Pensions Archives - Word on Benefits

Supreme Court Rules in Withdrawal Liability Case

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

22 May 202622 May 2026

In a unanimous ruling on May 21, the Supreme Court affirmed a circuit court decision and held that pension plans have the flexibility to update actuarial assumptions after year-end when calculating withdrawal liability rather than fixing those assumptions at the close of the prior year.

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DOL Enhances Informal Guidance and ERISA Compliance Assistance

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

14 May 202614 May 2026

Today’s blog reviews recent guidance on ERISA enforcement priorities, including the fiduciary duty of loyalty and proxy advisor actions that qualify as investment advice under ERISA’s five-part test.

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Pensions in an Era of Longer Working Lives

Tim Hennessy

21 Apr 202621 Apr 2026

As more employees work past traditional retirement age, pension and benefit systems are colliding with assumptions built for a workforce that no longer exists—the result is a growing disconnect between modern economic realities and retirement rules rooted in policy decisions made nearly a century ago.

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DOL Vacates Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule

Anne Newhouse, CEBS

14 Apr 202614 Apr 2026

Today’s blog shares next steps for fiduciaries on the heels of the Department of Labor’s recent removal of the 2024 retirement security rule and the restoration of the 1975 definition of investment advice fiduciary.

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Investor Impact: Three Changes to Watch at the SEC

Guest Contributor

17 Feb 202617 Feb 2026

Today’s blog will look at three recent changes implemented or in progress at the SEC and discuss the implications for multiemployer pensions and their fiduciaries.

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Freezing the Frame: Supreme Court Withdrawal Liability Case to Address Timing of Actuarial Assumptions

Guest Contributor

23 Oct 202517 Feb 2026

In the first withdrawal liability case to reach the Supreme Court in more than three decades, the Court will consider a statutory question, whose answer will determine pension plans have the flexibility to update actuarial assumptions after year end.

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So, What Is a Fiduciary?

Tim Hennessy

10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025

Canadian courts have held employers, corporate trustees and boards of trustees affiliated with benefit plans as fiduciaries accountable to plan beneficiaries. Learn more about fiduciaries and their responsibilities in today’s blog.

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Supreme Court Will Decide on Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal Liability

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

01 Aug 202501 Aug 2025

In its upcoming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide when withdrawal liability assumptions must be adopted, impacting multiemployer pension plans and contributing employers.

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The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape Report: DB Key Findings

Cathe Gooding, CEBS

25 Mar 202525 Mar 2025

The overall health of multiemployer defined benefit (DB) retirement plans improved from 2020 to 2021. The average multiemployer DB plan net investment return for 2021 was 14.5%, up from 2020 (11.4%), according to The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: A 15-Year Look (2007-2021) recently […]

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Automation Speeds Up Social Security Fairness Act Processing

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

07 Mar 202507 Mar 2025

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has sped up implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) using automation, per Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security. The law requires SSA to adjust benefits for over three million people, the bulk of which […]