(k) plan fiduciaries against adding cryptocurrencies as direct investment options under their plans.

The 2022 guidance (described in more detail here) cautioned 401(k) plan fiduciaries to…

Last week, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued the first-of-its-kind ruling on the merits pertaining to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investing in ERISA-covered retirement plans. In his 70-page Opinion, Judge O’Connor concluded that the plan fiduciaries of American Airlines’ (the “Plan Sponsor’s”) 401(k) plans…